Author: Anna Petelina, Business Development Manager
Let’s consider the possibility of using huge amounts of data generated by prospects on the Internet in order to increase sales. One can’t but agree that finding ready-to-communicate customers among hundreds and thousands of web visitors is not a minor task. Considering you operate sales data, the task becomes even far more complicated. Even a small company develops several communication channels with potential customers: website, phone, social networks, personal contact made at an exhibition, seminar or presentation.
By the nature of their work, sellers have to deal with dozens and hundreds of potential buyers every month, and most of these people, unfortunately, are not ready to make a purchase at the moment of communication. Annoying such leads with calls or visits is a dead-end road, because the only effect it can produce is their discontent. So what should sellers do in such situations to meet their sales targets? Should they take no actions and wait until potential customers come back? It’s a good option if your offer is unique, but in most cases, if you don’t put any effort, your potential customers will never come back, which leads to time and sales losses. Fortunately there is a way out – a marketing automation system integrated with a CRM system. In our case these are Act-On and Sugar.
The only thing a seller needs to do is to register a contact or a lead in a CRM system, indicating main details (industry, title, address, etc.) the marketing automation system will spot a contact and, based on the details indicated by a seller, will direct it to the relevant segment. Since a marketer and a seller develop the most suitable information scenario for every segment within the marketing automation system, the system will start an automated program, i.e. it will provide information on problem solving or will send research papers. In short, it will send the material interesting for a particular person to learn his/her reaction.
Depending on a person’s reaction to information, the system will automatically offer new materials to better understand a person’s interests. At the same time the system will monitor a person’s visits to a web site, offering to attend seminars or visit exhibitions, or to learn about new products. Collecting and evaluating information on a person’s activity/inactivity, the system will timely notify a visitor’s “heated” interest, sending a seller a SMS or an e-mail and that it’s time for a sales manager to come in.
A manager needs just to log into a CRM system and look at a prospect’s interests to open a conversation with the question that is of an interest of this particular customer.
There isn’t any miracle here, is it? It is easy and affordable for any company, as it doesn’t require marketers and sellers to have specialized IT knowledge. Benefiting from a marketing automation system and CRM system integration, you will not only save your time, but also you will be able to touch a bigger number of prospects, which leads to the boost of sales.