With the widespread supply of automated materials, sales teams
can be more productive than ever. The
right automation tools can help sales teams communicate better internally,
develop personalized selling strategies and ultimately close more deals. While
customers are demanding more personalized, custom-built products and services,
businesses can deliver on this by incorporating
automations in their sales and marketing process. When done correctly, sales automation can
shorten the sales cycle and still improves the customer experience (CX) and
buying journey.
The right automations for sales may also benefit other teams including marketing and customer care. When customers are clearly identified and labeled during the sales process, marketing may be able to more effectively share product benefits and up sell later. Customer care teams can benefit from knowing what industry or position customers are in so they can provide better care.
While sales automation lets you track your leads, measure their behavior and approach them when they’re ready to make purchases, it can also be largely beneficial after the sale.
Here are a few reasons why sales automation should be your
focus this year.
1- Decrease Response
Times with Leads and Learn Customer Behaviors:
Marketing automation can reduce the time sales rep
spend prospecting, identifying and organizing sales leads. Rather than spend time doing repetitive
tasks in a CRM or manually organizing emails, by using automations, sales teams
can spend their time focusing on better customer engagement. But when’s the
right time to speak to a customer? Here’s how marketing automation tools work
to track customer behaviors.
Marketing automation tools will note when a lead
is signing up for a newsletter or posting queries on your site. To avoid
reaching out to the customer too soon, let the marketing automation be your
guide. It will monitor the customer’s behavior and compare it with other
customers.
When the customer posts their queries, marketing software will
alert you that it’s time to reach out to the customer and may even provide
guidance on what information would be helpful for the prospect. This improves
conversion rates and you can reach the customer when they’re ready to make a
purchase, which makes them feel your product is uniquely tailored to help them.
Automation tools can be included in:
- Email campaigns and newsletter sign-ups – identify who is ready to
start learning more about your product and what information is vital for them
to receive first. - Free ebooks – uncover which leads are looking for long form content
and define your organization as thought leaders. - Contests and giveaways – get prospects who know about your
organization excited about new products and services.
2- Decrease the Sales Cycle:
In sales, when a lead has been nurtured over time,
they’ll convert much faster. But, not every lead starts that way. Some leads
visit your site to explore brand options or gather research on pricing and
products. It’s during this information stage that automation nurtures leads
with appropriate questions.
Automated questions can gather more data on customers and
lead them further through the funnel.
Nurturing the lead can come through:
- SMS- when your customers and leads use texts to navigate site
features. - Emails- when you send newsletters or promotion materials.
- Contact centers- when your customer uses text or phone for queries.
Once the potential customer expresses a need to make a
purchase, the sales team can step in and help with order fulfillment. Because
the lead has been nurtured, the sales team can discuss the product or service
they wish to purchase and make personalized recommendations.
3- Improve Email
Marketing with Automation:
Businesses often use emails to communicate with
customers. Emails can serve as an introduction or way to push a lead through
the funnel.
With automation, emails are sent as soon as a lead has a request. Email templates are clear, concise and include a CTA. The messages can be customized and email marketing can be integrated with CRM. This improves conversion tracking with leads. While marketing automation with emails can increase your productivity.
There’s no guesswork in how to draft a message. Nor is
there concern over when to send a follow-up. The sales automation tools are set
up to trigger emails based on lead and customer requests.
Email automations can also be used after the initial sale
to notify users of new updates, or whitepapers that are specifically relevant
to their work. By continuing personalized communication after the sale you can
turn customers into life-long advocates.
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, sales automation can be a bridge between
sales and marketing and even customer care. The right sales automation tools
fill the gap between you and potential customers by providing helpful
information that allows sales teams to personalize communication. With more and
more customers demanding personalized products and services, using automation
can improving the customer experience, increases sales, and improve ROI.
