If sales has low adoption rates on their CRM usage, how can marketing automation change that?

Agreed, the sales folks need to see why using the CRM system will help them to perform. If in fact the systems in place cannot do that, then a structured initiative to define and rectify the problems should be pursued.

Adding more tech stuff to the stack won't alter user rejection.

It cannot, because what you describe is not a technology problem.

CRM is not something a company buys, it is something a company does ... or not. Real CRM is a human thing, not a software thing.

Likewise marketing automation, which one CEO calls a "spam cannon." Indeed, mechanical communication happening without input from human prospects will fail.

I like CRM and MA technologies, but absent the human brains and hearts that animate marketing and selling, neither technology can succeed.

This question is the wrong way round.

If marketing and sales work so badly together that basics like CRM are not being filled out properly, then initiatives like marketing automation will not work.

You need sales engagement at all levels or the system will rapidly clog up with incorrect or unactioned information

Change the people who are Head of Sales and Head of Marketing first.

And if one of them is you, sort your relationship with sales out first.

Great question, Lauren, and here is how marketing automation can change CRM adoption.

1. FOR LEAD GENERATION MARKETING

DELIVER
- MORE
- BETTER QUALIFIED
- WARMER
LEADS INTO THE CRM SYSTEM
from the marketing automation system.

High quality marketing automation systems today go far beyond the "spam cannon" referred to in another post. They offer multi-track marketing paths that learn from and personalize based on prospect behavior. These MA systems deliver prospects as qualified leads only when those prospects meet minimum prospect scoring criteria.

2. FOR SALES IN-PROCESS MARKETING

MAKE
- PERSONALIZED
- EASY TO CHOOSE AND APPLY
- MULTI-OPTION MARKETING TRACKS
- THAT MAKE SALES PROCESSES MORE EFFECTIVE
....(shorter sales cycle, higher close rate)
AVAILABLE FROM WITHIN THE CRM SYSTEM.

To get the most CRM adoption support from marketing automation, make sure that the two systems are well integrated and simple to use. Forcing salespeople to dance back and forth between two systems will lower adoption and raise frustration.

This is especially important as we expect more and more of our sales teams to be using mobile CRM from Blackberries, Droids, iPhones, iPads and other mobile computing devices.

3. TRAIN YOUR TEAM
on how to get the most benefits from your well integrated CRM and MA systems. No matter how "self-evident" use of the system may be, use training to generate excitement, familiarity, best practices and a sense of ease with your combined system. Then follow-up with refresher training to continue developing levels of comfort, best practices and understanding within your sales team.

4. SHARE REPORTS
that show how use of your integrated CRM/MA solution is improving the numbers for the sales team members that embrace it.

5. DO YOU NEED A CONSULTANT?
If your CRM/MA solution is not delivering what is described above, than you need to speak with a good consultant with combined practices in CRM and Marketing Automation that is committed to the kind of integrated solution discussed in this post.