A lot of the time, sales enablement experts talk about what tools sales representatives need to do their jobs effectively. From Salesforce to a proposal automation software to everything in between, there is definitely a need for tools, but, more importantly, the need is the insight that sales reps get from the tools they’re using. Before sales organizations can determine the tools they need, they need to figure out the information they actually need to gather.
But sales representatives aren’t the only part of this equation: marketing teams are crucial to making sure that sales reps have the content collateral they need to support their activities and presentations. The more alignment there is between marketing and sales, the more the gap is filled. That is where data insight and information comes in.
Aptly put, Aberdeen calls content collection “collective wisdom.” In order to do their jobs effectively, there are three pieces of data sets that sales representatives really need to access to succeed:
- Lifecycle marketing information, lead scoring, and visitor activity overview
- Marketing-approved content assets that apply to different selling scenarios and target markets
- Any notes within CRMs, lead generation tools, or other marketing assets with applicable information
While these might seem like a better fit for marketing teams, all of these data sets can be used to glean insights for sales. They effectively close the gap between marketing and sales data. In fact, the variable content sources that are leading to bigger bottom lines are, as supported above, used by Best-In-Class sales organizations accordingly:
- 73% have given sales access to marketing automation systems.
- 73% have a central library of content assets that appeal to different target markets
- 63% integrated all of their customer management platforms (CRMs, content management, etc.)
- 60% give visibility to marketing as to how sales utilize content and assets
Wouldn’t you want access to all of this information for your sales organization?
The bottom line is that organizations need to provide more relevant information to their sales teams to succeed. Create transparency in your organization, and the rest (meaning sales!) will come.
Want to bridge the gap between your sales and marketing teams using our adaptive sales enablement platform?
Googe+ Kent Potts
1. http://www.aberdeen.com/Aberdeen-Library/8669/RA-sales-marketing-alignment.aspx
