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When people think of a Customer Relations Management (CRM) tool, they think “sales.” If that’s the case, then you’re doing it wrong.
Yes, this is where they can manage and analyze all customer/prospect data – a repository for all the information that their sales team needs to be successful and a place where they can see what their sales people are or aren’t doing.
But, most companies don’t use their CRM to its full capability and that’s where they’re missing the boat. I’m talking about the organizations that aren’t using the CRM in their marketing departments as well.
Is yours one of them?
This is understandable as, even at the sales level, there’s often a lack of resources to really drill deep into the software analytics or people to babysit every sales rep and ensure they are inputting the right information into the right places.
One of the biggest problems facing organizations is the alignment of their sales and marketing teams.
The sales team is doing one thing while the marketing team is doing another. While this is an age-old problem, there are many things today that can help put these both on the same track.
Your CRM is one of those things. Your CRM probably has the ability to keep track of your marketing efforts and even house the documents within the system to allow for easy access to a marketer’s dream of messaging consistency!
Let’s talk about marketing and sales alignment and how it can help drive sales. Let’s be honest –that is why we are all in business, after all!
While we shouldn’t ignore our old traditional marketing strategies, it’s important to make sure we throw in some newer ones as well.
Content marketing through blogs, webinars and white papers will influence the conversations and thought processes potential buyers have at the start of the buying cycle. You want to be seen as an authority.
Your CRM can help organize and manage information so your sales team knows what prospects are seeing and engaging with. It becomes an assistant to the sale.
It’s no longer the sole responsibility of sales reps to generate leads.
It should be a joint venture between marketing and sales.
The digital world has allowed marketers to become lead generators. The old days of hoping someone calls from the newspaper ad are gone – no more guessing where a lead came from. Marketers have the power to influence early dialogue, sometimes even before the prospect knows they need to buy.
Having a comprehensive and properly used CRM will allow a real-time glance of the effectiveness of all marketing initiatives and how they travel through the sales funnel, allowing better decisions to be made within the sales and marketing departments.
If your sales director and your marketing director are not best friends and meeting regularly, this is a problem.
In today’s world, these two people need to ride in tandem to hit your sales goals. If you outsource your marketing to an advertising agency and they have not asked the sales director to be in the strategy and measurement meetings, find another agency. Lastly, if you don’t have a CRM (M for “Management” this time), get one!
About The Author
Jenn Cline is another idea-based evangelist who connected with ABC after doing business with the agency as a client.
After 20 years in communications and sales, she decided to shed the stuffy layers of corporate structure to do business on her own terms. An expert marketing strategist, Jenn needed more space for creative planning and carefully measured execution.
As a marketing executive, she familiarized herself with ABC’s culture and talent. As a consultant, she sought the agency as a creative partner.
Jenn’s idea-based sales service adds a unique layer to traditional marketing. Her strategies give great consideration to conversion of a campaign. Not only does she develop plans for execution on the sales side, Jenn also works with clients to develop measurement tools that keep campaigns sustainable long term.