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The strict divide between sales and marketing is disintegrating. The sales process has become more fluid as leads move back and forth during the sales cycle, giving teams in both departments one more reason to start working more closely together. Today, sales reps have just as much responsibility as marketers when it comes to personalizing the selling experience — and they have the tools to do it.
Take a look at the following tips to see how your sales and marketing teams can work together to better understand their customers’ needs, use data to make more informed decisions, and start approaching sales with a customer-centric mindset.
To connect with your customer, you first have to know your customer — and guesswork is no longer a viable option. This emphasis on making data-driven decisions is nothing new, but now the focus is on using this data to build a complete image of the customer: who they are, where they want to go in life, what’s keeping them from getting there, and how you can help.
Using a tool like marketing automation to collect behavioral data from prospects is the first step toward creating this detailed prospect profile, helping to improve sales intelligence, and arming sales reps with the information they need to keep their conversations focused on the customer’s needs.
Your sales reps aren’t limited to behavioral data collected through a marketing automation or tracking tool. They can also use social profile lookups or a tool like Data.com to tap into more detailed prospect information, like company size and annual revenue data. This gives reps one more way to personalize their sales pitches, ensuring that the selling process is always focused on the customer.
Today’s buyers are more demanding than the buyers of the past — they know that they have options, and they know that they wield the power in the selling relationship. That’s why a quick response to a buyer’s activities or inquiries (i.e. when your customers are showing interest) is essential for sales success. In fact, according to InsideSales.com, 35-50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first.
To ensure that follow-ups are always timely, sales reps can use a tool like marketing automation to get real-time alerts of prospect activity delivered right to their desktop, CRM, or mobile device.
The selling techniques of the past aren’t entirely outdated. While today’s reps have the ability to send instant communications and track their prospects’ online activities, there’s still something to be said for the face-to-face selling techniques popularized by the door-to-door salesmen. In our digital age, an in-person appearance by a sales rep can be just the push your customers need to go from “uncertain” to “close.”
While it’s likely not feasible to send your sales reps on-site as often as they’re needed, consider having a few reps at each industry event that you attend or sponsor to help answer your prospects’ and customers’ questions.
