Fuse Sales & Marketing with Automation to form the Perfect Trifecta

Tom Acklam, SalesDrip Jill Schmieg, Sol de Napes Marketing

• 12+ years in logistics & transportation

• Specializing in strategy, communications and marketing automation

WELCOME!

Jill Schmieg

Founder & Chief Strategistwww.soldenaples.com

WELCOME!

TomAcklam

President & CEOwww.salesdrip.com

• 20+ years in logistics & transportation• Started, grew & sold my group of international

transportation companies that included:• Brokerage (Asset Free)• Trucking (Asset Based)• 3PL• Warehousing / Trailer Storage• Forwarding

• Built my own automated sales & marketing system to grow my companies.• Refined over 18 yrs• Inside reps• Outside reps

• Hands on experience in transportation:• Sales Rep• Sales Manager• Multi Business Owner• Mergers & Acquisitions• Private & Public Company

We deliver custom turnkey Automated Sales & Marketing Systems in 4 to 6 weeks

By a show of hands:

Role:Marketing

vs. Sales

CRM/Automation:Using today

vs.Intend to use in the

future

Automation Defined

CRM…….a strategy for managing all your company’s interactions with current and prospective customers”. A CRM system saves information such as a customers addresses, names, phone numbers, and interactions with the company.

Marketing Automationas a system that, “allows companies to streamline, automate, and measure marketing tasks and workflows.”

Source: http://blog.capterra.com/whats-difference-between-crm-and-marketing-automation-software/

Automation & the “Funnel”

Source: http://blog.capterra.com/whats-difference-between-crm-and-marketing-automation-software/

Use of Automation is on the rise.

Research shows that:B2B customer will regularly use (on average)

6different channelsthroughout the decision journey

76% of them use three+ channels to gather information

82% use utilize search to interact with a company before making a purchase.

80% visit the brand website

79% read customer reviews and case studies

Source: http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/do-you-really-understand-how-your-business-customers-buy)

Sending emails and making cold calls is no longer enough to generate leads.

Let’s brainstorm:Where are the majority of leads coming from?

Hint: Think “inbound” as well as

the more traditional “outbound”.

Inbound SourcesWebsiteWhite PaperContent MarketingCold callingInternet SearchReferralsWebinarsSocialVideosExisting CustomersSEOEmail

Diversity of lead sources + desire to engage the buyer in a relevant way for where they are on their journey, use of email has evolved:

In response towhat a buyer expresses interest in

To nurtureuntil a lead is ready to buy

To supplement / align withsales during the sales process

Let’s brainstorm:

For the Top 3 lead sources you identified in your group, what action(s) do you

regularly/systematically take when the lead comes in?

ie. respond, engage, follow-up, etc.

Lead source – ‘next step’ actionsExample 1:Website: Assign lead score, internal notification to lead gen rep, Email/phone/drip, added to CRMExample 2:Webinars: email to sales, thank you to attendee, Writing super bowl adExample 3:Inbound lead: manually score lead/prequalify, email to VP of sales/rep, if unqualified, sent to other providers, auto-logged in CRM

The Sales Perspective

Marketing automation can eitherhurt sales or help sales.

Understanding Sales

Since we are at the TMSA, I’m going to specifically discuss Transportation Sales.

Show of hands:

Who has worked as a sales rep in transportation?

Transportation Sales

Challenges for the transportation sales rep:

• 98% of leads are not ready to buy when initially qualified

• Sales reps are time constrained

Typical Workflow of a Transportation Sales Rep* without automation*

Common Feedback - Leads

“Marketing sends us leads that are not ready to purchase. They are waisting our

time”

“We deliver great leads to sales but they don’t “do anything” with most of them.”

Marketing:

Sales:

Transportation SalesChallenges for the transportation sales rep:

• 98% of leads are not ready to buy when initially qualified

• Sales reps are time constrained

• Knowing when is a lead is open to discussing a new vendor

• Instincts and timing

• The 1st sale is an act of trust

• Earning repetitive sales - perception (trust)

Common Feedback - Content

“We use automation to engage our leads & customers with relevant content based upon triggers.”

“Marketing sends content to my contacts that makes our company appear as if the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.”

Marketing:

Sales:

What is missing? (Hint - marketing)

What is the solution?

Alignment

• Understanding how a sale is earned

• Identify expectations (handout)• Leads• Customers

Define the ideal lead:• Company type: ____________________________________• Company size: ____________________________________• Company location(s): _______________________________• Purchase type(s): __________________________________• Purchase frequency: ________________________________• What motivates a purchase: __________________________• Incumbent supplier: ________________________________• Decision maker title: ________________________________• Other: ___________________________________________

How this ideal lead is typically generated?(check those that apply)• ___Inbound Marketing (Adwords / Etc.)• ___Website Form (White Paper / Video / Report / Etc.)• ___Website Form (Rate Request)• ___Outbound Marketing Email• ___Direct Mailing• ___Sales Rep Cold Call• ___Tradeshow• ___Referral• ___Other:________________________________________

When should the lead be handed off to the sales team?• ___Completes a webform• ___Requests a quote• ___Meets some / all ideal lead criteria (define criteria)• ___Other: _______________________________________

What does the sales team require to make the handoff successful?• Access to contact’s interest indicators:• ___Webpage visits, frequency & time spent per page• ___Call to action clicks (what was the topic?)• ___Content downloads (Content)• ___Videos viewed (Content, frequency, viewed to completion?)• ___Other:__________________________________________________• Timeline of interest activities:

What is an acceptable time frame for closing the sale?• ____ days / weeks / months (circle one)• Other: ____________________________________________________

What should happen if a sale does not occur within the acceptable window of time?(circle one)• sales continues to follow up or lead goes back to marketing

What happens after a sale occurs & who manages the engagement(check those that apply)• ____ on boarding engagement by: sales or marketing (circle one)• ____ maintenance engagement by: sales or marketing (circle one)• ____ up sell opportunity by: sales or marketing (circle one)• ____ repeat sales engagement by: sales or marketing (circle one)• ____ time cycle sales engagement by: sales or marketing (circle one)

Sales & Marketing Alignment Form

Alignment

• Understanding how a sale is earned

• Identify expectations (handout)• Leads• Customers

• Establish requirements (sales / marketing)

• Set Goals, Milestones, Metrics

Execution

• Flowchart integrated sales & marketing process (closed loop)

Very inefficient due to:• Volume of repetitive

clerical tasks• Guessing which leads

are interested

Subject to leads “falling thru the cracks” because:• The “End” = not a closed loop

process• Follow up is initiated by the

sales rep• Rep prioritizes which leads get

attention

Typical Workflow of a Transportation Sales Rep* without automation*

Sample Workflow using Automation

Journey Journey Journey Journey

Alert Sales Rep

White Shapes = Manual TaskColor Shapes = Automation

Automated Activities could include:

• Schedule Call• Marketing Email• Survey Request• Activity Alerts• Direct Mail • Webinar Invite• Activity Invite

• Lunch• Sporting Event• Open House

• Content Offer • White paper• Video• Survey• Report

Execution

• Flowchart integrated sales & marketing process (closed loop)

• Integrate journeys into closed loop flowchart

Sample of a journey

To ensure a “closed loop” always make the “last step” is a trigger with a looped process

Decisions can be based upon:• field values• an email opening (or not)• a link was click• content download• video view• website conversion• opportunity value• much more

Delays can be based upon:• time values• calendar day values• business day values

Actions can include:• sending email• updating fields• sending alerts to users• scheduling activities for users• generating reports• triggering workflow automation• triggering other journeys• restarting the current journey

Execution

• Flowchart integrated sales & marketing process (closed loop)

• Integrate journeys into closed loop flowchart

• Build your system onto a platform that achieves your goals, enables measurement of milestones and provides real time metrics.

• Train users, measure & refine

Automating your sales & marketing process ensure your ideal best practices are always executed in an efficient and measurable manner.

Let’s bring it all together:“Customer Triggers” Exercise

Triggers can be things like:• Poor customer satisfaction survey response• Attended a webinar• new sales opportunity generated• Visited a product webpage on your website• Cold Call w-Voicemail from Salesperson• Sales quoted a deal, but it did not close• Lost customer renewal• New customer signed

Using the “Customer Trigger” template, map out the steps you would take to communication, market, engage or sell to the buyer with the trigger as your starting point

Conclusion

Automation platforms can automate and enable every step mapped out in the “Customer Triggers” exercise!

Learn more about features of marketing automation and CRM platforms at:http://blog.marketo.com/2012/11/mega-list-of-features-in-marketing-automation-that-you-wont-find-in-crm.html

APPENDIX

Session Description: B2B salespeople and marketers are finding new and innovative ways to connect touchpoints in the buyer’s journey leveraging marketing automation. From smarter ways to generate inbound leads to upselling and cross-selling to existing customers with outbound campaigns, marketing automation can transform your traditional go-to-market approaches. Ready to explore how responsive, engaging automation platforms can help you at every stage of the buyer’s journey? Then this session is perfect for you!

In this session, you will:

Learn how sales and marketing can work smarter together to win new business leveraging automation technology

Get hands-on examples of responsive campaign designs to help you deliver the right message at the right time, converting more leads to revenue

Leave with clever tips, tricks and tactics for translating buyer signals and triggers into actions you as a salesperson or marketer can take