InfoGrow Blog

Dear Jane,

There are two primary reasons that lead follow up doesn’t happen. First, the leads are not what I would call Marketing Qualified. Second, there is not enough vision by the CEO, CSO and CMO into what is happening with leads, or better yet what is not happening.

Marketing Qualified Leads

​Account managers will focus on efforts that put dollars in their pocket. As marketers we must recognize that is a truism. As such, marketing must make any leaded passed on an account manager as qualified. Marketing Qualified means that a lead meets the qualification you have for industry type, size, product and whatever sales has provided you as the top three items that a good lead must contain. And that you have included this information with the lead as well verifying the company name, website, and phone number. 

Dear Beth,

I have picked out 3 features in the latest release that should get your attention.
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Duplicate Detection – Enhanced Email Experience – Added PDF Capabilities

The feature overview video below, highlights new capabilities included in the latest update to Dynamics 365 Sales. 

Dear Barb - 
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One of the challenges that we often see from a CEO is really trying to drive account managers to do prospecting and to reach out and follow up on leads.

​A CRM system provides vision into what is happening, or not happening with leads provided to the account manager as well as vision of the sales VP and CEO.  

​Dear Bob,
 
What is the best way my customers can use CRM to be better Marketers? 
 
- Jane
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Dear Jane,
 
It’s not hard to see why CRM data, made up of customers, prospects and influencers is the most important marketing asset. After all, how can a marketer be successful without the right data? And how can a marketer discover or fine tune a message without insight into behaviors and their service needs? But, keeping this data organized, current, and easily accessible for every relevant team member, throughout an organization, can still be a massive challenge.
 
A versatile, robust CRM system is still the best way to store, manage, and use critical customer data for sales AND marketing. However, many marketers who invest in a CRM system fail to fully capitalize on its marketing value.

What is so special about Marketing Automation vs. continuing to drop bulk emails?
-- Amy
 
Dear Amy,
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If you are concerned about the low click-rates of your bulk emails, or being seen as a spammer, or your messages always only “selling” this week’s special offer, then you might want to look beyond bulk emails and at marketing automation.  

Generating leads and acquiring new customers is the lifeblood of every organization. Many organizations believe that satisfied customers and referrals are their best sources of leads. That’s certainly a sound principle and something to strive for but unless you’re measuring and tracking where your leads are coming from, this belief is anecdotal and little more than company lore.

​Want more and better leads? Of course you do!

The key to getting rock-solid sales leads is understanding your best lead sources – and how you can find more prospects just like your best customers. Customer relationship management software like Dynamics 365 for Sales / Dynamics CRM can help you:

• Identify your best lead sources
• See the big picture
• Accelerate the sales and marketing process

 
If you’re in a sales management or executive position within your company, see if you can easily answer these three questions: 

Marketing Automation software serves a company's marketing department beyond what a Dyanmics CRM system does, and a CRM system serves sales and other departments. When integrated, Marketing Automation and Dynamics 365 CRM tools enhance each other, resulting in even more and better-qualified leads and, ultimately, more sales and satisfied customers. If you have one of these productivity tools, here are reasons to have both, in a single, centrally located, easy to use, integrated system.

Marketing Automation's False Start

At first sight, marketing automation is a very tempting and enticing tool. A platform that gives you the ability to reach your best prospects with the right message, at the right time, without manually having to kill yourself to do it! Seems like a no-brainer, so you sign up especially when linked to Dynamics 365 CRM. However, once the system gets installed and after a few email blasts are sent, a landing page is built, and the results come back mixed (and they often do), one of two things usually happens:​

• You continue to send emails to your entire contact list with worsening results
• You blame it on the technology itself and relegate the software to that pile of failed solutions that so many organizations have

I have written before regarding the sales growth value of getting your sales and marketing teams on the same page. This is an effort that can’t be left up to sales or marketing alone, it is too important to the organization and must be monitored at the CEO level.
  
InsideView does an excellence job in the following infographic to highlight what current leaders are doing to get things right.  Point number 6 – “Align on Pipeline” is the element I like the most. By emphasizing the sales pipeline you should expect alignment on lead and nurturing campaigns throughout the sales process. This approach will help drive greater cohesion between both team leaders, as well as provide account reps with advanced insight into the contribution of the marketing team.
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