The Silent Difference Between Interest and Intent
For sales reps whose pipelines are full of deals that go nowhere, this article addresses a core problem: confusing polite interest with genuine buying intent. An "interested" prospect says your demo was "very interesting" and then ghosts you. A prospect with intent asks hard questions and commits to next steps. We'll show you how to spot the difference and test for true intent.
A person window shopping and just looking ('Interest') versus a person at a counter with their wallet out ('Intent').
What "Interest" Looks Like
Interest is passive. It is a sign of curiosity, not commitment. It is cheap. Often, an interested lead is what causes a high-intent lead to ghost you later on.
- Vague compliments: "This looks cool."
- Information gathering: "Can you send me some more information?"
- No commitment to next steps: "We will review this internally and get back to you."
- Focus on features: They ask a lot of questions about what your product does, but not about how it solves their specific problem.
A prospect showing interest is essentially window shopping. They are browsing, but they have no immediate plan to buy.
What "Intent" Looks Like
Intent is active. It is a sign of a real, painful problem that needs to be solved. It is expensive.
- Specific, problem-focused questions: "How would this integrate with our Salesforce instance? We have a problem with data syncing."
- Willingness to commit resources: They are willing to bring other stakeholders (like their boss or the head of IT) into the conversation.
- Asking about implementation and onboarding: They are thinking about the practicalities of using your product, not just the features.
- Discussing price and ROI: They are trying to build a business case. Our pricing page is designed to help with this.
Interest is when a prospect asks what your product does. Intent is when they ask what your product does for them.
How to Test for Intent
Your job as a salesperson is to test for intent. You must move the prospect from passive interest to active commitment. You do this by asking for small, incremental commitments.
- Instead of sending information, ask to schedule a 15-minute call to walk them through it in the context of their business.
- Instead of accepting "we'll review it," propose a specific next step with a date: "Great. Does it make sense for us to schedule a follow-up for next Tuesday to discuss your team's feedback?"
- Instead of answering endless feature questions, pivot back to the problem: "That's a great question. Before I answer, can you help me understand why that feature is important for what you're trying to accomplish?"
The Takeaway: Stop Filling Your Pipeline with Hope
Stop filling your pipeline with "interested" leads. It gives you a false sense of security and wastes your time. Be ruthless in qualifying for genuine intent. A smaller pipeline filled with high-intent prospects is infinitely more valuable than a large pipeline filled with polite curiosity. It is the only way to build a predictable revenue engine.