Question:
Getting the sales team to follow up with online sales leads can be a headache. What's the best scenario for dividing that follow-up responsibility between sales and marketing? Who should own it? Online leads are great, but what if I can't get my guys to chase them?
Answer:
As most people in the equipment industry are well aware, getting sales teams to follow up with leads can sometimes be as much of a task as generating the leads themselves. Salespeople traditionally have their own way of tracking and following-up with leads. This can vary from recording leads with pen and paper to typing them in a spreadsheet to entering them into a customer relationship management system (CRM). But without a uniform system to record how they track their leads, it can be difficult for the sales team to communicate their progress to other departments. So, when the marketing team starts asking salespeople about “how many online leads have been closed this month,” it can be tricky for them to answer.
Team SI has found that a lead nurturing platform, like Nurture, helps tremendously with dividing duties and assisting both sales and marketing teams. Nurture is a marketing automation and lead nurturing solution that brings together CRM, email marketing, lead scoring, sales pipelines, tasks and reminders to enable both teams to track online leads with little effort. It automates steps in the sales process while also giving deeper insights to the marketing team. Chasing leads takes time, so the tool assists salespeople by relieving them of some of the first-touch pressure. For example, it can send personalized emails automatically to online leads within any specified amount of time. Whenever a lead comes in, the platform can send notifications and reminders straight to the sales team via text or email. For the marketing team, Nurture comes with a “sales optimizer” that allows marketers to monitor the sales team’s activity to see if and how they followed up with a lead and gives them the ability to assist in setting up the email automations.
The Ask Team SI series allows dealers to regularly ask marketing questions and get them answered in real time. It is brought to you courtesy of Team SI.
Established in 2010, Team SI is a data-driven marketing firm where designers, strategists, and data specialists create unique customer experiences for clients using digital and social media platforms. Team SI developed its own proprietary system called Doppio, which pairs the most sophisticated, aggregated and automated data-analytics platforms available with the insights and instincts of its certified professional staff to optimize campaign effectiveness. They're best known for coining the term "TraDigital": the art of blending traditional and digital marketing. Learn more…
As far as ownership is concerned when it comes to chasing those online leads, both sides need to be held accountable. Ultimately, it’s the sales team who has the responsibility to follow-up and close the leads, but the marketing team also has a responsibility to help generate these leads and assist the sales teams in closure. The best option is to implement a uniform system that clearly divides the duties between the teams but still allows them to work together toward the goal of securing leads. Finding a lead nurturing platform that works well for your team could be the first step in making this process easier.
Related Content
How to Close More Sales with Lead Nurturing and Marketing Automation
