In my last post I included a list of routine marketing tasks that could be delegated to automation software. But as formidable as this list of functions is, there is no tool to close the sale. Nor are there any tools that go beyond simple numeric scoring to determine the viability of a lead. For that, your B2B sales process requires the human touch--talented inside sales professionals who can answer questions, measure the readiness of a prospect to buy, make one-on-one sales calls, demonstrate products or set up demos on a trial or test basis. 

Software can free your sales force to focus on the human aspects of selling. By automatically managing the process of nurturing a prospect with a regular flow of digital marketing materials and reminding reps when it’s time to make a follow-up call or schedule a personal visit, you reduce the chances of a hot prospect falling through the cracks. 

For example, an inside sales person may call a lead to initiate a personal dialogue with them and determine how close they are to making a buying decision--or even if he or she has purchasing authority. Another may take an inbound call and spend several minutes answering questions. Both can enter information about their calls and trigger a series of follow-up events.

One call can initiate any number of marketing programs designed to nurture the relationship--automatically scheduling a series of emails to be sent at regular, predetermined intervals; sending white papers on recent research or case studies; or inviting the prospect to visit their booth at an upcoming trade show or attend an online webinar. In each case, the marketing automation software frees sales reps to concentrate on building a personal relationship and closing the sale.

Management benefits as well. Team leaders and sales managers can track a rep’s progress and get reports that provide an overall snapshot of their sales program at any time.

Create an integrated strategy that increases ROI

Marketing automation boosts the effectiveness of both your marketing and sales people.  But it cannot do their job. For this reason, the software needs to be fully integrated into the marketing and sales process. Here are a few steps you can take to ensure that marketing automation delivers on the promise:

1. Fully train marketing and salespeople on the software. Ensure that everyone knows how to enter data and generate reports.
2. Don’t kick off a campaign until all messages are fully developed and the content entered into the system. The software can’t send out emails that haven’t been written, or distribute alerts to social media sites that haven’t been linked to the system.
3. Remember the adage: Garbage in, garbage out. Software is only as useful as the data entered. Create parameters for the kind of prospect and customer data you need to collect.
4. If you have a numeric scale for qualifying leads, make sure everyone abides by that rating system. Inflated estimates are useless. To manage leads effectively, sales people need to err on the side of reality--not optimism.
5. Stress the need to use the system and keep their prospect and customer data up to date. Customers who have recently bought should not be accidentally scheduled to receive a series emails for a product or service they just purchased. That sends a bad message and makes it appear that you don’t care about each and every customer.

Marketing automation software will not replace your sales force. But used in conjunction with your inside and field sales professionals, it will increase your ability to nurture prospects and improve your ROI. And free your sales people to do what they do best—close sales.