Support your sales with marketing automation

Marketing efforts are necessary to nurture leads, but some B2B organizations are too small to maintain a staff of dedicated marketing professionals. It can be difficult for sales representatives to connect with prospects and close deals without having a deep understanding of what potential customers are really looking for. However, your sales team doesn’t need to constantly take shots in the dark to reach clients. An online marketing system can support your sales representatives without the need for additional staff members.

B2B buyers are more empowered than ever before, which means a great deal of the sales cycle takes place behind the scenes. Prospects are more likely to start their searches on Google, and they will contact companies when they are close to making a decision. In fact, many B2B firms are coping with fewer contracts, a Salesforce blog post said. This means sales professionals need to know how to upsell. Customers are putting more pressure on sales managers than ever before because they are equipped with information.

The shifting nature of B2B means sales representatives need to change how they approach leads. Cold calling is losing effectiveness because prospects are warier of sales pitches. However, marketing automation can streamline multiple business functions and help sales teams perform more efficiently.

Sales and marketing automation are the perfect match

One of the reasons marketing automation is an excellent sales tool is because it’s easy to integrate this platform with existing customer relationship management software. Most sales reps use some type of CRM program, and marketing automation can make it easier to communicate with prospects based on their information, according to Data Informed.

Marketing automation includes lead-scoring capabilities, which can significantly improve how your sales team approaches prospects. These tools generate a score based on leads’ actions. For example, if a lead requests more information or downloads a webinar, this would trigger a score. This prevents sales professionals from wasting time on the phone with prospects who have no intention of deciding on a vendor or buying for months.

In many cases, B2B firms have little control over the length of the sales cycle, Salesforce said. However, your employees can have some impact on the average size of a deal and the number of contracts gained depending on their practices. To boost these metrics, your reps need to have an accurate understanding of what clients are really looking for. The analytics tools in an automated platform can reveal a more complete picture of client behavior. In the changing nature of the B2B customer journey, marketing automation is an unbeatable tool for sales support, especially for companies that do not have dedicated marketing reps.

Lead scoring and nurturing help sales teams function more effectively

The B2B customer journey is far more independent than it used to be. While potential customers may enter the sales funnel far before your representatives realize it, they are already well on their way to choosing a vendor before they reach out to the sales team. Marketing automation can help you develop and publish content and stay in touch with prospects through email. However, this doesn’t add to sales reps’ workloads or require hiring marketing personnel. When prospects take certain actions, these platforms can automatically send out an email.

With CRM data, marketing communications, and sales functions integrated into one platform, your team can perform more efficiently. Reps will have a better idea of how to connect with leads and how to land the valuable upsell based on complete data on customer behavior.