Why Marketing Automation?We’ve always sold face to face
20 Nov 2017
So you’re thinking about investing in new sales reps or execs? But wait a minute. That could prove to be a costly decision, that takes time to secure a real ROI in terms of training, converting prospects into leads and so on. Read on to discover why Marketing Automation could be the better choice for your business.
What if there was a way of boosting your sales performance almost immediately, at a fraction of the cost?
Why Marketing Automation?
Technology that takes into account the changing face of the way people buy, fuelled by the internet?
Marketing Automation is your new best recruit. It can actually help your sales team to sell more and generate more value from their sales activities. 90% of buyers say that when they are ready, they’ll find you!
We understand that some companies might be a little concerned about how a Marketing Automated platform might change their present sales and marketing strategies.
Generating more sales-ready leads and securing a decent ROI are the top challenges that marketing teams currently face. So it’s important that you get your sales approach working.
Adjusting your sales techniques to cope with changing buyer practices
It would be wrong of us to say that face-to-face selling is completely dead.
It’s not that traditional selling can’t work. It’s just that buyers have changed because of the internet allowing them to find suppliers. And businesses need new ways of connecting with online prospects. To give them valuable content, in ways that they want and prefer.
A wake-up alert for some brands
In essence, Marketing Automation is a wake-up call for businesses big and small.
How dependent are B2B buyers on salespeople during the decision-making process? Apparently, 57% are less dependent compared with 2-3 years ago – and that percentage is likely to increase.
People generally don’t like to be pressurised into buying until they are ready. They feel qualified enough to find the right supplier, simply by asking Google to tell them who they should consider.
So it’s out with aggressive, persistent selling based on little or no information about what a customer actually wants. And in with more persuasive, dynamic content-based digital sales and marketing strategy. The latter creates a completely personal (and value-added) user experience, without the pressure. By simply giving prospects access to information they want to make a considered purchase.
The former responds to present-day digital trends, usage and the way we communicate with each other.
Making the job of the sales person much easier
Sales people still have a job to do in converting sales-ready leads. But their job is going to be less of a task, and more of a possibility with Marketing Automation.
SharpSpring will automatically notify your sales reps (by email or text) when contact with a lead is required. And also when a lead has requested a demo, which ones are hot or not (those with a higher ranking are more likely to buy sooner), prospects that have been away, but re-visited your website, etc.
All of this puts them in a stronger position to connect with, and convert the lead by responding with valuable content that builds trust and respect in your brand and abilities.
We know that 89% of B2B researchers/buyers use the internet during the B2B research process*
So don’t sack your sales team just yet, simply re-evaluate how you sell and whether it’s still as effective as it used to be, remembering that times have changed. A MAP (Marketing Automation platform) could actually save your business time, money and set up your future.
Perfect is a SharpSpring Platinum Partner and experienced growth marketing agency specialising in sales lead generation, through Marketing Automation. If you find our blog interesting then please take 2 minutes to make contact, so you can start benefiting from our experience and ideas.
*Think With Google