Are Google Alerts Costing You Business?

The phone rings and it’s your lucky day! That prospect you’ve been targeting is calling you back after several attempts to connect. You know your company can provide her with services that will boost her profitability. You know exactly what you have to offer, and how it can be seamlessly integrated into her business, saving her money or time, and allowing her to further focus on other areas that need her attention.

It gets better. You had previously set up a Google Alert to keep you updated on news about the prospect, and you find out she just completed her third marathon over the weekend. After pleasantries, it’s the first thing you bring up. The problem is, she doesn’t actually run in marathons. The alert confused her with somebody else with the same name. Your attempt to warm up the prospect has turned into an awkward moment and cooled your chances.

You don’t know for sure, but your gut tells you that the bad information may have cost you a new client. You did all the right things, but your alert may actually have done more harm than good. If only the alert were smarter. Better informed. Tailored to the specific people and companies on your radar. Virtually everyone agrees that Google is the best search engine out there, and Google Alerts can be valuable to stay tuned on topics (or even companies) of interest. But Google Alerts fall short as a way to keep in touch with people not just because of multiple people having the same name, but also because alerts are best if they target all the organizations a person is affiliated with, not just their primary employer, and these affiliations change all the time. It’s no good to run alerts on Jane Smith at Capital One if she is now working at Bank of America!

To stay informed about business people that are important to you, wouldn't it be better if you replaced Google Alerts with intelligence on your contacts, which has been validated from multiple sources and is constantly updated?

Luckily that type of alert actually does exist. If you’re using the right sales intelligence software, you can set up alerts to do exactly what you want them to do. They use artificial intelligence to ensure the alerts you receive are about the prospects—both people and organizations—that you need to know about. They provide you with key pieces of data that can change an impersonal meeting into something more personal and authentic, and provide a “call to action” which results in you reaching-out to a prospect when there’s actually a reason to speak. Any business generator knows this can be the difference between a big deal and a no-deal.

The right type of alert can inform you of news that can really make a difference. For example, if your prospect is speaking at a trade show or involved in a charity, the alert can notify you of upcoming events so that you can attend and create an additional touch point. You’ll also often see other business executives that your prospect interacts with, which can give you other ideas or angles on how to build a relationship with them. Of course, Google Alerts are free, and getting the green light to pay for a service that can provide this type of intelligence is never easy. But the best B2B business development platforms can pay for themselves with a single sale. They also allow you to organize your prospects efficiently and save you valuable time, enabling single-click alerts that are delivered with the frequency you need.

Success stories abound of how timely alerts led to valuable outcomes – timing is everything!

• A commercial banker’s alert informed them that their client was speaking at an upcoming business networking event – which led to them attending the event, supporting their client, and meeting valuable new prospects
• A wealth manager was notified that a Fortune 500 executive prospect had just sold some shares – which led to a conversation and a transaction that paid the alert service subscription for a year – and was the start of a great relationship
• A non-profit development officer received an alert that one of their donors was retiring from a major private equity firm – and was the first to ask her whether she would devote some of her time to serve on their board

Leveraging information gathered from multiple data sources, including both professional and personal dimensions, gives you a more complete picture of what’s going on in your prospect’s life and career. This systematic and efficient approach helps you to stay up-to-date on both clients and prospects—saving time, effort and providing relationship-building intelligence. The ROI is strong and the payback can be in weeks, not years!

To learn more about RelPro sales intelligence and its unmatched Alerts system, please reach out to our Customer Success team.

RelPro’s Sales Intelligence Platform was built with the knowing that there is no one nirvana source of B2B Company and Decision-Maker data – so why rely on one source of data? RelPro integrates data from best-in-class partners and the web to provide you with a unique Global database of over 7 Million Companies & 150 Million Business Decision-Makers allowing you to easily identify the best prospects and close deals faster. RelPro includes automated Prospect Research to quickly inform your outreach, and powerful Alerts that provide a call-to-action prompting timely outreach to prospects and clients. To learn more about RelPro, visit our website – www.relpro.com, give us a call – (888) 561 7890 or send us an email – info@relpro.com, or sign up for a demo. To learn what our customers are saying about RelPro, read the reviews on G2 Crowd.