When you excel at lead nurturing, you’re more likely to attract high-quality leads and convert them into sales. That means less time spent on disinterested/disengaged leads and more time spent building relationships with the ones who are the right fit.
A key component to an excellent lead nurturing strategy is the right technology - like using a CRM system and sales force automation. Let’s talk about how both can help you better nurture your leads.
Quick summary
Our full explanation will give you more value but if you’ve only got two minutes to spare, this brief summary might be best for now…
- Align your sales and marketing teams as your data is unified into one system. So, both teams can access a single source of truth, collaborate with each other easily and more.
- Boost productivity as centralised data means less time spent on administrative tasks and more time focusing on activities that are likely to result in sales.
- Make more informed sales decisions as you can create custom dashboards, generate reports and prioritise the right leads - all because the data is centralised.
- Streamline the sales process and sell better thanks to contextual insights. For example, sales benefit from contextual prompts so they’re less likely to forget to send follow-up emails.
- Building relationships with prospects and leads is much easier with smart integrations like the LinkedIn Sales Navigator (comes with Dynamics 365 Sales).
If you’ve got time, great! We’ll dig in a little deeper now. If you haven’t got the time, don’t worry - just bookmark this page and come back to it another time.
The benefits of a CRM system and sales force automation in enhancing lead nurturing
1. Facilitates sales and marketing alignment which improves visibility
It no longer needs to be sales v marketing. A CRM system centralises data so both your teams can access complete, up-to-date information.
That means a 360-degree view of your customers so marketing can execute more targeted marketing campaigns, efficiently nurture leads and hand them over, sales-ready. Then, closing deals can become a much easier task.
2. Boosts productivity
Administrative tasks, like assigning leads, generating reports and data entry, can be very time-consuming. And it means you have less time to spend on activities that are more likely to result in a sale. A CRM system centralises data so you can spend less time searching for the information you need.
Sales force automation ramps it up a level, thanks to smart automation features:
- Leads are automatically assigned based on custom metrics - so there’s less admin and guesswork
- Reports are automatically generated based on real-time metrics
- Data entry is automated - if a prospect fills out a form, that data can automatically be added to your CRM and a sales rep notified
- Automatic alerts make it easier to manage the sales pipeline. For example, your team can be alerted whenever a prospect moves to the next stage of the pipeline and contextual prompts can serve as reminders to send a follow-up email or to enhance notes on sales entries
- Leads are automatically analysed and the software tells you how qualified they are. If you know what makes a good lead, it can save your sales reps time and they can turn their attention to only the most qualified leads
- Meetings with sales reps are automatically scheduled. If you link the sales force automation software to your sales team’s schedules, it can see when an appropriate rep is free and only show the prospect available times. This eliminates admin work and the chance of double booking
- Some software, like Dynamics 365 for Sales (part of the Customer Engagement Suite), can even help you reduce training time. Business process user interface (UI) provides contextual guidance during each step of the sales cycle and sales playbooks containing repeatable techniques and tips will be available
3. Empowers you to make more informed decisions
This is all about a CRM system’s ability to centralise data. Thanks to real-time data pulling through from multiple systems into one location (the CRM), visibility is boosted and it becomes much easier to make informed decisions related to lead nurturing.
For example:
- Reports can be automatically generated, such as intuitive seller-generated projections enhanced with predictive forecasting. This boosts the accuracy of sales forecasts
- You can proactively identify at-risk deals and take swift action, thanks to increased visibility into conversations
- AI-driven insights can help you track emerging market trends and customer needs so you can adapt quickly
- It’s easier to monitor and analyse pipeline changes, with snapshots and deal flow visualisation features
- Your employees can collaborate with each other on deals if office applications can be integrated too. For example, Dynamics 365 for Sales integrates with Teams so your reps can share documents and other files essential for sales success
4. Streamlines your overall sales process
Modern sales force automation and CRM systems provide contextual insights that can help streamline your sales process. Here are some useful features:
- Lead and opportunity scoring so you can quickly identify which customers are the most likely to convert and buy
- Automatic alerts whenever prospects move to the next stage so sales reps can act as soon as possible
- Personalised talking points recommended to your sales reps so they know which talking points and actions to take next
- Notifications that reveal relationship health and risks so your team can keep better tabs on their relationships with prospects and lead
5. Simplifies the process of building relationships with prospects and leads
Building relationships with prospects and leads isn’t always easy. But it can be, with a CRM system and sales force automation. Again, it revolves around data centralisation.
Because sales teams can access a single source of truth, it’s easy for them to keep track of contracts, build trust and manage relationships - even at scale. Automation helps too.
For example, automatic alerts whenever prospects or leads move to the next pipeline stage, recommended talking points and proactive notifications on at-risk relationships can be very beneficial. Your sales team can focus on making the kind of nurturing interactions that are more likely to close deals.
A CRM system and sales force automation can benefit your entire business, not just sales
The points we just covered are the benefits of CRM and sales force automation for sales teams. The two can benefit your other departments too, such as marketing and customer service. Want to discover how?
Our visual graphic contains a plethora of intriguing statistics on the importance of meeting customer expectations and how technology - like a CRM system - can help. Take a look at it via the button below.