Marketing Clique

The process of implementing marketing automation can be an excellent exercise in understanding how sales and marketing can work more effectively together. The result? More business. I've been through two of these processes and can attest that it is helpful in bringing both marketing and sales to the same table.

Ultimately, marketing and sales should be coming together to define a process that can be done time and again. Campaigns can differ, but having an established underlying processes, combined with the right people and the right IT is the magic recipe. The following excerpt from a recent Manticore Technology whitepaper describes this well:

Marketers tend to think about marketing automation in the context of "campaigns." In reality, it's a layer above campaigns. Properly implemented, it's used to build a repeatable process to ensure that only qualified leads are sent to Sales, while the remaining leads are engaged in an ongoing, targeted dialogue to nurture their interest. With a strong process, the other two components, people and technology, can fall in place. Naylor Gray, director of marketing at Frost & Sullivan, sums it up this way: "Effective and sustainable marketing that drives revenue must be built on the right processes, technology and people. Companies that adhere to best practices along these lines close a lot more business. For Marketing to play a key role in the growth of a company, we believe you need to start with process, which guides and validates the people and technology investments." "With a strong process, the other two components, people and technology, can fall in place." —Manticore Technology Whitepaper

What this means to marketing

Take a leadership role and ensure that both marketing and sales are focused on the forest, not just the trees, by providing a roadmap for implementing whatever marketing automation you choose. Ensure that process is overarching. Sometimes salespeople need to be reigned in because they are feverish about specific campaigns and closing business ASAP. And sometimes sales can help keep marketing focused on what drives market share: signing more business.