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IntegrateSalesandMarketing–CreateaConvergenceforBetterLeadManagementAsheardonanAmericanMarketingAssociationWebinarFrontRangeSolutions,Inc.1125KellyJohnsonBoulevardColoradoSprings,CO80920Telephone:800.776.7889Fax:719.536.0620–30%oftherevenueonmarketing.Consumersseeover1millionmarketingmessagesperyear.IntegrateSalesandMarketing–CreateaConvergenceforBetterLeadManagementSalesandMarketingdepartmentshavebeenatoddswitheachotheralmostsincetheintroductionofmarketing.TheyhavecontinuallydebatedsuchissuesasthequalityofleadsprovidedbyMarketingtotheSalesteamandtheeffectivenessofSalestodevelopthoseleadsintorevenue.TalkwithanyoneinaSalesorganizationandarealdisconnectbetweenthemandMarketingbecomesobvious.Commoncomplaintsinclude“IfIhadbetterleads,mycloseratiowouldbesignificantlyhigher”or“Theseleadsarenottherighttargetaudience.”TheattitudeisnotmuchdifferentintheMarketingdepartment.MarketingteammembersoftenfeelthatSalesisnotdoingitsjobandonlywants“orders”ratherthanhavingtoworkthedeal.IssuesfromMarketingdepartmentsinclude“IftheSalesteamfolloweduponalltheleadsweprovidethem,thentheywouldexceedtheirsalesquota.”Thisisatraditionalproblemthatneedsamodernsolutiontomaximizemarketingdollarsanddriveadditionalrevenueforthecompany.BusinessDriversTypically,companiesspend10–30%oftheirrevenueonmarketingactivities.Intoday’sbusinessenvironment,executivesarecarefullyscrutinizingeverypennyspentwithintheirorganizationtoincreaseprofitsandshareholder’sequity.Marketingbudgetsarenoexceptions.Executiveswanttoensuremoneyisspentwiselyandthattheyareachievinganappropriatereturnoninvestment(ROI).Attheminimum,MarketingdepartmentsarenowrequiredtoquantifytheROIforeachcampaign.However,oncetheMarketingdepartmentcantrackROI,executivesdemandtheMarketingdepartmenttoincreasetheROItodriveincreasedrevenuefortheorganization.That’swhereCustomerRelationshipManagement(CRM)solutionscanhelp.IntegratingSalesandMarketingeffortsmakesitpossibletoconnectleadsgeneratedbyMarketingtotheresultingrevenuegeneratedbySales.What’smore,consumershavebecomeincreasinglyleeryofanyonetryingtosellthemanything.Itisestimatedthattheaverageconsumerseesover1millionmessagesperyear–almosttwomessagesperminute.ThefirmsthatdevelopastrategythatofferstruevaluetoconsumersinexchangeforIntegratingSalesandMarketing3CRMcanhelpbuildthattrustbytrackinghowacustomerwantsyoutocommunicatewiththem,whetherbyphone,emailorwrittencorrespondence,capturinghistoricalinformationabouteachinteractionandthenmakingthatinformationavailableacrossaglobalorganization.t70%oftheleadssenttoSalesareneverpursued.Forbestresulsyoumustbringtogethertherightpeople,processesandinformationadditionalinformationmaysuccessfullyincreasethetrustwithcustomers,therebyincreasingopportunitiestosellthemproductsandservices.CRMcanhelpbuildthattrustbytrackinghowacustomerwantsyoutocommunicatewiththem,whetherbyphone,emailorwrittencorrespondence,capturinghistoricalinformationabouteachinteractionandthenmakingthatinformationavailableacrossanorganization–whetherthatisdownthehalloraroundtheglobe.IssuesFacingSalesAndMarketingDepartmentsWithoutaCRMsolution,Marketingdepartmentsareflyingblind.WithfirmsspendingsomuchoftheirrevenueonMarketing,executivesaredemandingthatmarketingleadershipjustifieseachdollarspent.Gonearethedaysofthrowingdollarsatmarketingwithouthavingsomemeasurablemetrics,whetherthatisanROIforthecampaignorsomethingassimpleasa‘quickratio’thatshowshowmuchimpactthecampaignhashadonthepipeline.AnotherconsiderationistheresultsfromtheleadssenttotheSalesdepartment.Anestimated70%oftheleadssenttoSalesareneverpursued.TheSalesdepartmentbelievesthateitherthesearethewrongleadsorthatthebuyerisnotreadytomakeapurchase.Atthispoint,youhavespentasignificantamountoftimeandmoneytofindprospectsthataresimilartoyourbestcustomersanddevelopingacampaigntospeaktothemwithoutfollow-up,resultinginwastedmarketingdollars.Onlybygettingtherightleadtotherightsalespersonattherighttime,cansuchwastebeeliminated.AthirdissuefacingmanycompaniestodayisthatinformationlearnedaboutaleadduringthemarketingprocessisnotsharedwithSales.Itmaytaketwo,threeorevenmoretouchesbeforeaprospectisreadytoengagewithSales.Eachoftheseinteractionscanprovideinsight.Also,Salesmaygatherthesameinformationthathasalreadybeencapturedduringthemarketingprocess,wastingtimeanderodingtrustbetweenthetwogroups.SharinginformationaboutaleadacrossanorganizationcanimmediatelydifferentiateacompanyfromitscompetitorsandclosethetrustgapbetweenasalespersonandtheprospectandbetweentheSalesandMarketingteams.PlanForSuccessForbestresults,aleadmanagementsystemmustbringtogethertherightpeople,processes,andinformation.Inordertoaccomplishthis,asystemmust:¾Provideaccesstoinformationacrosstheentireorganization,includinganypre-qualificationresourcessuchasacallcenter.Withthisinformationabouteachandeveryinteraction,youcanmakeabetterimpressionIntegratingSalesandMarketing4onnewprospectsandimproveyouroddsofwinningtheirbusiness.¾Identifyhotprospectsandroutethemimmediately.Studieshaveshownthat