Most high-performing companies use marketing automation. But without bidirectional CRM sync, sales and marketing collaboration stalls. More and higher-quality leads are on the wish lists of nearly all sales teams. And it’s not from a lack of trying. You’re working hard to give sales what they need, but missing data capabilities often hold you back.

Research shows that most high-performing companies use marketing automation. However, some of these tools lack bidirectional sync with your CRM, which creates disjointed sales and marketing collaboration.

When data can sync in “both directions” (from marketing to sales and back again), all teams have the latest information about your prospects. And the result is tighter marketing and sales alignment.

Solves the “guessing game” challenge

It’s no secret that prospects are demanding more personalized experiences. Seventy-one percent say they expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 76% get frustrated when they don’t.

Marketers use automation to provide more customized and meaningful experiences, but sales often doesn’t have access to the marketing data collected along the buyer’s journey. And when a salesperson calls a prospect, they need all the data they can get.

For example, instead of going into sales calls cold, what if bidirectional sync allowed the reps to see information like:

  • What web pages did the prospect visit?
  • What emails did they click?
  • What forms did they engage with?

With this data, the salesperson can understand buyer interests and identify the best talk tracks before jumping into a call.

Helps sales spot “hot sales leads” faster

Time is a fixed resource. That’s why sales gets so frustrated when they spend their valuable time on a lead that doesn’t pan out. And it’s also why they turn their attention to marketing.

One of the best ways to support marketing and sales alignment is to make sales’ job easier. And that starts with easy lead prioritization. It can transform comments like “Why does marketing send us such terrible leads?” to “Wow, these leads are really awesome!”

A tool that helps sales reps spot the best leads faster is lead scoring. It allows them to quickly see who in their pipeline needs immediate follow-up versus which leads need a little more nurturing before they’re ready to talk.

Lead scoring uses benchmarks and common metrics set by sales and marketing to clarify what constitutes a good lead. For example, once you build your lead scoring model, you enter your rules into the platform. Then, points are automatically accumulated on each of your prospect’s records once you add up those scoring rules. As a result, sales reps are much more likely to get higher-quality leads.

Also, a marketing automation tool that easily integrates with your CRM allows your sales team to see the lead score for every prospect. This visibility allows them to sort, prioritize, and engage quickly.

Measuring ROI and creating a closed-loop system

Marketing leaders cited proving ROI as their top challenge in a recent survey.

And even if you aren’t facing internal pressure around ROI, the ability to easily show it is always important (especially when those end-of-year budget conversations roll around!).

As you work to attach marketing efforts to results, a marketing automation tool that integrates bidirectionally with your CRM helps you measure results.

Here’s an example:

  • Closed-loop reporting capabilities link “closed won opportunities” to the appropriate prospects in your marketing automation tool.
  • Looking at the data, you can tie revenue to specific marketing touchpoints.
  • With this information in hand, you can demonstrate which campaigns are the most effective in converting leads to customers.
  • You can then use this data to prove ROI and leverage what’s working into future campaigns to scale results.

Read the full blog on our partner, Act-On’s website. Ready to begin your data cleanliness journey? Get a free assessment today:

 

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