Using Big Data Analytics to Inform New Business Sales Prospecting

CHALLENGE

LexisNexis Risk Solutions (LNRS) is a leader in providing essential information to help customers across industry and government assess, predict and manage risk.

In 2019, LNRS asked Ascension for help using customer, prospect, and market data analytics to improve LNRS deployment of available sales resources nationally. The project was focused on specific industry verticals and geographic regions and viewed as a pilot initiative with the potential for expansion into other LRNS verticals.

The goal of the Ascension engagement was to help better focus B2B new business development activities executed by the field sales organization to improve resource deployment, sales planning, territory account allocations, compensation programs, sales force training/development, etc.

SOLUTION

Ascension developed a complex “predictive purchase propensity” model designed to provide strategic guidance useful in LNRS sales force planning and resource deployment. The model used multiple historical, customer, win/loss, and trigger factor inputs to inform a ranked list of the new business prospects with the highest likelihood of being interested in LRNS risk solutions.

The model also considered the impact of customer call points, sales cycle, deal size dynamics, and best prospect engagement tactics to improve new business win rates. The model was built on multiple “trigger factors” derived from publicly available databases at the target prospect organization level.

Trigger factors are publicly available facts and reported incidents that directly link to solutions offered by LNRS. These factors were mined and validated using logistical regression based purchase propensity models to generate a ranked list of high probability prospects for use in the new business “hunting” process by the LNRS field sales organization.

IMPACT

Ascension identified several firmographic and experiential trigger factors that proved to have a strong correlation with new business wins by LNRS. Ascension produced a detail rich ranked list of potential B2B target accounts which was integrated into the LNRS field sales team plans.

Additionally, Ascension also provided a rich set of data informed recommendations to guide future LNRS sales resource deployment and sales process management activities.