Staying competitive in 2024 requires sales and marketing professionals to tap the power of digital technology for everything from operating more efficiently to scaling client relationships. In fact, somewhat ironically, these impersonal machines have inspired a newly coined term, “Sales Engagement,” which is the use of technology to create a personalized level of customer relationship-building. Mastering the tools behind this strategy is critical for sales and marketing success.
- Take full advantage of a strong customer relationship management (CRM) tool.
Many sales and marketing professionals could do more with their CRMs to strengthen relationships with customers and prospects. For example:
- Gain easy access to important client information – Set up alerts to know when customers take steps that suggest they’re in the market for a product or service. Monitor social media for product or brand mentions and use CRM to respond with personalized messages and offers.
- Use CRM to automate reminders of critical client milestones – Formalize a process for recognizing years in business, anniversaries, birthdays, etc. Celebrate the event by sending a customized greeting or a congratulatory offer.
- Strengthen customer advocacy – Implement a loyalty program within the CRM to reward customers for feedback or repeat business.
2. Optimize project management with a robust workflow automation platform.
Integrating tools and apps within a CRM will strengthen its workflow automation, streamlining hundreds of processes. For example:
- Lead capture/management: Automatically capture leads from web forms and add them to your CRM, ensuring no lead is missed and data entry is minimized.
- Email follow-up: Automatically send welcome or follow-up emails to new leads, ensuring timely communication and engagement.
- Sales rep task creation: Automatically create tasks for sales reps when new deals are added, to better manage follow-ups and ensure a structured sales process.
- Survey results: Automatically send satisfaction surveys to customers after their support tickets are resolved and log feedback in the CRM to track customer satisfaction and identify areas for improvement.
Some CRMs include these integrations built in. If yours lacks this capability, there are a number of automation platforms to consider, including Zapier, Make (formerly Integromat), Microsoft Power Automate, and IFTTT (If This Then That).
3. Embrace video messaging for every customer touchpoint.
Video content has become a highly valued sales and marketing tactic. In fact, a recent LinkedIn article cited that 80% of people prefer video over written text.
The trick is to use video in unique ways to develop personalized, stand-out emails and social media posts. For example, in the CRM tips above, the message recognizing a customer’s anniversary will have more appeal if it’s delivered in the form of a video. Other examples include:
- Develop one or a series of short informational videos – Appeal to a target audience by providing how-to guides or videos that address typical customer concerns. Share them on social media to strengthen your brand awareness and expertise on critical topics.
- Create videos along with RFP submissions – This personalizes the experience and will make key points of the presentation more memorable.
- Consider doing video testimonials – Recognize favorite vendors with a video that touts their amazing services. They’ll likely share them with others in the same industry, even posting them on their websites.
Don’t be intimidated if you have limited video experience. In email and social media, the low-fidelity style of videos shot on mobile phones are much-preferred for their authentic feel. Remember to always include captions so the message can be viewed in silent mode. There are many easy-to-use and affordable video software tools available, including: BombBomb, Vidyard, Loom, and Covideo.
4. Join the artificial intelligence movement.
Love it or not, AI is here to stay and it’s making life easier for those who know how to use it correctly. AI is ideal for everything from streamlining rote tasks to providing thought starters for marketing campaigns and customer engagement strategies. It makes dozens of sales and marketing jobs more efficient. A small sampling of AI use-cases include: writing standard thank-you emails; creating presentation outlines; documenting procedures; developing budget spreadsheets; planning sales event agendas; brainstorming product name options or event themes; video editing and caption creation; and suggesting appropriate customer gifts.
Remember, human intelligence is what makes artificial intelligence truly smart. For starters, well-crafted prompts to AI platforms will deliver much better results. Think of these prompts as very basic project briefs. Include the role the platform is assuming, the number of years of experience, and the critical details involved in the specific task. Keep in mind, the tool can only do what it’s told to do.
For example, let’s say a product marketer wants to develop an ad campaign for a new product launch. The prompt might read:
“You’re a product launch expert with 20 years of experience. You make $200,000 a year. I am launching a new product. Give me the steps to designing a marketing campaign, including email, social media, and video. Before you answer, ask me questions about my product so that you can design a detailed marketing campaign.” The AI tool will quickly deliver a campaign outline that serves as an excellent thought-starter the product marketer can improve upon. (Note: Including the salary detail adds an incentive element that experienced users have found delivers better results).
Some useful AI platforms to support sales and marketing teams include: ChatGPT for specific prompts like the example above; Gamma for developing presentations; Scribe for documenting a procedure; and Kapwing and Opus Pro for video editing and captioning.
The moral to this story? The digital evolution isn’t designed to replace people; it’s dedicated to enhancing human skills and achievements. Digital tools like the ones shared in this article not only further sales engagement, they make sales and marketing professionals more knowledgeable, efficient, and productive – all with the ultimate goal of gaining a competitive upper hand and moving sales needles more quickly.
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