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Does marketing automation really close the gap between sales and marketing?
Has it helped close the gap at your company? If yes, then how? Do you find your sales and marketing people working better together as a result?
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8 Answers
Hi Paul, I agree with Carlos. Tools don't bridge gaps, including the one between sales and marketing. It surely is a question of processes but also, and let's not forget this, of corporate culture.
Marketing automation plays a crucial role in the process of lead generation, lead nurturing and the conversion from a lead to a customer. And therefore it has to have a place in the interaction between sales and marketing.
Marketing divisions who successfully want to use marketing automation systems, must meet the needs of the prospect and lead but also those of their intern customers: sales who want qualified leads.
Therefore of course, a good solution alone is not enough. Bridging the traditional gap between sales and marketing is also a matter of management, company culture, co-ordination and customer-centric thinking and working.
There are even enough possibilities and reasons to let the sales division itself do part of the lead management. In times, where the focus shifts from selling to buying and potential customers increasingly find us, the role of sales is changing.
Still, the primary goal of marketing automation in most companies is to nurture leads until they are ready to be “taken care off” by the sales department.
That is exactly why an integration between customer relationship management – which is increasingly evolving towards an interactive and social CRM – and interactive marketing automation solutions is a ‘must’.
It is obvious that there also has to be a coordination after passing on of a qualified lead to sales.
That is why both sales as marketing have to (and actually the whole company):
- Have a holistic view on the supervision of the leads throughout all divisions (even after sales)
- Be accountable in a measurable way for their contribution throughout the whole funnel
- Transcend the boundaries of different departments and have only one goal in mind: customer-centricity and therefore delivered value for the prospect and client.
This value will lead itself towards value for the company.
Paul:
This is a great question and one that is sure to illicit a lot of feedback. While marketing automation is a great technology that can provide a lot of benefits, on its own it will not solve the sales & marketing alignment gap.
We have seen many companies adopt automation and very rarely are they getting the most benefit from it. Why? They did not take the time to develop the proper processes as the foundation for the technology solution.
To quote Aberdeen - “Developing an internal lead management process is key to marketing & sales success." - Notice that process is most important.
Organizations that take the time and discipline to develop the proper processes around lead management including:
- Data
- Lead Planning
- Lead Routing
- Lead Qualification & Scoring
- Lead Nurturing
- Metrics
and do so with marketing and sales working in a collaborative fashion will see the alignment gap close. The gap cannot be closed solely by a technology, but with the right technology, combined with the right process (co-developed) and people, the gap will improve dramatically.
Carlos Hidalgo
The Annuitas Group
Hi Paul,
Good answers here, but let me add my two cents. Marketing automation does not solve the gap between marketing and sales any more than a wedding ring makes a marriage.
Marketing automation is software. Sales and marketing are people. To use terms from the book Switch, you need to motivate the Rider (logics), the Elephant (emotion and passion) and Ease the Path (make it simple to work together)
Integrating sales and marketing takes a thoughtful leader - not technology.
Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor
www.fearlesscompetitor.net
Find New Customers "Lead Generation Made Simple"
www.findnewcustomers.com
Excellent answers, as expected. Marketing Automation services are one of the three legs to the stool: people, process, and technology.
Where marketing departments fall down with automation is lack of proper planning and process mapping and involving Sales (people) in the project. This is similar to the early days with CRM when IT departments would drive an evaluation and the adoption and usage failed. (CRM usage is still weak, according to some surveys I've seen.)
Develop your strategy and objectives first. Map the process. Then find the right tool that will support your requirements. Don't go with a tool first and and flip the switch and expect to be successful without working with the People to develop the Process.
Cheers,
BH
President
Zephyr 47
http://www.Zephyr47.com
Marketing automation does not bridge the gap between sales and marketing; it offers a platform to enable organizations to create the processes necessary to achieve this goal.
Alot of great answers above.
Just like aging, marketing automation merely accentuates what you already are. If the company has a clear, realistic, and agreed definition of sales-ready leads, then automation can speed and simplify the process of delivering them. But this is rarely the case... or even the key issue. In a private conversation, a leader of a leading marketing automation firm recently agreed with this assessment.
Like flooring the gas before your hand is on the steering wheel, we have found that marketing automation is a DESTRUCTIVE force unless it is connected with a process to synchronize the smarketing process. We call that SellingCentricity.
Only if you track and report, objectively, on the right data. I've seen drip marketing that swamped resources yet didn't even move the needle... and they didnt realize that till it was too late.
Jeffrey Cody
VP of Online Media
Landslide CRM
http://www.landslide.com
This article might help explain:
http://www.eyesonsales.com/content/article/using_data_to_improve_leads_for_sa...
Following best practices for implementing and continuously improving a marketing automation system will require marketing and sales to work in concert. This can obviously only happen if the executive team supports this goal, but given that the answer is a simple yes.
How, better acceptance of leads given and that resulting in better follow-up on those leads. Better insight in marketing into prospect needs as a result of closer communication. Better targeting of promotions as a result of clearer understanding of who best prospects are. Increased deal size through better understanding of prospects from visibility gained from their behavior on websites and with email msgs. Both groups more clearly understand dependency on each other via reports that measure leads sent to sales, accepted by sales, qualified by sales, and through to booked business.
Agree with sentiment above, tool selection is much less critical than solid planning and execution.
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