1. Set the Foundation 

In this section we will establish information about your go-to-market (GTM) strategy and resources that will help you execute this playbook.

Resources: Foundational GTM checklist

2. Build your Signal(s) 

Create core Signals for customer experience that typically include competitors, and explicit topics that indicate a customer is shopping around.  These Signals are ones in which customer success people will act on immediately. 

You should aim to create a small number of core sales Signals that can be acted on by unique teams, with unique messaging, and/or within unique sales plays. For the purpose of customer churn prevention, you should not create multiple signals for the sake of having multiple signals.  

Resources: Building a Signal 

3.  Technical Implementation of the Data in your CRM, MAP or other sales tools.

This step is specifically for customers who:

1. Haven't already set up your initial integration (new customers to Bombora going through onboarding). 
2. Need to integrate NEW topics that were surfaced in step #2, "Build the Signal." 

Resources:

•  Technical Implementation of SFDC
•  Technical Implementation of HubSpot
•  Technical Implementation of Outreach

4.  Activating the Data within your Customer Success (CS) Process

Now that the data is flowing in your CRM or MAP, you need to make the intent data actionable for your CS people.  As established in step 1 above, you should have a defined customer experience process or play, which you'll now build with intent data in your CRM, MAP, or other tools.

In general, we recommend account list prioritization views for each CS rep to view their assigned book of accounts.

Learn best practices for setting up views or workflows to activate the data depending on your CRM or MAP integration.

Resources:

• Reports, views and workflows for Churn Prevention using SFDC
• Dashboards, lists and workflows for Churn Prevention using HubSpot
• Setting tasks for Churn Prevention in Outreach

5.  Roll out to the CS Team

With this Playbook, CS adoption is key.  Below are a few tips, recommendations, and best practices to utilize. 

Schedule a CS training with your Bombora Customer Success Manager.

6.  Measure Success

This step CANNOT BE SKIPPED! It’s not a matter of if someone will ask you if your intent data strategy is working, it’s only a matter of when.  All of the work you did upfront to determine your Signals, build your workflow, and activate the data, was designed to actively and quickly intervene on customer accounts who are at risk.

Without setting goals and measuring progress against your strategy, intent data is simply data.

Short-Term Metrics

In the short term, it's key to measure the effort that your CS team is taking. Watching your efforts in the early days of implementing intent data is vital to long-term success.

Resources: Short-Term Metrics Overview & Checklist

Long-Term Metrics

Beyond these short term metrics, most Bombora customers measure the business impact of intent data in four main ways: Churn rate, upsell / crossell opportunities, and/or volume of interaction with customers and CSMs. 

Ideally, you will be able to measure all of these.  Some customers see success across all three, and in some may see significant gain in one area.  Measuring all will allow you to attribute more success to your program, and in turn allow you to expand the data into more and more playbooks over time. 

Resources: Long-Term Metrics Overview & Checklist