5 WAYS
TO GET MORE
SALES OUT
2
Executive Summary
Sales and marketing. They’re lumped together so
much in conversation, you’d think they’re a perfect
combination — like peanut butter and jelly. But
the relationship is more often like oil and water.
There are many reasons why sales and marketing teams become misaligned. However, by eliminating the roots of these issues, leveraging shared definitions, and understanding sales and marketing’s role in the bigger picture of the customer journey – sales and marketing can live in harmony while driving enhanced lead-to-revenue performance.
The following are five suggestions any organization can follow to better align their sales and marketing operations. These include a mix of both technical and philosophical strategies that can lead to a better understanding of the lead-to-close process, increase sales close rates, and subsequently drive stronger revenue and profits.
Introduction
Tip 1: Agree on Definitions
Tip 2: Use Data from Sales (and beyond)
to Improve Lead Quality
Tip 3: Tightly Integrate Your Marketing
and Sales Tools
Tip 4: Enforce Best Practices with
Intelligent Workflow
Tip 5: Create a Total Customer View
Summary
TABLE OF CONTENTS2
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CONSIDER THE INFLUENCERS ALONG THE LEAD LIFECYCLE While it is important for sales and marketing to agree upon definitions of sales ready leads, another factor to consider are deal influencers. While qualifying an individual lead – companies like BancVue realized there were many more individuals the firm should also have been interacting with to solidify a new business relationship.
Tip 1: Agree on Definitions
One of the biggest disconnects between sales and marketing departments is caused by differing definitions of what is, and what is not, a qualified lead. Often, marketing departments focus on volume of leads, rather than quality, as marketers are often pressured by sales leadership to provide lots of leads. But the consequence is usually felt: sales teams complain that their leads are of poor quality – and sales close rates suffer.
However, if marketing and sales work together to clearly define what is a “sales ready” lead – many of these issues can be addressed. One method that has proven successful is to hold a sales and marketing “summit” to co-define terms like “lead,” “qualified lead” and “highly qualified lead.” A good way to generate these definitions is by talking about the common attributes or behaviors of leads that converted.
While generating agreed upon definitions, try also to build “checklists” that can be tracked in a marketing or CRM system. Rather than generic “scoring,” each lead should meet a minimum number of qualification items to move to the next phase of the lead-to-sales cycle.
“An ‘Aha!’ moment for us was when we looked at the early
stages of the lifecycle from the customer’s perspective and
realized ‘They don’t know us!’ We kinda thought they did
and aligned our sales process with this assumption, but we
quickly learned that even when the decision-maker might be
researching us, there’s many other influencers involved that
can help win or torpedo the sale down the line.”
Lori Peterson,
4
Tip 2: Use Data from Sales (and beyond)
to Improve Lead Quality
Agreeing on the definition of a qualified lead is one thing. It is another effort altogether to improve lead quality and maximize the potential of leads to close. After all, according to a recent B2B Technology Marketing Community survey, 61% of marketing executives stated that lead quality was their number one barrier to success.
It is an understandable obstacle. After all, buyers today have greater choice, and access to more information than ever before. But marketing and sales teams can use information to their advantage too. Start by establishing a clearly defined mix of demographic data (which types of job titles typically buy, for example) and behavioral data (which collateral or campaign is more effective in conversions) in the lead scoring process. And, by associating closed deals in a sales automation system with the lead source campaign, sales reports can reveal which targeting approaches and marketing messages are delivering the best quality leads. Finally, by attaching social media and other data sources to lead records, a robust lead qualification scoring mechanism can be attained.
It’s important for both sales and marketing teams to remember that quality can come at a price – fewer overall leads. It takes some courage to deliver fewer, higher quality leads, but with good lead targeting, sales goals can be met more efficiently. Everybody wins when pipeline waste is reduced and reps go after only truly qualified leads.
5 WAYS TO GET MORE SALES OUT OF MARKETING
“By having our customer data and lead
generation feed into Sugar, we are
producing better-quality sales leads
with a higher potential for closing.”
Tip 3: Tightly Integrate Your Marketing
and Sales Tools
This seems like a no-brainer, but many organizations still take a siloed approach to deploying and managing the technology that supports marketing and sales efforts. For example, many marketing organizations simply buy lists and blast them with email messages. Then, any response is quickly passed to sales. This basic approach can lead to some sales, but there is a better way.
With an integrated sales and marketing system (which can, in fact include more than one piece of software) – the lead development process can be far more sophisticated. By utilizing the scoring and nurture mechanisms inside marketing automation tools, organizations can automate the process of passing more qualified leads to sales. This way, sales reps focus on the leads most likely to complete a purchase and spend less time chasing down poor quality leads.
6 5 WAYS TO GET MORE SALES OUT OF MARKETING
By incorporating smart lead routing and follow up alerts into the lead-to-close process, the right lead will go to the right rep – and insure there are no gaps in outreach and engagement.
Tip 4: Enforce Best Practices
with Intelligent Workflow
Tip 5: Create a Total Customer View
Not all customer behavior happens where it’s naturally tracked by CRM and marketing tools. There is a wealth of customer data in other internal and external systems that can be tapped to improve business performance. ERP and accounting systems contain transactional information that can be analyzed and integrated with sales and marketing information to better target high value customers.
Data from social media can be used to give a fuller picture of individuals’ behaviors and preferences, and information from providers like Dun & Bradstreet can help fill in gaps in organizational knowledge. What’s more, frequently tapping data from these external systems can improve overall data quality. Checking multiple sources can help insure that lead and contact data is correct, further improving the efficiency and effectiveness of campaigns.
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Conclusions
In today’s demanding business atmosphere, the rules
of marketing have changed. Prospects are doing a lot
more to educate themselves, long before they engage
with a sales team.
But by building seamless systems, understanding the marketing-to-sales process from the customer’s perspective, and making the most of the wealth of data available about prospects and customers, marketing and sales departments can act in harmony. This means more quality leads with less effort, cleaner and more efficient handoffs, and ultimately higher close rates and revenue across the board.
The good news is that modern, cost-effective technology exists to support these endeavors. By selecting open, flexible software any organization can more effectively bridge the gaps between sales and marketing, and quickly begin to automate the total lead-to-close processes in an end-to-end fashion.
SugarCRM
SugarCRM’s market-leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform is an indispensable tool for every individual who engages with customers. From sellers, marketers and customer support agents, to receptionists and executives, Sugar provides enhanced intelligence around every user, helping employees make better decisions and create extraordinary customer relationships.
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