When you become aware of a problem in your business, it’s usually not long until you also realize it’s a symptom of a larger issue. If you decide to make some changes, it’s critical to look at the bigger picture: why you think change is warranted, what factors are behind how things are now, and what will happen if things stay the same over time. It’s complicated to disassemble and rebuild how you do things, and it might just feel easier to resign yourself to the status quo.
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If you work in manufacturing or industry, you know operations management is a fundamental part of running a successful company. But you might not be aware that in the last 10 to 15 years, the concept has become important in marketing too. Just like in manufacturing, it’s all about keeping an eye on production and workflow from start to finish, making sure teams and tasks are coordinated to achieve optimal efficiency. Along the way, procedures might be tweaked based on KPIs, budgeting, and accounting data to stay responsive to clients and adapt to the needs of a specific campaign. And of course, one of the biggest goals is gaining visibility into projects to accurately measure (and hopefully improve) return on investment or ROI.
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As interns, we are considered the “fresh eyes” of the industry. So why is it, in school, the term CRM is glossed over? We hear it in our lectures. We know the meaning of the term. Customer Relationship Management. But what does that really mean? And why is it so important? They teach us that it is a common tool used in the sales and marketing industry. But what kind of tool, and what exactly does it fix? The vitality of such a platform and the processes that allow a business to follow a buyer’s journey may not always be apparent, and many companies may not be using their CRM to the best of their ability. The buyer’s journey is important, yes, but many people are not ready to take that journey and may only be “flirting” with the idea, shopping around as we say.
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You’ve probably heard of sales enablement, but you might wonder what it means exactly. I think of it this way: if you work in sales, any tools, processes, or systems you use to become more efficient and productive at your job are part of sales enablement. Another way to look at it, according to Forrester, is that sales enablement is: "a strategic, ongoing process that equips all client-facing employees with the ability to consistently and systematically have a valuable conversation with the right set of customer stakeholders at each stage of the customer’s problem-solving life cycle to optimize the return of investment of the selling system."
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In business, resources are always limited, which means using them wisely for the greatest return. It’s true of how you approach your production lines, employee schedules, and facilities management, and it should apply to your marketing efforts too. If you’re like many companies, you have tools, staff, and a budget in place for marketing already. But are they being used as well as they could be? Here’s our take on the smartest ways to deploy marketing resources.
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It’s a fact of business development: despite all your hard work, sometimes your sales pipeline gets low. You might be tempted to ride things out and double down on sales and marketing efforts. But does sticking with the same failing strategy ever produce different results? Over time things can really start to go awry and chip away at sales revenue: fewer leads, less prospect engagement, too many lost deals.
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When was the last time you scrutinized your sales process? Even if it’s not elaborate or formally documented in a flowchart, your company has some kind of sales process. If you’re not generating enough sales revenue, the process isn’t working. To find out why, you must break it down step by step to find the place(s) where things get stuck.
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We recently blogged about data terminology and several of the sources marketers use to gather insight, plan campaign strategies, and identify prospects. Today we’ll take a closer look at how to leverage some of those sources to develop useful, high quality datasets and contact lists.
When I heard that I was going to be a sales and marketing intern, I had no idea what to expect. I was very excited yet nervous at the same time. I had always been interested in sales but, to be honest, I had never sold anything. I want to take this time to share the 5 most important things I’ve learned as a sales intern and how they will continue to help me through the rest of my internship and career.
*Image source: http://blog.admissions.illinois.edu/?p=5218
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In my work helping companies build their businesses in the manufacturing, engineering, and technical markets, I often receive pushback about the importance of inbound, digital, and outbound sales and marketing. So many of the prospects I deal with on a day-to-day basis insist they don't need help. They tell me they know who their customers are, they are too busy to take on new business, or they get their business from referrals. Why are they so resistant to new growth strategies? As an engineer myself, I understand how my fellow engineers and industry professionals think and seek out information, but my experience on the sales and marketing side has given me some insights that I'd like share.
