The Elusive Closed Loop Process
One of the main reasons for this Venture Capitalist/Silicon Valley gold rush towards marketing automation ultimately stems from B2B’s inability to create a fully automated, reliable closed loop process. Neither Salesforce.com nor Sugar CRM are very good at it though they can be gerry-rigged to get close. Again, the recent success on the internet with B2C pay-for-performance advertising is leading the charge and as usual B2C is ahead of the B2B game. The B2C companies do a great job of following lead to sale because they have to and they can. Vonage pays publishers and ad networks $30-100 per sale you bring in. From the reg page to the close, their system keeps a closed loop tab on your lead.
B2B lead generation are typically more complex sales that don’t lend themselves as easily to clean closed loop process. And furthermore, if the marketing department is doing their job, future customers are coming to their site via webinars, email campaigns, etc…that is, they are getting touched more than just once. These multiple touches make things tricky.
So does the reliance on the Sales Team to correct track and update leads in your CRM.
So does the subjectivity of the Sales Team against even the “tightest” lead definition.
This is our life.
Some beginning steps:
1. A unified lead definition is vital and a great first step.
2. The next step is to get your automation to best support your process. More on this in future posts.
3. The anecdotal Closed Loop Meeting between Sales and Marketing. See Elusive Closed Process Part II.
Written by Craig Rosenberg - The FunnelholicSign up to receive emails when new articles are posted
Want to connect directly? Email me at craig AT funnelholic.com<
