Sales and marketing is critical to the success of a small business. Yet, in today’s market, it’s no longer viable for sales and marketing to operate in silos. They have to be collaborating, and they need the technology to do so.
In the Small Business Imperatives for the Digital Age report, two-thirds of the small businesses surveyed recognise the importance of sales and marketing activities, saying they enabled them to achieve their business goals. Sales and marketing-enabled goals were also listed among the top measures of success, including sales growth (40%) and customer acquisition (35%).
However, the lines between sales and marketing are becoming more and more blurred, as the customer becomes more and more sophisticated. Technology is needed to unify and connect the two functions, and deliver the experiences customers have come to expect.
The old way of connecting with customers simply doesn’t cut it anymore, says Merlin Luck, Commercial Sales Manager at Salesforce.
“We’re in the age of the connected customer,” he says. “The social, mobile and AI technology revolution has dramatically shifted customer expectations. Customers now expect personalised, connected and cohesive experiences.”
Gartner research shows that customer experience is the new brand battlefront. In 2019, 81% of marketers expect to be competing mostly or completely on the basis of customer experience. If sales and marketing aren’t working together, the risk is a disjointed, unsatisfactory customer experience.
“Customers now expect personalised, connected and cohesive experiences.”
To truly deliver a differentiated customer experience and easily scale your business as you grow, you need to have all the functions of your business, including sales and marketing, connected around the customer on a single CRM platform.
Yet, according to the Deloitte report, only 30% of small businesses have CRM software. But, of those that do, 94% reported an improvement from their previous system, and 28% earn more revenue, on average, than those businesses using spreadsheets, paper or no system.
Small businesses have a big opportunity for improvement with CRM, and more and more are starting to understand that such technology is needed in the age we’re in. In 2017, 59% of small businesses who didn’t use a CRM felt their existing system was good enough, while only 39% said the same in 2018.
“28% of small businesses with a CRM earn more revenue, on average, than those businesses using spreadsheets, paper or no system.”
Luck explains that you shouldn’t think of a CRM as just a system of record.
“A good CRM is not a rolodex where you store your customer data. A good CRM is a system of engagement that enables you to connect with your customers across functions to create personalised connected experiences,” he says.
“For example, marketing can hand over a lead to sales at the right time and they can engage in a contextually relevant way, accessing all previous interactions.”
Cloud technology has created a level playing field, giving small businesses access to the same tools enterprise businesses are using to connect with customers. And Luck believes small business has a distinct advantage over enterprise organisations.
“Small businesses are agile and nimble. If you combine that agility and the disruptive thinking of a startup with enterprise-grade technology, you’re in a powerful position to deliver connected customer experiences and drive hyper growth,” he says.
“Small businesses are agile and nimble.”
To succeed in the age of the connected customer, small businesses need to think of technology as an integral part of everything they do, both at a strategic and operational level. The danger comes when a business doesn’t have a connected technology strategy and ends up with a ‘Frankenstein’ approach.
“A business might go out and buy a great little marketing tool and a great little sales tool, and over time they end up running their business off a dozen fragmented applications,” says Luck.
“Not only does the total cost of ownership skyrocket when you’re adding technology in this piecemeal way, but it’s also impossible to have a single view of the customer because every function is working in a different application.”
Here’s five ways technology can help sales and marketing functions connect more effectively:
The Big Red Group (BRG) is one small business that’s prioritised the implementation of technology, enabling cross-functional collaboration — it had to if it wanted to achieve its mission of becoming the leading ecommerce retailer in Australia.
“Such a lofty goal required us to know our customers on a deeper level and have the ability to truly nurture supplier relationships,” says David Anderson, CEO and Co-Founder of the Big Red Group, the parent company of brands such as RedBalloon.
Big Red Group is now able to personalise its customer experience, scale its online marketplaces, have a single view of the customer across multiple marketplaces, and create intimacy between customers, suppliers and employees.
Discover how digital technologies can impact the revenue and growth of your small business. Download the Small Business Imperatives for the Digital Age report.