When people think of a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, they think “sales.” If that’s the case, then you’re doing it wrong. Yes, this is a technology system where sales managers can manage and analyze all customer/prospect data — a repository for all the information that their sales team needs to be successful and a […]
When people think of a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, they think “sales.” If that’s the case, then you’re doing it wrong.
Yes, this is a technology system where sales managers 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 salespeople are 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 companies that aren’t using CRM in their marketing departments as well.
Is yours one of them? This is understandable as, even at the sales level, there is often a lack of resources to really dig deep into the software or people to babysit all sales reps 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 in business, there are many things today that can help put these both on the same track.
Your CRM system is one of those things. It 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 — which, let’s be honest, is why we are all in business, after all.
While we shouldn’t ignore our traditional marketing strategies, it’s important to make sure we try 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 system 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. Marketers have the power to influence early dialogue, sometimes even before prospects know 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 marketing director are not meeting and working together 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 it has not asked the sales director to be in the strategy and measurement meetings, find another agency. Lastly, if you don’t have a CRM, get one and use it for marketing.
Jenn Cline is chief operating officer at ABC Creative Group and owner of Nordique Consulting Group, a sales and marketing consulting firm. Contact her at jenn@abcideabased.com
