by SmarkLabs | Dec 1, 2015 | Sales Enablement
In the quest to streamline your sales and marketing processes, you may realize that the idea, while wonderful in theory, is more difficult to achieve than you might have imagined. And not necessarily because the two practices are so different that they are incompatible. In reality, inbound marketing and sales are cut from the same cloth, and one is virtually useless without the other. So, why can this synergy be so hard to achieve?
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by SmarkLabs | Oct 13, 2015 | Sales Enablement
As we discussed in our previous article, a majority of executives (63%) believe that their organization is ineffective at pipeline management, while a majority of Sales reps (54%) feel that their pipeline is inaccurate.
All this suggests that we need to work on our pipeline management skills, especially if we want to set our Sales team up for success and enable them to work the right leads and to work toward predictable growth.
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by SmarkLabs | Oct 6, 2015 | Sales Enablement
When it comes to managing your Sales pipeline, you may face some issues. Your Marketing team may not be passing along enough leads to Sales or may not be passing along the right leads. Meanwhile, your Sales team may not be contacting or following up with these leads quickly enough and may not be hitting quota.
In fact, recent research surrounding pipeline management tends to be a bit disheartening. Research shows that: (more…)
by SmarkLabs | Oct 1, 2015 | Sales Enablement
Buyer behavior is changing. Because of all the information readily available on the Internet, buyers now have the power in the buying-selling relationship. And because they don’t need to come directly to Sales reps for information, you may have less opportunities to even make pitches.
However, as shown by a recent study conducted by Moz and Fractl, buyers agree that inbound marketing tactics are effective ways to reach them, as illustrated in the chart below: (more…)
by SmarkLabs | Sep 29, 2015 | Sales Enablement
This is our second installment in a series of interviews we’re calling: #SmarkLife [Interviews]. We invite successful founders, executives, and marketing and sales leaders across various industries to answer our questions on sales and marketing topics plus a few fun bonus questions.
Our guest today is Loretta Jones, VP of Marketing at Insightly. In her career, Loretta has worked for a number of startups and in a number of management positions before joining Insightly in 2012.
We had the opportunity to talk with her about sales and marketing alignment and CRM technology. Here’s what we asked.
The line between marketing and sales is becoming more blurred. In respect to CRM solutions, how is technology changing the relationship between sales and marketing functions?
Technology is making the relationship between sales and marketing more symbiotic and transparent. A good CRM toolset will provide a direct view into the sales pipeline, as well as into marketing activities. Depending on your business model, marketing may also be responsible for sales, or at least delivering leads that are “mid-funnel” as opposed to “top of the funnel.” In this case, a good CRM will keep all customer communication straight so that both sales and marketing have a history of interaction with the customer. (more…)
by SmarkLabs | Sep 10, 2015 | Sales Enablement
This is our first installment in a series of interviews we’re calling: #SmarkLife [Interviews]. We invite successful founders, executives, and marketing and sales leaders across various industries to answer our questions on sales and marketing topics plus a few fun bonus questions.
Our first guest is Scott Peterson, Founder and CEO of Carver Peterson Consulting. Scott had worked for over 13 years at Aerotek before leaving to start Carver Peterson in 2014 to help clients build better talent and sales leaderships strategies to scale growth.
We had the opportunity to pick his brain and to discuss Inbound Sales. This is what we asked.
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