This article was originally published at Tenfold.com

With more than 40,000 companies and 4.4 million users utilizing Microsoft Dynamics CRM, it is evident that the benefits of the suite are plentiful. From offering real-time visibility and analytics to track performance to providing a way for companies to manage their cash, assets, budgets, and banking, the enterprise planning solution helps small and medium businesses function optimally.

Before deciding to purchase the program, however, many companies are left to question the Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s integration capabilities — specifically, whether the Microsoft Dynamics CTI integration is user-friendly. After all, businesses recognize that seamless connectivity leads to better returns, increased customer insights, and improved customer satisfaction.

Fortunately, there are third-party service providers that have partnered with Microsoft to offer solutions.

The Integration Challenge

Companies often employ two systems to make their businesses operate smoothly — a Client Relationship Management system (CRM) and an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

A CRM system handles the frontend information, such as managing customer information and then improving it with marketing and customer service. An ERP system, such as Microsoft Dynamics, deals with the backend information; that is, the information generated once a customer places an order. Examples include billing and shipping details, purchase history, financial information, and accounting details.

While both a CRM and an ERP system are integral to operations, they tend to function in a silo — thus, apart from one another. Their differing structures make it challenging to integrate the two. The solution most often cited is a custom point-to-point integration model. However, this approach can be touchy, expensive, and difficult to maintain.

Another approach to integration mandates that an individual manually retrieves data from one system and enters it into another. Not only is this time consuming, but it is prone to errors and requires considerable human resources. Some businesses circumvent these hiccups by employing a data loader, though such an option is limited.

Without a seamless integration method, employees wind up spending a lot of time retrieving data from different sources. This, of course, leads to an inefficient workspace.

Advantages of CTI Integration

Integration improves work capacity by providing businesses with more information before answering a call and more options, whether receiving an inbound call or making an outbound call. Moreover, all calls are recorded so that they can be analyzed later.

Other advantages include:

• Caller identification for inbound calls
• All of the pertinent information available on one screen
• Easy access to relevant notes
• Better call management means improved customer service

Technology and Tools

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is not Telephony Application Program Interface natively compliant. Fortunately, a variety of third-party vendors have developed solutions that can be anchored to perform the following:

• Make an outbound call from within the program;
• Send and receive faxes;
• Recognize an inbound call and automatically open the relevant information from Microsoft Dynamic CRM;
• Record and playback.

To enable phone integration for both inbound and outbound calls, the following is required:

• A phone system that supports computer telephony integration (SIP, TAPI, CTI). Most contemporary phone systems have this capability. If necessary, the software can run on a user’s PC or a server; alternatively, some suppliers offer proprietary interfaces.
• A link with the CRM. This is the software that connects Microsoft Dynamics CRM with the phone system. Most often, phone system manufacturers provide this software. If this isn’t the case, a person can build their own.

Third-Party Providers

Several telephone manufacturers have paired with Microsoft to offer solutions unique for their phone systems that provide alternative solutions for integration with Microsoft Dynamics. Several of these include:

CTI 360

One third-party option for integration is CTI 360. It enables communication between phone systems (Skype, TAPI Interface, OCS, Lync) and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. With it, businesses can readily see the name and number of inbound callers, automatically produce actions for both inbound and outbound calls, and view customized caller data. Upon lifting the earphone, users have immediate access to a contact or an account.

MuleSoft

MuleSoft features two solutions that assist businesses in integrating their CRM and ERP systems. It provides on-site connectivity and connectivity in the cloud. By doing so, businesses can automate processes and create uninterrupted connectivity. It also synchronizes data so that users can enjoy an updated customer database whenever changes are made.

Unified Service Desk

One method of Microsoft Dynamics Integration is to use an adaptor with Unified Service Desk. The User Interface Integration CTI framework has components that can be used to build a CTI adapter.

There are two types of CTI adapters:

CTI Desktop Manager

This type of CTI adapter involves selecting a CTI Desktop Manager component with the necessary telephony actions that can communicate with the CTI system. Once chosen, a user must configure it as a CTI Desktop Manager type of hosted control. This allows clients to deal with the interpretation of requests from a CTI system, and then route it appropriately.

Building from components

The second type of adapter entails building all the components of a CTI adapter from the ground up where the user can define how to connect to a CTI system (CTI Desktop Manager), how the calls and agent states will be managed (CTI Desktop Manager), and the look and feel of a particularly softphone (CTI Controls). This type of adapter is best if the CTI system uses a service-based polling program or uses a callback/event notification system.

Using the generic listener adaptor in Unified Service Desk

Unified Service Desk provides a generic listener adapter that can be used for Dynamics CRM integration. It listens for an HTTP request on a familiar port and then works by pulling a query string from the URL. It then takes those values and determines that there is a CTI event, which triggers a CTI pop-up in Unified Service Desk. As soon as the adapter starts listening on the specified port, it waits for the CTI middleware to open a URL.

How to configure the CTI Desktop Manager for generic listener adapter

When using the generic listener adapter, users can ignore the CTI control and CTI connector. The only component that must be configured is the CTI Desktop Manager. It should be placed on a HiddenPanel with the following standard values for the generic listener adapter in the hosted control configuration page:

• Assembly Type: Microsoft.Crm.UnifiedServiceDesk.GenericListener.DesktopManager
• Assembly URI: Microsoft.Crm.UnifiedServiceDesk.GenericListener

Building a custom CTI adapter

Alternately, users can build a custom CTI adapter for Microsoft Dynamics CTI. To craft a custom CTO adapter:

1. Create the connection bridge to the CTI system.
2. Create a CTI manager that communicates with both the CTI connection layer and Unified Service Desk to manage calls.
3. Define the user interface or the controls on the agent desktop that helps in call management and displays the agent state.

Integrating Microsoft Dynamics with CTI is an invaluable process. Seamless connectivity makes information more readily available, thereby providing better customer insight and ushering in better customer service. By integrating Microsoft Dynamics with a phone system, businesses can automate business processes, increase the return on investment, and improve productivity. There are numerous out-of-the-box, single platform solutions to help.

Dan Sincavage

Dan is a Co-Founder of Tenfold and currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer. Dan oversees the Tenfold sales organization, manages strategic partner relationships and works with key enterprise accounts to ensure their success with the Tenfold platform.

This article was originally posted at Tenfold.com

Computer telephony integration (CTI) has transformed communications. This powerful technology — which enables computers to interact with telephone systems — lets companies engage with their customers, improve collaboration and automate call handling tasks. There is an abundance of CTI technologies out there. One of these is Salesforce, which offers a fully integrated, cloud based telephony solution for businesses. Here are ten phone systems that integrate with customer relationship management (CRM) solutions.

1. Avaya

Avaya has been at the forefront of telephony technology for years. Salesforce-Avaya integration, however, lets marketers make personalized calls and capture valuable call data. Now, they can automate many of the tasks associated with telephone marketing — like call dialing and data entry — and seamlessly move customers through the sales lifecycle.

Combining Avaya and Salesforce provides businesses with multiple ways to connect with their clients. They can integrate social network profiles, for example, or send out an email during a phone call. Companies use these platforms to reduce IT and staff overheads, streamline their sales processes and communicate more efficiently with their customers.

2. Asterisk

Marketers who integrate Asterisk with Salesforce automate their entire workflow. This technology allows teams to engage with their clients, follow up on lucrative leads, and facilitate conference calls. With Salesforce, businesses have everything they need on one screen, including customer information and upsell opportunities.

An Asterisk-Salesforce integration eliminates the need for data entry. Calls are logged through the Salesforce CTI platform automatically, and marketers access valuable analytics — call volume reports, customer wait times, average call length, etc. — with just a click of a button.

3. Cisco PBX

Cisco PBX phone systems have revolutionized telephony communications for many small businesses. Now, Cisco PBX CTI integration provides businesses with unparalleled insights into their customers. The result? More effective telemarketing, better customer engagement, and greater revenue growth.

Companies who combine Cisco PBX with Salesforce capture interactions and create tasks that automate sales processes. There’s no more data entry — Salesforce logs call durations, notes, customer information, etc. — and call analytics generate real-time metrics that help brands fine-tune their marketing campaigns. What’s more, Cisco PBX-Salesforce saves all of this information in the cloud, which provides brands with peace of mind.

4. Nextiva

Nextiva is an award-winning cloud-based phone service provider. Salesforce is the world’s leading CRM system, with more than 100,000 business customers. Nextiva-Salesforce integration enhances the entire caller experience and provides marketers with powerful business intelligence.

The combination of these two technologies lets brands recognize incoming callers, log notes, review call histories, add sales gamification, and more. Accurate analytics lets marketers target customers at every point during the sales cycle, too, from the first contact through to the final purchase. Sales teams access all of this valuable data from one centralized, easy-to-use dashboard.

5. RingCentral

RingCentral specializes in cutting-edge call solutions, with a suite of tools that enhance business messaging, video conferencing and team collaboration. RingCentral-Salesforce integration, however, takes telephony to the next level. This technology powers small, medium, and large firms that want to boost productivity and reduce the costs associated with call handling.

With RingCentral and Salesforce, brands manage complex data flows and target valuable customer segments through their telemarketing. This platform keeps everything in one place: call recordings, call histories, contact information, metrics, and gamification. A unified dashboard combines call logs and data for better quality assurance and compliance, too.

6. 3CX

3cx is a software-based IP phone system that powers Salesforce. When talk teams fuse these two technologies, they deliver better customer service and drive business growth. 3cx-Salesforce integration lets agents identify incoming calls and route them to the correct department, which saves both time and money.

Businesses get real-time call insights, which fuel marketing campaigns and provides them with valuable business intelligence. They can personalize call experiences, too, something that increases customer engagement and moves callers through the sales funnel. Personalization provides brands with a hefty return on their investment: companies reach more prospects in a quicker timeframe.

7. Elastix

Elastix innovates communications by blending email, instant messaging, IP and PBX. Agents get more out of their marketing and sales campaigns, however, when they integrate this solution with Salesforce — cloud-based CRM software that bridges the gap between companies and their customers.

Elastix and Salesforce integration sends sales into the stratosphere and produces shorter lead response times. Agents can also convert more prospects into paying customers, which accelerates revenue. These two technologies are powerful tools for customer service, too. Company representatives resolve customer problems quickly by accessing call logs and leaving notes for staff in other departments.

8. 8×8

8×8 is a tech brand that produces VoIP PBX systems for small and medium companies. Combining these products with a Salesforce Dialer, though, could consolidate sales and marketing efforts and provide a stable, reliable CTI platform that improves lead conversion.

With 8×8-Salesforce integration, marketers and customer service staff can view customer information — contact details, previous interactions, likes, interests, etc. — before, during and after a phone call, which provides agents with opportunities to upsell and cross-sell products and services. They can also check call histories to solve pain points and provide solutions to common problems. There’s no need for data entry, either: Salesforce logs information automatically.

9. Panasonic PBX

Salesforce integration for Panasonic PBX optimizes connectivity and lets businesses engage with prospects through a simple dialer. Companies can record, log, and track calls — all from a simple user interface — and then maximize call performance. The combination of these two technologies provides businesses with other benefits, too. Talk teams can route calls from a toll-free number and send out SMS messages during or after a phone call. Then there’s call analytics, which helps companies pinpoint trends and patterns among their customer base.

Panasonic PBX has been a leader in business telephony for more than 25 years. But brands can expect even better results when they integrate this telephone system with Salesforce.

10. Microsoft Lync

When Microsoft Lync and Salesforce join forces, businesses can leverage the latest telephony technology. With click-to-dial, for example, marketers can click on any phone number on any web page and communicate with customers and clients. The click-to-dial feature also works on spreadsheets and emails.

Managers can access critical call analytics, too. These metrics help companies reduce call handling times and identify sales staff who generate the most revenue. All of this information is available on a single dashboard, making it easy to spot the latest telemarketing insights.

Takeaways

The ten phone systems on this list all integrate with Salesforce, which currently dominates the CRM market with a 19.7 percent share. Salesforce integration helps any business that wants to combine call logs and data, access more information about their customers, improve sales, and enhance the overall customer experience.

Matt Goldman

Matt is a Content Marketer/Social Media Strategist for Tenfold. His writing has focused on social selling, marketing, as well as gamification.

This article was originally posted at Tenfold.com

Dave Orrico, Vice President of InsideSales.com’s Enterprise Sales, once said: “The No. 1 key to success in today’s sales environment is speed. The salesperson who delivers the most valuable information to their customer or prospect first, wins the game. The best sales professionals rely heavily on tools like salesforce.com to provide that competitive advantage for information acceleration.”

It does sound like Salesforce software is the fix-all for all your sales woes, right? It might be. Salesforce is possibly the most popular cloud-based CRM system in the market today. It is best known for its CRM solutions, which include Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Service Cloud, Analytics Cloud, and App Cloud, among others.

However, Salesforce and your success with it really depends on how you use its features. A CRM system will inherently benefit your business, regardless of size. According to studies, a dollar spent on a CRM system gets you $5.60 back. Sales practitioners know this; and thus, the CRM market is projected to be worth $37 billion this year.

This demand is not about people getting on the bandwagon. It is testament to the importance of a reliable CRM system, such as the Salesforce software, to your sales and overall business operations.

Introduction to Salesforce

Salesforce, the company, is best known for revolutionizing the CRM industry through its innovative use of cloud computing. Because of its efforts, it has made CRM affordable for most businesses.

There are no set-up fees nor hardware/ software requirements needed. You won’t have to maintain nor upgrade your CRM system. You can add users, features and capacities when needed. It is accessible from multiple devices, anywhere you are.

Salesforce has made CRM within reach; there’s practically no reason to miss out on making the most of it.

What Is The Salesforce Software

Salesforce software actually refers to the company’s comprehensive CRM solution. This integrated product allows you to organize and manage all prospect and customer interactions. It provides you with sales automation tools and analytics tools, among others.

The Salesforce software is made up of: Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Analytics Cloud, IoT Cloud, App Cloud, Health Cloud, Financial Services Cloud, Force.com, and Chatter. Let’s look at some of these.

Salesforce Sales Cloud
This Salesforce software application tracks and manages contact information and interactions. It is where you manage and nurture leads, and set up select marketing automation features. Likewise, you also get assessments and reports regarding your marketing campaign.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud
This is where you manage your marketing channels, from setting up and personalizing email marketing to managing your mobile messaging and setting up and personalizing web content. You can also manage social engagements, and set-up cross-channel customer journeys.

Salesforce Service Cloud 
This is the customer support aspect of the Salesforce software. Through it, your team can keep abreast with your customers’ history, conversations and issues. It helps your customer support team personalize interactions and solve problems faster.

Salesforce Analytics Cloud
You turn to Salesforce Analytics Cloud when you want to see how you’re doing. Get accurate performance insights, and use this information in making crucial operational decisions. Let data drive your sales and marketing.

As Dave Elkington, CEO and Founder of InsideSales.com, said: “You have to generate revenue as efficiently as possible. And to do that, you must create a data-driven sales culture. Data trumps intuition.”

How To Best Use Your Salesforce Software

The Salesforce software is designed for prospect and client management that pushes you towards increased returns and business growth.

Improve pipeline marketing.
The Salesforce software can help you at all stages of the pipeline, from gathering and qualifying leads to turning these leads into opportunities. Because it lets you effectively manage prospects and customers, you can minimize lead leakage, automate follow-ups, and track where your leads are in the sales funnel.

You can potentially make the most of the opportunities that come your way through efficient contact management and data-driven user engagements.

Develop effective and repeatable sales cycle.
The use of the Salesforce CRM can provide you with useful insight on your client’s journey. You gain information on their commonalities, pain points and motivations. This can then guide you in developing content and follow-up strategies that are responsive to their needs. This helps you move people through the sales funnel faster. Use the analytics apps to see leading sales drivers and areas for improvement. Tweak where necessary, then repeat.

Build effective teams.
The Salesforce software improves communication across different teams in your organization, wherever these teams are. From marketing to sales and support, members get access to the same comprehensive pool of data. They are empowered with information that personalizes conversations and helps address issues more efficiently.

Compete at the same level as other businesses.
Regardless of how big or small your business is, it has become requisite to implement a reliable CRM system if you want to compete at the same level as the rest. Don’t be left behind. Make sure you stay on top of your customers and prospects, and get the most from the opportunities that come your way.

Dan Sincavage

Dan is a Co-Founder of Tenfold and currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer. Dan oversees the Tenfold sales organization, manages strategic partner relationships and works with key enterprise accounts to ensure their success with the Tenfold platform.

This article was originally posted at Tenfold.com

A successful marketing strategy is, by default, useless unless potential clients bite the bait you’ve used to lure them in. Those who have bitten the bait, but have not yet been reeled in are what you would call “leads.” Leads are the building blocks of what could possibly be an actual sales opportunity. But countless of times, certain leads fall short of being converted into “contacts,” those clients who you’ve successfully reeled in.

To create a concrete separation between your “contacts” and your “leads,” here are a couple of tips. On one hand, your relationship with “leads” usually ends as soon as they get a hold of your marketing promotions. Another characteristic common with “leads” is that they can easily be worked by sales development reps. On the other hand, “contacts” are more associated with opportunities, accounts, and revenues.

Fortunately, Salesforce, the SaaS-focused CRM, has got you covered with the filtration of “leads” and “contacts.” The CRM does this through a special feature within its system known as the “Lead Object.” The Salesforce lead object allows for the proper espousing of best practices. By delineating leads from contacts, agents are guided on which clients they are to send certain marketing advancements (i.e. emails, SMS, or voicemails).

How Does Salesforce Lead Object Support Sales and Marketing 

Before getting into why you, as an agent or as a company owner, should use the lead object, let us clear out why some unfortunately opt to do without it.

• Companies often get overwhelmed with the thought of exerting extra effort in separating leads and contacts. Honestly, this is nothing a quick dialogue between the sales and marketing teams can’t settle.
• Companies from other industries tend to think that the system only fits the B2B business model. But come to think of it, most industries out there come up with their own marketing plans to invite in potential clients, also known as leads.
• The only probably exception would be those businesses with a small to no sales team (i.e. eCommerce companies). Often times, these types focus their marketing efforts into creating only a limited yet loyal clientele.

Now, as a responsible and committed leader of your company, here are compelling reasons as to why you need to grab a hold of your pipeline. These are the things that will help you have the reins over your whole sales process, and not the other way around.

• Salesforce objects allows both sales and marketing teams to aid their agents against confusing old contacts from newly converted ones.
• The Salesforce lead status assists sales managers in evaluating their team by making aspects of the pipeline (i.e. reps efforts in converting leads into contacts) visible.
• Salesforce leads are easily distinguishable through the lead status Salesforce provides. This equips your marketing team with the ability to efficiently publish their ROI information.

Weigh both the benefits of the lead object, and the painstaking tasks you manually maneuver through without it. Stop wasting valuable time and start the quicker route to transforming your leads into contacts.

Your Competitive Advantage With Salesforce Lead Object

As time takes its course, we have accepted the fact that the traditional method of face-to-face selling is a rather endangered way of doing business. The lead object takes complete advantage of this, and has made online transactions easier for both agent and client.

• It gives eases the profiling of leads by providing you codes for each who have filled out your online forms.
• Leads are assigned an agent depending on their location compatibility among other criteria.
• Agents are equipped with the lead’s profile which guides them in formulating interview questions that are in context to the client’s field.

What You Should Be Doing to Optimize Your Salesforce Lead Object

• Make sure that you are actually using it. Companies usually have it, but never seem to get their desired results since they misuse it. Some never even use it at all. Ensure that all agents are using this tool they’ve been equipped with. Always create a Salesforce campaign object for every marketing effort you come up with.
• Organize your system by segregating leads and contacts into standard “types.” This makes it easier for you to scan through your pool of clients, or potential ones. Also, doing so will allow agents the luxury to not have to constantly create a new “type” for every campaign. Tracking your prospects and opportunities with lead object should be easy, make it so for you.
• Easily peruse through lead and contact responses. As this CRM function’s lead statuses come with remarks to easily track lead status, your part is to make sure you automate it using web-to-lead forms.

Which Industries Benefit From Salesforce Lead Object?

The common notion that only B2B business models benefit from the Salesforce lead object has been debunked. As long as your business has marketing strategies driven to create a pool of prospects, then you are very much qualified to field in the aid of the lead object. To give you a better look on how this Salesforce feature benefits your industry, here are some examples:

1. Retail

Retail is a very customer-centric industry, and Salesforce is right with you through every step of the way. From marketing to sales—and even until after-sales support service—the CRM assists you in providing both leads and contacts with unparalleled attention.

2. Financial Services

Investing money, big or small, is probably one of the riskiest decisions one could ever make in life. Hard-earned cash is hard-earned cash, so people working within the financial services sector need to earn the complete trust of their clients. Salesforce allows you to understand your clientele on a personal level by systematically grouping their data.

3. Automotive

Cars are one of the rather bigger splurges people make, and for such they expect no less than the utmost attention from their dealer. Salesforce allows automotive companies to tweak their marketing and sales efforts to be able to connect with their clients better. This gives them a better understanding as to what questions to ask and which solutions to provide, for their clients to receive sterling customer service.

4. Telecommunications

When it comes to its sales and marketing efforts, the Telecommunications industry is heavily reliant on CRMs like Salesforce in streamlining these aspects of their business. Profiling clients through a CRM makes the process a whole lot simpler as you have all the vital details within arm’s reach.

5. Life Sciences

Even physicians who forge strong bonds with their patients require the aid of Salesforce. Their service needs to be available anytime and anywhere; and a CRM allows that by providing their patients with necessary information and solutions through any device.

Sales pipelines are called such for a reason. The whole process is an interconnection of various stages before leading to the bigger picture, which is the actual sale. And pipelines, often times, need a little cleaning to ensure the smooth flow of transactions. And that’s the main cause for the existence of Salesforce’s lead object. Having a hard time coursing through your sales funnel? Maybe it’s time for you to stop doing things the hard way, and allow the lead object to aid you with transforming that lead into a contact.

Matt Goldman

Matt is a Content Marketer/Social Media Strategist for Tenfold. His writing has focused on social selling, marketing, as well as gamification.

This article was originally published at Tenfold.com

Business guru and well-known provocateur Tom Peters once addressed a crowd of over 400 sales and marketing executives saying: “I hate sports analogies. They’re just a bunch of male macho…” Yet, in the world of sales and marketing, sports analogies are de rigueur and tossed around like a basketball during March Madness.

To properly understand the difference between sales and marketing, however, another analogy seems more suitable: that of musical theater. Salespeople are the performers in a Broadway musical, whereas marketing folks are the set designers, producers, and choreographers.

On the surface, the two may present as a ‘selling vs marketing’ schema. Marketing puts the show together without a nod of the head or clap of the hand. Sales then takes the reins and earns the applause. However, this imbalanced view glosses over the meaningful difference between sales & marketing and altogether ignores the fact that the two entities can work together harmoniously with just a wee bit of effort.

The Sales and Marketing Relationship

While the goal of sales and marketing are notably similar (boost company revenue), this fact seems tangential in relation to their means of reaching that goal. Would it be surprising to know that a staggering 76 percent of marketers are overlooking the importance of sales enablement? Put differently, a mere 24 percent of marketing specialists have an agreement with sales on defining lead responsibilities, according to Hubspot’s Fifth Annual Review of Inbound Marketing Trends and Tactics.

In a survey of nearly 1,000 sales and marketing specialists in the United States, roughly two-thirds of salespeople believe marketers are wasting time on fancy events and branding activities when they would be better served focusing on tactics that directly impact the sales pipeline. Similarly, the majority of marketing pros consider salespeople boastful and showmen.

This tangible sort of tension — or, often, blatant disregard for one another — leads to the many sports analogies assigned to the industry. In actuality, it should read more like a creative collaboration than a competition. The marketing and sales departments do everything possible to connect with the prospect’s story, intertwining knowledge of the prospect’s known and unknown needs, and then work collaboratively to resolve them.

In other words, this relationship is long overdue for an overhaul. Companies that manage to strengthen the ties between the two departments reap substantial rewards. Case in point: Companies with strong sales and marketing alignment enjoy a 20 percent annual growth rate. Companies that struggle with this alignment, however, face a 4 percent decline in revenue. In other words, seamless integration means more than mere kumbayah; it means money.

Additionally, studies show that a failure to align sales and marketing departments around the right processes and technologies may cost B2B companies 10 percent or more of revenue annually.

The Sales and Marketing Difference

As mentioned earlier, there is a commonality that binds sales and marketing forces: a shared goal. While that is often lost in the shuffle, perhaps it becomes ever more important to recognize the marketing and selling difference before introducing harmony.

In a nutshell, the difference between sales and marketing boils down to their respective roles in the sales pipeline. While the marketing forces do everything possible to reach and persuade prospective customers, the sales forces do everything possible to close the sale and garner a signed contract or signed check.

To return to the musical theater analogy, marketing involves the behind-the-scenes work, such as viral marketing, branding, relationship marketing, advertising, and direct mail campaigning. They are the stagehands that embody the “Lights! Camera!” phrases, wherein the sales team are the actors that initiate the “Action!” portion of that phrase. Sales involves the direct one-on-one meetings, the cold calls, and networking.

A musical production takes different characters with contrasting viewpoints and intentions, plays their conflicting goals off one another, and throws them together for a giant choreographed conglomeration of singing and dancing. While initially contentious and fragmented, the result is a crescendo of harmonious voices and synchronized spins, a performance worthy of an encore.

To understand the bits that each ‘character’ (aka department) plays in the musical, it helps to examine how each come to the stage. As described in Forbes magazine, “As long as you are selling to homo-sapiens, the fundamental motivations to buy and the skills to obtain purchase commitments will remain the same. People may go about selecting a consultant, a cloud-based storage system or a box of cereal in a different set of steps, but people buy emotionally and justify their decisions intellectually.”

To paraphrase, the tactics that sales teams use to convert leads into sales remain consistent year after year. The tactics that marketing teams use must change and evolve year after year, however.

In 2005, marketing was defined as a one-way communication intended to bring about interest in a product or service, and selling was a two-way communication designed to enable the prospect to do 70 percent of the talking.

In 2017, such a definition seems antiquated. Advancements in technology ensure that marketing is now a two-way street. In striking contrast to years prior, marketing can now be an exchange with the prospect doing the majority of talking for the more tech-savvy marketers out there.

Bridging the Sales and Marketing Wedge

Not to underplay the very real emotions that collide when sales and marketing departments discuss one another, the way to mend such relationships and get them working in harmony can be revealed by many a Kindergarten teacher. Play nice, play together, and engage in routines that promote both. There are thus distinct steps that can be taken to create a more positive synergy between sales and marketing departments. These include:

Recognizing what the other needs:

When surveyed, sales identified the following desires from marketing:

• Better quality leads (54 percent)
• More leads (44 percent)
• Competitive information and intelligence (39 percent)
• Brand awareness (37 percent)

In the same survey, marketing identified the following needs from sales:

• More effective lead follow-up (34 percent)
• Consistent use of systems, such as Customer Relationship Management software (32 percent)
• Feedback on marketing efforts and campaigns (15 percent)
• Consistent use of messaging and tools provided by marketing (13 percent)

Engaging in face time

Note that this isn’t some hidden reference to Apple’s FaceTime. Instead, it refers to that old-fashioned form of dialogue involving people looking at one another and communicating. To clarify, it also doesn’t mean that the VP of marketing sits down with the VP of sales to have a conversation. It means that several people from the marketing team sit down with several people from the sales team and hash it out. It means bringing data to the table to support criticism and encourage celebrations. HubSpot recommends weekly meetings that last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

Sitting together

Those who sit together tend to bond together—and the same principle applies to the workplace. Rather than encouraging a siloed approach to the workplace, mix it up. Place every sales team member next to a marketing person, and vice versa. When they understand what the other person is dealing with, it helps them become more effective at their own jobs.

While sales and marketing each present unique contributions to the musical performance that is the sales funnel, both teams are necessary for a successful production. Though sales approaches tend to remain the same over the years, and marketing tactics frequently change, their commonality rests in a shared desire to increase company revenue.

Business guru and well-known provocateur Tom Peters once addressed a crowd of over 400 sales and marketing executives saying: “I hate sports analogies. They’re just a bunch of male macho…” Yet, in the world of sales and marketing, sports analogies are de rigueur and tossed around like a basketball during March Madness.

To properly understand the difference between sales and marketing, however, another analogy seems more suitable: that of musical theater. Salespeople are the performers in a Broadway musical, whereas marketing folks are the set designers, producers, and choreographers.

On the surface, the two may present as a ‘selling vs marketing’ schema. Marketing puts the show together without a nod of the head or clap of the hand. Sales then takes the reins and earns the applause. However, this imbalanced view glosses over the meaningful difference between sales & marketing and altogether ignores the fact that the two entities can work together harmoniously with just a wee bit of effort.

The Sales and Marketing Relationship

While the goal of sales and marketing are notably similar (boost company revenue), this fact seems tangential in relation to their means of reaching that goal. Would it be surprising to know that a staggering 76 percent of marketers are overlooking the importance of sales enablement? Put differently, a mere 24 percent of marketing specialists have an agreement with sales on defining lead responsibilities, according to Hubspot’s Fifth Annual Review of Inbound Marketing Trends and Tactics.

In a survey of nearly 1,000 sales and marketing specialists in the United States, roughly two-thirds of salespeople believe marketers are wasting time on fancy events and branding activities when they would be better served focusing on tactics that directly impact the sales pipeline. Similarly, the majority of marketing pros consider salespeople boastful and showmen.

This tangible sort of tension — or, often, blatant disregard for one another — leads to the many sports analogies assigned to the industry. In actuality, it should read more like a creative collaboration than a competition. The marketing and sales departments do everything possible to connect with the prospect’s story, intertwining knowledge of the prospect’s known and unknown needs, and then work collaboratively to resolve them.

In other words, this relationship is long overdue for an overhaul. Companies that manage to strengthen the ties between the two departments reap substantial rewards. Case in point: Companies with strong sales and marketing alignment enjoy a 20 percent annual growth rate. Companies that struggle with this alignment, however, face a 4 percent decline in revenue. In other words, seamless integration means more than mere kumbayah; it means money.

Additionally, studies show that a failure to align sales and marketing departments around the right processes and technologies may cost B2B companies 10 percent or more of revenue annually.

The Sales and Marketing Difference

As mentioned earlier, there is a commonality that binds sales and marketing forces: a shared goal. While that is often lost in the shuffle, perhaps it becomes ever more important to recognize the marketing and selling difference before introducing harmony.

In a nutshell, the difference between sales and marketing boils down to their respective roles in the sales pipeline. While the marketing forces do everything possible to reach and persuade prospective customers, the sales forces do everything possible to close the sale and garner a signed contract or signed check.

To return to the musical theater analogy, marketing involves the behind-the-scenes work, such as viral marketing, branding, relationship marketing, advertising, and direct mail campaigning. They are the stagehands that embody the “Lights! Camera!” phrases, wherein the sales team are the actors that initiate the “Action!” portion of that phrase. Sales involves the direct one-on-one meetings, the cold calls, and networking.

A musical production takes different characters with contrasting viewpoints and intentions, plays their conflicting goals off one another, and throws them together for a giant choreographed conglomeration of singing and dancing. While initially contentious and fragmented, the result is a crescendo of harmonious voices and synchronized spins, a performance worthy of an encore.

To understand the bits that each ‘character’ (aka department) plays in the musical, it helps to examine how each come to the stage. As described in Forbes magazine, “As long as you are selling to homo-sapiens, the fundamental motivations to buy and the skills to obtain purchase commitments will remain the same. People may go about selecting a consultant, a cloud-based storage system or a box of cereal in a different set of steps, but people buy emotionally and justify their decisions intellectually.”

To paraphrase, the tactics that sales teams use to convert leads into sales remain consistent year after year. The tactics that marketing teams use must change and evolve year after year, however.

In 2005, marketing was defined as a one-way communication intended to bring about interest in a product or service, and selling was a two-way communication designed to enable the prospect to do 70 percent of the talking.

In 2017, such a definition seems antiquated. Advancements in technology ensure that marketing is now a two-way street. In striking contrast to years prior, marketing can now be an exchange with the prospect doing the majority of talking for the more tech-savvy marketers out there.

Bridging the Sales and Marketing Wedge

Not to underplay the very real emotions that collide when sales and marketing departments discuss one another, the way to mend such relationships and get them working in harmony can be revealed by many a Kindergarten teacher. Play nice, play together, and engage in routines that promote both. There are thus distinct steps that can be taken to create a more positive synergy between sales and marketing departments. These include:

Recognizing what the other needs:

When surveyed, sales identified the following desires from marketing:

• Better quality leads (54 percent)
• More leads (44 percent)
• Competitive information and intelligence (39 percent)
• Brand awareness (37 percent)

In the same survey, marketing identified the following needs from sales:

• More effective lead follow-up (34 percent)
• Consistent use of systems, such as Customer Relationship Management software (32 percent)
• Feedback on marketing efforts and campaigns (15 percent)
• Consistent use of messaging and tools provided by marketing (13 percent)

Engaging in face time

Note that this isn’t some hidden reference to Apple’s FaceTime. Instead, it refers to that old-fashioned form of dialogue involving people looking at one another and communicating. To clarify, it also doesn’t mean that the VP of marketing sits down with the VP of sales to have a conversation. It means that several people from the marketing team sit down with several people from the sales team and hash it out. It means bringing data to the table to support criticism and encourage celebrations. HubSpot recommends weekly meetings that last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

Sitting together

Those who sit together tend to bond together—and the same principle applies to the workplace. Rather than encouraging a siloed approach to the workplace, mix it up. Place every sales team member next to a marketing person, and vice versa. When they understand what the other person is dealing with, it helps them become more effective at their own jobs.

While sales and marketing each present unique contributions to the musical performance that is the sales funnel, both teams are necessary for a successful production. Though sales approaches tend to remain the same over the years, and marketing tactics frequently change, their commonality rests in a shared desire to increase company revenue.

Dan Sincavage

Dan is a Co-Founder of Tenfold and currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer. Dan oversees the Tenfold sales organization, manages strategic partner relationships and works with key enterprise accounts to ensure their success with the Tenfold platform.

This article was originally posted at Tenfold.com

The accuracy of forecasts affects every aspect of a company, from the most minute details to decisions that may shape the future of the organization itself. When you miss badly, there are consequences. If you’re an enterprise player you could end up like IBM, jettisoning nearly $9 billion of value in a matter of hours after failing to meet earnings expectations. If you’re an organization with unreliable coffers, you may simply cease to exist. But to become a forecasting soothsayer, you have to know when data tells the entire story, and when it needs to be supplemented.

Learn to differentiate between intuition and bias

In business situations, we aren’t always blessed with the gift of definitive evidence, and this is never true more often than in the case of sales forecasting. Forecasting is inherently a mix of art and science, which means it inevitably must incorporate some component of qualitative valuation.

The key takeaway, however, is not all qualitative valuations are created equal and learning to differentiate between them will have important ramifications for the ultimate success of your forecasting. For instance, human intuition is one of our most powerful traits as a species because it allows us to examine patterns and connect the dots in the absence of statistical proof. But, on the flip side of intuition is bias which causes us to favor an established narrative even in the face of contradictory evidence.

Don’t ignore anecdotal accounts…

When it comes to forecasting, regular meetings with your sales team will be among the most important tools for you to rely on. No one knows more in-depth details about the state of their accounts than the reps who work with them, and these insights will prove invaluable in many ways when you are making key forecasting decisions.

An ample portion of these meetings will center on the review of quantitative data, of course, but that isn’t the only reason why they are necessary. Your sales reps will also be able to impart anecdotal evidence that may have an effect on your choices, and it’s important to give them their due. Sometimes, a salesperson might have good reasons to include potential revenue in a forecasting meeting that might not be found yet in the available data.

…but don’t put all of your stock in them, either

That being said, it’s important to remember that including too much anecdotal evidence that doesn’t have quantitative backing can wildly skew your forecasts.

Specific situations can unfold in multiple ways and for myriad reasons, but long-term trends are almost always supported by data. Data itself tells an important story, and frequently ignoring these stories in favor of enthusiastic accounts can lead to trouble.

Also, remember that forecasting is going to be a learning process for anyone, no matter how much experience you have. But instead of using this truth as an excuse to make mistakes, use it as an opportunity to learn from your process and improve your technique. If you incorporate an anecdotal prediction that doesn’t pan out, investigate the causes in detail so you have a baseline of experience the next time a similar issue arises.

Balance historical trends with more recent results

Historical performance results are a popular tool for sales forecasters, and for good reason. Data from the past has an important role to play in forecasting, often because established institutions have a tendency to behave predictably. Companies that have existed for a decent amount of time can gather much of their forecasting data from their own historical results, but even startups can find value in examining industry trends and performance patterns of certain markets.

However, markets are constantly evolving which is why it’s unwise to rely solely on historical precedent in your industry. Industries, product markets, and individual companies are subject to the forces of macroeconomics, regulation, and technological upheaval, and therefore these factors must be integrated accordingly.

Understand the forecasting risks specific to your organization

Successful forecasting is all about mitigating risks and knowing when to take them, so it’s pertinent to examine the concept of risk from a more concrete perspective. Every organization is subject to specific endemic risks that can have a massive effect on their ability to forecast with precision. The better you understand them, the quicker you will be able to recognize and account for them.

For instance, you might have an accurate assessment of how many raw prospects you are able to convert in a quarter, yet you might be in danger of consistently overestimating the average deal size due to a specific product quirk. Do your salespeople, like those surveyed across over 500,000 opportunities, have a tendency to underestimate win probability, and time to close? Or, there could be an inherent feature in your sales cycle that occasionally pushes large deals into the next forecasting period. Know your sales process inside and out, and you’ll be able to adjust for factors outside of the normal data stream.

Author

Danny Wong is a marketing consultant, sales strategist, and writer. He is a member of the marketing team at Tenfold, which provides a seamless click-to-dial solution for high-performance sales teams. Connect with him on Twitter @dannywong1190.

This article was originally published at Tenfold.com

What you say on your sales emails is as crucial as what you’re actually selling. An email is significantly different from a call or a face-to-face meeting. With emails, you can easily be ignored.

Keep your email off the spam folder by catching your reader’s attention. Use sales language that is powerful and can convert your audience into buyers.

1. Benefits

When it comes to sales words, benefits trump specifications and features, almost always. Using ‘benefits’ shifts the focus from impersonal details that may or may not interest your readers. You only have a few seconds before they click the delete button.

So, appeal to their needs. Sell your product’s benefits by talking about how it can improve people’s lives.

2. Value

Engage Selling Solutions owner Colleen Francis once claimed in her book Nonstop Sales Boom that customers “…only care about value and achieving their objectives.”

So, on email, talk about value, not price. Value is a powerful word. Price is objective; value is variable per person. When you use the word, you reach out to each person’s sensibilities. They think and assess for themselves. They might even click on your link to learn more about what you offer.

As Warren Buffet, American business magnate and philanthropist, said: “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”

3. Show

As sales words go, ‘show’ is a positive interactive word that you can use to imply your willingness to communicate with your audience. It works better than ‘learn,’ which – regardless of its positive meaning – implies one-sidedness. When you say ‘show,’ you are reaching out and telling your reader that you’re there to help.

Instead of saying “learn more about our product,” say: “Let me show you how our product adds value to your life.” It makes people feel good and signals what could be the start of a good business relationship.

4. You

Sales is not about you, your quota or that sales team leaderboard you so want to top. It is about the client. Without their willingness to listen, you won’t be able to take further steps in making the sale. And, people always pay attention when you start talking about them.

Even on email, your choice of pronouns communicate what you value more. So, use ‘you’ instead than ‘I.’ Because, in the end, you want your reader to think about themselves and the value that your product brings into their life.

5. Because

Harvard University professor and social psychologist Ellen Langer once did a study on the impact of using ‘because’ in phrasing statements. She went out to see if people would let her cut in line using these lines, alternately:
“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?”
“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?”
“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?”

The last two sentences that used ‘because’ gained around 90% affirmatives. People responded more positively when a reason was offered.

So, when you make a statement – let’s say a claim about your product – add in a ‘because’ and then explain why. People become more open when they try to understand.

6. And

Usually, salespeople use ‘but’ when trying to counter an objection. This is a negative word because ‘but,’ as is, signals an opposition. Your prospect knows that you are about to argue with an opposing statement. This is likely to put them in a defensive.

Instead, when you need to append anything to an original statement, use ‘and.’ This is an inclusive word. When used, regardless of how you use it, you sound like you agree.

Take, for instance, these examples by Seamus Brown, a sales trainer:
“I see that you only have a budget of $50,000, but let me tell you why our system costs $100,000.”
“I see that you only have a budget of $50,000, and let me tell you why our system costs $100,000.”

Not only does the second statement sound more positive. It also acknowledges the client’s reservations and offers an explanation to counter the client’s statement, without sounding negative.

7. Power Words/ Emotions

When you sell, you not only appeal to a person’s needs and values. You also appeal to their emotions. Strong feelings, such as joy, fear and distress, come with certain predictable responses.

If your sales strategy requires appealing to these emotions, then you should use words that could evoke them. A good guide is Jon Morrow’s online article called “317 Power Words That’ll Instantly Make You a Better Writer.” The words he put together are known to evoke certain human emotions. Of course, choose your words wisely. Be clear about what you want to achieve first.

8. Free

Ali Abdullah, an entrepreneur, once claimed that: “Two of the most powerful words in the English language are ‘free’ and ‘sex.’ While the latter is a bit racy, the former presents an opportunity all brands should capitalize on.”

‘Sex’ has no place in your sales email – unless, of course, it’s what you’re selling and it’s legal. ‘Free,’ on the other hand, offers many possibilities.

Consider a University of Minnesota 2012 experiment wherein they made consumers choose between similarly-sized lotion bottles. One claimed to offer 50% more free lotion while the other was cheaper by 33%. People chose the bottle with the free content by about 73% of the time.

Dan Ariely, a behavioral scientist, claims that ‘Free’ is always the more interesting offer because it increases the value of the product.

9. Imagine

‘Imagine’ is one of the most powerful sales words you can use in your email. It invites your reader to experience your product vicariously through imagination. When they do this, they stop being passive listeners. They become active participants who, alongside you, are thinking about a better future because of your product.

10. Opportunity

In sales, you want your prospect to acknowledge a problem and then see your product as the solution for that problem. The thing is, ‘problem’ is a negative word. It puts people on the defensive and makes them less open to discussing possibilities.

An easy fix is to use the word ‘opportunity’ instead. Because, in truth, a problem is also an opportunity to achieve something better. You just have to make your prospect see it, and take action.

“Your problem is that you’re hungry.”
“You now have the opportunity to eat what you love.”

Check out the two statements above. They both describe the same situation. However, the second one is more inspiring. It makes you want to reach for the nearby fork and eat with gusto!

11. Their Name

People want to feel that you are speaking to them directly, and that they’re unique to you. You can communicate this simply by saying their names. This is a powerful move and it tells your audience that you’re paying attention.

You can easily do this over the phone or face-to-face. It is harder with sales emails, however, especially when you’re doing blast emailing. A work- around here is to use mailing programs that allow you to use variables in your email text. A simple use of the “first name” variable in the greeting section of your email can make a big difference.

Author: Dan Sincavage

Dan is a Co-Founder of Tenfold and currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer. Dan oversees the Tenfold sales organization, manages strategic partner relationships and works with key enterprise accounts to ensure their success with the Tenfold platform.

This article was originally published at Tenfold.com

Think of the traditional sales funnel as a casualty of today’s digital innovations. The internet, mobile access and smartphones, and the social networking web have transformed the current sales landscape into one where the funnel no longer applies.

According to a survey done by SiriusDecisions, the buyer’s journey is now 67 percent digital. Our current unrestricted access to information has changed the way people make purchases. Buyers go through the sales funnel not from the top down. Instead, they come in at varying stages, navigate the funnel erratically, and consume content at every stage of the buyer’s journey.

This puts your content marketing – as well as its offshoot, video marketing – in the forefront. Is your content marketing aligned with what your sales team needs, in order to do the job of developing relationships and closing deals? Is your sales team armed with marketing collateral suitable for the new sales environment?

How People Consume Content Today

A study by the 2014 Marketing Leadership Council of CEB (now known as Gartner) claims that 57 percent of the purchasing decision have been made even before a customer meets a salesperson. This has limited marketing’s capacity to educate and influence, which are some of its primary roles.

Access to information is at the heart of this reality. People are consuming content in increasing levels. According to research done by Hubspot Research in 2016, video content tops the list, followed closely by social media, news and long form business content. Of these sites, Facebook has the most impressive increase, up by 57 percent.

Mobile usage is on an uptrend too. In fact, it has surpassed desktop usage, as of 2016.  Here, social media and video content are in close contention for the top spot, at 52 percent and 49 percent, respectively. Mobile notifications have likewise increased by 34 percent, beating conventional content aggregators, such as RSS.

Video Consumption Trends

It is worthwhile to note video content’s increased prominence as the leading content format for regular and mobile internet use. According to the Hubspot research, almost half the respondents watch at least an hour’s worth of videos a week. Leading video sites, Facebook and YouTube, likewise peg their views at billions of videos each day.

Interestingly too, another study – this time by Forbes – says that 75 percent of surveyed executives view work-related videos regularly, almost half of which are done through YouTube. Of these, 65 percent are spurred into action, such as visiting linked business websites. Another 53 percent extend what they had seen on video format by conducting further research. This behavior is shared across all executive age levels.

Content Consumption and its Implications on Marketing

All this implies an evolved B2B and B2C consumer. Buyers have become sophisticated, making the most of information that’s literally at their fingertips. They get online when necessary, wherever they are. They look or ask for information. They can make decisions on the spot, even without the intervention of a sales rep.

The biggest challenge for marketing and sales teams today is penetrating this web of information, such that you are still able to extend your message to your target audience. Research suggests that videos are the top format to get your full message across. Of course, this does not mean abandoning other content formats; there are advantages, depending on your industry.

In the past, we’ve used the sales funnel to map your buyer’s journey: to see where your customers are, and to know and provide the information that they need and the marketing collateral your sales team needs. We need to rethink this funnel to consider the new realities of the digital sales landscape.

Why the Traditional Sales Funnel No Longer Works

Take the story of Sephora, as shared by its CMO Julie Bornstein. Sephora is a French chain of cosmetics stores that has been around since the late 1960s. As with others in its industry, it has relied on marketing to generate brand awareness. Word of mouth from its advocates or brand ambassadors helps too.

Bornstein and her team has seen how the sales landscape changed in the digital age. Everything had to be “quicker, faster and further.” So, they brought together all the stages of the funnel and instead, created a community.

Within the community, people can discover solutions to their problems and learn about products. Users from different stages of their buyer’s journey can ask questions, decide/ change their minds, and perhaps eventually buy. They might even end up at an actual store, where a beauty specialist can assist them. But, even before that happens, a good amount of discovering and learning has taken place. It’s not far-fetched to think that the customers who do go to the store have made up 57 percent of their minds.

This kind of approach to marketing is no longer unique. Others are beginning to take this non-linear path. The biggest critique of sales funnels, after all, is their linearity, which does not jive with the need to be “quicker, faster and further.”

Everyday Example of a Non-Linear Buyer’s Journey

Sephora’s case is not an isolated one. For both B2C and B2B businesses, customers are taking it upon themselves to learn about their options first. They visit company websites, support forums, blogs, review sites and social media venues to find out more about the product they’re interested in. They talk to friends – and even non-friends, for that matter, as long as they can be reached online – for recommendations and expert opinion.

Even on a typical e-commerce site, such as Amazon, discoveries are made each second. A customer is a click away from buying or changing their minds.

The Customer Decision Journey: An Imperfect Alternative

Rethinking the sales funnel is a way of understanding the new buyer. It gives us an idea where their touchpoints (opportunities for engagement) are, and how we, as marketers and sales professionals, can extend a helping hand.

The funnel alternative Customer Decision Journey was popularized by McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. Here, the funnel is completely removed from the buyer’s journey. Instead, the process is a circle with one’s purchasing decision at the core.

And while this is inherently better than the sales funnel, it is still lacking. It still puts the purchasing decision or transaction at the center, which is not the case for customers. As software company SAP Digital’s Chief Digital Officer Jonathan Becher says: “…The pivot is the experience, not the purchase.”

The Customer Engagement Journey

The need to not make the purchase the center is best reflected in the case of advocates. Advocates are brand ambassadors – or fans or followers, to use social media parlance. Today, you don’t need to buy in order to become an advocate. As Twitter’s Global Brand Marketing VP, Joel Lunenfeld says: “You no longer have to be a customer to be an advocate. The new social currency is sharing what’s cool in the moment.”

For instance, you don’t need to own a Tesla to follow Elon Musk on social media and be excited to see what he will do next. You don’t need to cook like a chef or be near any of his restaurants to watch Gordon Ramsay’s cooking demos on YouTube. But, what you become is an advocate. You are engaged with their brands, and would likely share interesting content that comes from them.

Credit card company Visa’s Chief Brand Officer, Antonio Lucio, explains this as making the relationship the center, instead of focusing on the purchasing decision or transaction. He says that: “When you change from decision to engagement, you change the entire model.”

He argues that today, there are a lot more opportunities to engage than to transact. And, while this does not quickly translate to sales, it develops a relationship that will be worth more than one transaction.

Aligning Marketing with Sales

“… Getting the sales and marketing teams to synergize is organizational goal number one. Every success grows from their collaboration and free exchange of ideas, because you can’t serve the customer right when your best people are working blind.” – Marshall Lager, Managing Principal at Third Idea Consulting, a social CRM and SMM consulting company.

The Sales Funnel and Customer Decision Journey will always be there, referred to – even by us – every now and then. It is an easy way to compartmentalize the movement of our leads and customers. Within the limited capacities of these models, they can still work on certain situations.

However, this shouldn’t hinder us from learning the true buyer’s journey – the one that goes “quicker, faster and further.”

After all, what we really want is to align the content marketing that we do with what our target audience needs – and what our sales teams need, as well. To do this, it is best to leave these two models up in the attic to gather dust.

Any approach or model that hinges on transaction or the purchasing decision is bound to miss out on the limitless engagements made possible by digital technology. Content is key to these engagements. In fact, it is of utmost importance during that span of time our market hasn’t reached out to our sales team. It is how we penetrate a web full of information and get our message across. And, further down the buyer’s journey, it is what we need to arm our sales teams with: engaging, useful content.

So, in choosing a framework through which you can align the efforts of your marketing and sales teams, remember these:

• The path to purchasing is no longer linear. Our customers follow a web of information, and go back and forth (up, down and around), before making a purchase. In some cases, the buyer’s journey takes months at a time, and after viewing several content. In others, it can take seconds.

• There are several dimensions to social influence. It is no longer the sole function of your marketing team to build your brand. The internet does some – if not, a lot – of the work for you. Keep track of your online reputation. There are several free and paid tools you can use for this.

• Don’t disregard your advocates. Whether or not they’re customers, these advocates have a social clout that can be to your advantage. When planning your content and video marketing strategies, keep them in mind.

• Focus on the relationships that you build with those you engage with through your content and video marketing. Don’t put transaction or the purchasing decision as your end goal; the digital sales landscape does not work that way.

• And, whatever you do, measure. You won’t likely get to the best approach to an aligned sales and marketing on the first try. (And no, perhaps not even on the second nor third.) There will be a need to calibrate and recalibrate your approach, until you learn the common paths taken by your customers.

Do so methodically, through available analytics tools. Make sure to measure important metrics, over a period of time, especially when you recalibrate your approach.

There are a lot to look forward to with marketing and sales teams that work together to take on the immense digital sales environment.

This article was originally published at Tenfold.com
 

Where do you look for leads?

Building relationships is at the heart of sales prospecting.

After all, it’s the process of reaching out and connecting with potential customers–tapping the opportunity to convert them into clients. No, it’s not just a numbers game. Carefully knowing your prospects and talking to them based on their interests are keys to successful prospecting.

Sales Development: It’s a process

Prospectors are often called sales development representatives or SDRs. The keyword here is development. Sales prospectors nurture and deepen relationships with prospects until they are ripe for lead qualification. Your job as a prospector involves engagement that exceeds a one-and-done approach.

It’s certainly a lot of pressure since the funnel doesn’t move along unless you clear prospects, but there are ways to be more efficient and effective in prospecting.

There are a lot of tips out there, but we figured you need something you can do right now–today.

We put together this list of 5 things you can implement right after you finish reading this post.

1. Research your prospects

We don’t mean filling out basic information on your target sheet. We mean research.

One by one, dig through their professional histories, recent business partnerships, company’s business decisions, investment & funding information, among a trove of other details. These are need-to-know information and shouldn’t be relegated as results of a one-off investigation while you were in the zone.

An interesting take on sales prospecting and research was presented in a Harvard Business Review article entitled The End of Solution Sales. The authors argued that selling is not always about how useful the product is to your prospect. Your sales performance is reliant on how you find the right people to coach how to buy, they said.

The article further asserted that sales professionals should be able to identify points where the customer can be lead toward a sale–something only possible by knowing your targets well and prospecting in-depth.

Knowing these intimate details contribute to the diamond-cut specificity of how you connect to the person and eventually engage with a personalized approach. Know your prospect’s persona. Obviously, don’t drop the information while you’re in contact. These details support the front end while keeping quiet in the back.

2. Send better emails

Writing emails is easy. Writing emails that will get replies? One of the toughest things to figure out.

Fortunately, years of experience of SDRs in sales prospecting through email have produced a bevy of model practices you can learn from.

Here’s what you should remember:

• Begin the email by mentioning a recent notable event involving your particular prospect or their company.

  In the search bar of your search engine, type in the name of the company–and the particular prospect’s name, if possible–then filter by date. Search the past month or week. See something interesting? Jackpot. Mention that. That’s your ego-bait, your hook.

• Got the address? Write the email now.

  In sales prospecting, you can’t afford to waste time. Don’t even get the idea to delay the email to come off as a busy pro. Depending on how you got the address or how the initial connection was, not reaching out right away can freeze your prospect.

• Not all prospects are warm enough to receive a demo. To build authority and trust with them from the get-go, give your prospects something of value.

  The free item could be an ebook, an article, or even some videos. Of course, you should have these tools. Your company needs to invest in content that helps your target buyers. Think of it as a content upgrade for your email.

• Ask questions.

  Want to make the prospect feel valued? Let them talk. Make them talk. Not only do questions productively nudge prospects towards a reply, but they also fetch valuable information to add to your prospect profile. But, of course, don’t be annoying. Ask questions that are appropriate to the “warmth” of your prospect.

• Track emails.

  Products like SideKick notify you when the prospect opens your email. You also get notified even when they forward the message. Use this information to fine-tune your timing. Not only do you get data that helps improve your email tactics, but you also get a basis for when to follow-up.

  The rule is follow-up fast. Follow-up exactly a day–yes, 24 hours–after a prospect opens or forwards an email.

3. Use and maximize LinkedIn

LinkedIn’s recent emphasis on social selling is just another badge of approval: LinkedIn is a sales playground. It’s a place where influencers, decision-makers, thought-leaders and pioneers in their respective fields converge.

If your company’s marketing strategy doesn’t involve establishing a solid presence on LinkedIn, today’s the day you start. Check with marketing, and then go ahead and create your personal profile.

Things to remember:

• Company designations are the Facebook profile photos of LinkedIn.

  Yes, you are judged by it. Mentioned right under your name is your job and where you work. These are crucial to your prospect’s “reply or ignore” decision-making process.

• This is not Twitter. Treat LinkedIn like an everyday industry conference, only that it doesn’t actually end.

  You know how they say it’s better to talk to a few targeted people than release a business card confetti? The same principle applies in this platform. Screen the people you connect with. According to Mike Montague, contributing author to LinkedIn – The Sandler Way, the magic number is between 250 and 500.

• When the prospect searches for your company on LinkedIn, make sure they don’t land on an empty page.

  This is just unprofessional, and it screams amateur. It’s one of the quickest ways to freeze a lead on LinkedIn. Get your marketing counterparts on board. If that’s not possible, make it your mission.

• Be your best self–don’t add random people just because they’re a potential buyer or someone you know.

  Unlike other social media sites, privacy is highly valued on LinkedIn. You enter LinkedIn with a plan. For all else, there’s Facebook.You must make meaningful connections by interacting through the many networking opportunities LinkedIn affords its users. Be active in comment threads on shares and published posts, groups, and use the paid inMail feature that allows you to reach out to non-connections for a fee.

• Once you spot your targets, monitor their activity.

  Do they regularly share posts? Are they publishing on LinkedIn Pulse? Are they regularly commenting on other people’s content?Leverage this information. Be in the right place at the right time. Make a smart comment the prospect can see. Engage them in discussions.When you’ve warmed them up enough, you can explore sending an inMail.

4. Call at the right hours

There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to timing sales prospecting calls, but the rules of general business calling apply. Some professionals stand by calling when prospects have ‘settled in’ or are not so busy–meaning late in the morning or over the lunch break.

We strongly advise against this.

If you’re reading this over lunch, postpone your calls until late in the afternoon. People like to be contacted while they are in work-mode. Calling them during their leisure time–their small pockets of rest–is not only annoying but also rude.

In fact, a joint study by the Kellogg School of Management and the Sung Kyun Kwan Graduate School of Business revealed that the best times to call are 8:00 am to 9:00 am, and 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
Time for “The Ask”.

Particularly for the initial email, focus all your energy on crafting one and only one call-to-action. Make it worthwhile by ensuring that the question is appropriate, timely and actionable.

We find that asking for a phone call works best. Just make sure you keep in mind these tips:

• Suggest a specific time.

  
  Don’t expect them to consider both your schedules. Propose an exact time and date. If it doesn’t match with their schedule, they’ll probably suggest another exact time and date. You got the call.

• Let them know it will be quick. Twenty minutes max. People are busy. You are busy.
  

• Once you get a reply, confirm and send a calendar invite.

  This will make it easier for your prospect. Use Google Calendar and iCal tools to get this done. Scheduling apps like YouCanBookMe are also useful.

• And yes, it’s a process. Stuffing all your techniques in one call is just bad practice.

  Dr. Jeffrey Lant’s Marketing Rule of Seven is applicable here. You will need several “touches” just to get your prospect’s attention. Be brief, persistent and patient.

A call-to-action makes it easier to get prospects’ time and attention because it reduces the effort from their part. Don’t forget this.

Simple enough? Doable?

To recap, the five sales prospecting tips you’ll be applying after reading this post are:

1. Research your prospects

2. Send better emails

3. Use and maximize LinkedIn

4. Call at the right hours

5. Always have a call to action, a next step

These tips along with the right tools will make life easier for you–for sure.

The ‘R’ in Customer Relationship Management is where the magic of  lies: the customer relationship. In today’s world of over-crowdedness and overstimulation, relationships are the key to connecting with retail customers in a meaningful way. Research reveals —as does intuition—that retail customers now desire more personalized care in the marketplace, from the sales floor to social media platforms. Everyone wants to be treated as uniquely individual, not merely as a statistic or a consumer with money to spend.

Once a company focuses on building client relationships, they can expand their trust and loyalty factor. CRM software allows retail companies to be all the more attentive to their customers’ needs from the moment they first walk in the door.
CRM software makes personalization simple, thus providing customers with a good feeling about the brand. The integration of online and offline services creates a whole brand experience that makes customers feel welcome.

CRM software also increases productivity on the sales floor, getting employees to train faster, respond smarter, and sell easier. CRM retail software allows employees to collect valuable client information and integrate a company’s marketing efforts into the checkout process. Social media and mobile platforms can be drawn into the system as well to target potential customers right where they’re at—through their phones and computers.

How CRM Software Increases Productivity

CRM software makes the process of selling easier from the sales floor all the way up to the corporate offices and out to the supplier warehouses. Recording all client and merchandise data in one system makes everyone better at their jobs and saves time; it helps automate processes from email marketing to checkout to text message marketing, and everything in between.

Retail CRM software:

1. Personalizes customer care: by keeping track of their regular customers’ tastes and contact information, retail sales teams can respond to their customers’ particular needs in a much more personalized way. In fact, 73% of consumers say they’d rather purchase from companies that use their personal information to make their shopping experience more relevant. For bigger-ticket sales, when greater care and more touch points are required, CRM allows one salesperson to take over where another left off, so no one has to start the sales process from scratch again—a potential nuisance and buying deterrent.
2. Facilitates list segmentation: CRM software allows retail companies to filter customers through their email list by interest, life stage, demographics, or other factors right inside their system. By segmenting their email list this way, they can target relevant populations in specific areas with their marketing efforts. For example, retail stores might find it useful to target clients in the northern US with outerwear promotions as the seasons grow colder, whereas sending the same promotion to clients in tropical locations would be a waste of resources.
3. Streamlines the sales process: CRM software can be used to track customers’ original intents for coming into a store as well as all their purchases. This allows employees to pick up the conversation where they left off and equips them with the information they need to offer complementary items or upsells. If a customer recently purchased a washing machine, employees can suggest a matching dryer or ironing board based on the information available to them in the system.
4. Reduces employee training time: CRM retail software makes it easier to train new employees. By having all processes integrated into a single software system makes workers feel far more efficient at their jobs, increasing confidence on both sides of the transaction. Less time spent at the checkout counter creates more time for engaging with customers and learning more about the product.
5. Simplifies stock management: Integrated CRM software that allows employees to check stock levels improves the customer experience. When an employee has access to stock levels at other stores or warehouses, they can do everything possible to obtain what their customers want. This also makes it easier for managers and corporate employees to manage stock from afar.
6. Syncs with other programs: CRM for retail often syncs with other programs such as payment processing systems, email providers, and accounting software. These integrations make all employees more productive by giving them immediate access to the information they need.
7. Integrates mobile and social platforms: Integrating mobile and social platforms into the sales process with CRM software increases the productivity of salespeople by an estimated 11-14%. By expanding the reach of their marketing beyond the walls of the store, retail businesses can boost their marketing productivity and increase their returns.

How CRM Software Increases Profits

Retail stores that utilize CRM software correctly will:

1. Increase leads: CRM software allows retail sales teams to capture contact information and email addresses as a normal part of the checkout process. Consumers are typically receptiveto giving out their email addresses in exchange for deals sent straight to their inboxes and expedited shopping experiences. When salespeople collect contact information, they increase their customer databases and increase their marketing reach.
2. Enhance loyalty: Customers return to stores where they’re known and offers are customized to their needs. CRM software helps retail stores enhance this loyalty factor by getting to know their customers. For example, collecting birth dates allows companies to send their customers incentives on their birthdays, bringing customers back into their stores by showing their human side. Recruiting customers into loyalty programs through retail CRM platforms also creates repeat customers. VIP options further enhance relationships once a high level of loyalty has been reached. CRM for retail can help companies identify and engage with their most valuable customers.
3. Automate marketing: Automation applies particularly to digital marketing. Segmented email lists, for one, allow companies to send the right promotions to the right audiences at the right time. Say a company collects due dates from all expectant moms that purchase items or set up a registry in their store. With their CRM software, they can automatically send promotions for baby items at a defined stage in their development. This automated marketing system increases sales by reaching people at the right time without any extra work needing to be done.
4. Increase ROI: Using the data collected from their CRM, retail stores can figure out which marketing strategies were the most profitable and which were undesirable, so they can tweak and reconfigure those strategies and make them more effective. As they hone their strategies, retail stores can gauge their effectiveness and secure a greater return on investment.
5. Online/offline integration: Integrating online and offline sales strategies streamlines the entire selling process. It enables companies to reach customers while they’re not in their stores—and to do so in a direct way. Retail owners have a choice; they can either hope their customers will come into their store during a particularly exciting sale, or they can reach directly into their customers’ inboxes—even those belonging to customers who weren’t considering shopping—to make them aware of the sale and entice them in.
6. Increase referral rates: Happy customers are the best brand ambassadors. They will often refer their friends and sing a brand’s praises on social media. Implementing a customer referral program into your CRM sales program is a great way to take advantage of that tell-a-friend factor and increase profits. Rewarding customers through a referral program gives them an incentive to send their family and friends to the store.

The End Game

Increasing productivity and profits are two of the major objectives of retail companies. Integrating CRM software into their sales processes is one effective way retail stores can boost those two big P’s and build lasting customer relationships in the process. CRM software equips sales and marketing teams to do their jobs with greater efficiency and serve their customers better. It streamlines employees’ jobs so they can spend their work hours on more important tasks, such as attentive customer care.

This article first appeared on Tenfold.com.