If your business website gets a good amount of traffic and leads, that’s great! But don’t stop there, it’s time to to take full advantage of a sales management software. In my line of work I’ve heard so many excuses as to why business owners or marketing managers don’t utilize sales management software - the two most common reasons I hear are cost and time. Let me give you insight on why you should look beyond those two aspects and really consider using this type of tool for your business.
Look Beyond the Cost
A good inbound sales management software and inbound marketing tool is obviously a financial investment. I talk, even joke, with business owners about the outrageous amounts they’ve spent on tradeshows and print publications in the past. It can be mind blowing. But what is even more staggering is when you tell them that the sales management software you have chosen for them, based on their custom needs, will cost roughly about the same as that big annual trade they no longer attend because the results weren’t being measured appropriately. That's right, one trade show. “Woah, woah woah. Hold on there. You mean to tell me it's $10,000-$15,000 a year for the best inbound marketing software on the market? Thats too much.” This, coming from the same person that used to spend $40,000 a year on print ads in one industry magazine alone. Keeping in mind they never tracked any conversions and had no idea if it ever generated a sale. Quite confusing for us internet marketers who value being able to directly calculate the ROI of basically everything.
The increased traffic, RFQs, phone calls, sample requests, product configurator use, etc. can be intimidating. Anything unknown, new, or unfamiliar can induce fear in business owners. Even if that unknown is a newfound success for their business. Their first reaction may sometimes be to blame anything new and push back on the idea based on the cost commitment. I work in the industrial market and a lot of these business owners are not familiar with anything I’m presenting to them, but they know they need it. They feel there are a lot of unknowns and intangibles involved with what I do. It is understood and I empathize with them, so trust is needed. At the end of the day these business owners need to trust that a sales management software is the correct investment that will help make them money.
Marketing Automation Will Actually Create More Time
The truth is, when you work with a competent online marketing firm using an inbound marketing software like HubSpot, your business will realize increased sales while saving money and time. Using a robust inbound marketing tool can brings more sales opportunities to your business via the web, and when trained correctly, you will close these opportunities and prospects will no longer fall through the cracks.
Being successful in sales means you’re good at managing your time and you’re also persistent. Marketing and sales automation software aids your sales organization in both of these assets. Once set up, your business stays in front of your newfound prospects - this is the persistence piece. Since the tool is doing this, it ends up saving time and frees up your salespeople, allowing them to focus on alternative sales and lead nurturing initiatives.
Stop Opportunities From Falling Through the Cracks
Letting opportunities fall through the cracks happens all the time, especially when you don’t stay in front of prospects. Here are five ways your online prospects will fall through the cracks:
- Potential customer’s activity was ignored
- There was no proper organization and priority of where the prospect was in the sales funnel
- Upon receiving an inquiry, the first touchpoint was not executed fast enough
- There wasn’t sufficient follow up through the sales cycle
- The value of working with your company wasn’t communicated properly
Each of these activities could have been avoided if there had been heightened persistence and better time management. Both of which are remedied by the utilization of a sales automation software. It’s time to ask yourself, “Can my business afford to continue ignoring the need for an inbound marketing automation software?” I promise you it's the here, now, and especially the future of selling.
This blog is part of a series of blog posts prepared for industrial manufacturers to gain insight on how to improve your business using modern internet marketing tools like marketing automation software and customer relationship management (CRM) software. Read other blogs in this series:
- WHY MANUFACTURERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MARKETING AUTOMATION
- 3 ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGIES PROVEN TO BENEFIT MANUFACTURERS
- 6 WAYS DISTRIBUTORS CAN USE THE WEB TO IMPROVE LEAD GENERATION
- IF YOU WANT YOUR WEBSITE TO BE YOUR TOP SALESPERSON, YOU NEED YOUR CRM TO BE YOUR SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER
- USING INBOUND MARKETING SOFTWARE. IT'S THE POLITE WAY TO SELL.
- Get Automated: Marketing Gadgets to Powerful Sales Tools