If you really care about your bottom line, it’s time to take a sledgehammer to the walls between Marketing and Sales, says Juri Dushko, Head of Customer Relationship Management and Sales Automation at Nortal.
In the traditional corporate setup, Marketing and Sales are separated, each having its own manager, goals, budget and KPIs. Marketing identifies and nurtures leads; once the leads are mature, Sales takes them over and works to close deals.
“That siloed architecture has become so deeply ingrained in corporate practice that it’s rarely questioned,” says Dushko. “But with advances in data-based revenue science, the barrier between Marketing and Sales can now be seen for what it is: a huge roadblock to revenue.”
It results in a disjointed approach to each customer, he says, premature sales contacts and an overall lack of transparency within the company.
It’s also obsolete. Just as new technology has transformed customer behavior, advanced data-based approaches have now created opportunities for companies to streamline and perfect their lead-to-revenue mechanisms. New, data-based methods take a holistic approach to the lead-to-revenue pipeline, using integrated platforms to create a clear, universal picture. Each lead is tracked through each step of the pipeline, leads are properly channeled and scored for their maturity, and leakages can be pinpointed.
This way, weaknesses in the marketing and sales mechanism can readily be identified and addressed. At the same time, every Marketing and Sales effort can be easily measured against revenue – the only KPI that ultimately matters – and efforts can be targeted where they’re most effective.
“Upgrading to a holistic, data-based approach that blurs the line between Marketing and Sales may seem like a daunting step, but it has a proven success record,” says Dushko. He points to research by McKinsey&Company that has shown that revenue growth at companies with more advanced marketing and sales operations tended to be 30 percent higher than the average company within their sector.
“Nortal has long been in the business of helping companies leverage new techniques and technologies to gain a competitive edge in their markets,” Dushko explains and adds that in the area of Customer Relationship Management and Sales Automation, Nortal has helped companies achieve that edge. “We’ve done this by providing a complete solution that includes organization and process assessment, guidance in choosing Management Automation and CRM platforms, integration, customization and advanced data analytics,” Dushko adds.
There are many steps involved in achieving a 21st-century lead-to-revenue flow, and Nortal is here to guide companies through the process. The most important step, however, is changing the mindset within the company itself, and tearing down those obsolete walls.
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On 9 November, Juri Dushko will be speaking at eXtreme365, a gathering of Dynamics 365 Partners at Long Beach, California. There he will present further details on how Marketing and Sales departments can work together to boost the lead-to-revenue process.
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