In this digital age of sales, the majority of sales professionals have been notified about a potential customer who is viewing a specific webpage on the company’s website. It makes sense for us to want to reach out to the prospect immediately in hopes of converting the prospect into an opportunity; but, oftentimes, we are hindered because we’re just not sure how to go about contacting a prospect who may not be aware that he/she is being tracked. So how do we reach out to a lead without looking creepy or invasive? This HubSpot blog offers four tips:

1. Tailor Your Approach: What you say to the prospect depends on context. What was the prospect viewing on the website? If it was a page dedicated to a trial request, it would be best to ask if he/she would like a demonstration of your product.
2. Add Value Before Asking For It: Think in the potential customer’s “Odds Are.” Where is he/she in the buyer’s journey? Understand the prospect’s needs, and center your outreach around that; not your personal sales goals.
3. Don’t Make Assumptions: Don’t jump to conclusions and assume you know exactly what a prospect is looking for based on the webpages he/she was viewing. Instead, start broad. This will make the interaction seem less “creepy” (the prospect won’t feel as if you’ve been following his/her every footstep) and will keep you focused on helping the customer discover what he/she is looking for rather than you leading the prospect into saying what you want to hear.
4. Admit You’re Tracking Them: If a prospect asks whether you’re tracking him/her, admit it. But frame it as keeping the prospect’s best interest in mind – after all, the purpose of tracking is to understand your audience better so that you can best help them when relevant. Think of Amazon for example, it recommends products to us based on past purchases. We know we are being tracked by Amazon, and we find it beneficial because it is using this insight to improve our customer experience. The same goes for your company’s website tracking.

The advancement of sales and marketing technologies in the digital age has given sales teams a greater understanding of prospects’ online behaviors. It would be a shame for us to let this tool fall to the wayside because we’re unsure of how to follow-up with a web lead. These tips will help us feel more comfortable and confident when reaching out to web prospects and can help us convert more prospects to opportunities for sales success!