“Businesses should strive to craft relevant messages, take small steps towards long-term growth, and make wise investments in their CRM tools”, said one among the many speakers on day one of CRM Evolution at the Marriott Marquis.
The conference began with Shane Snow’s presentation on the importance of lateral thinking in business today. He stated that “Most businesses stop growing after a few years. Lateral thinking can help all of us to overcome this plateau and expand our means beyond what we thought was possible.”
Snow recalled a game from his youth to explain why companies should take small steps to expand over time. He said. “Small wins are more motivating to team members than really big ones,” Snow also mentioned about the human preference to see progress as it builds psychological momentum. “Teams are more likely to support those who undertake longer journeys because their stories are more likely to gain sympathy from potential supporters.”
Steven Ramirez, CEO of Beyond the Arc, also agreed with the notion that gaining cumulative improvements in the business is an effective strategy that keeps employees’ self-confidence high. Ramirez outlined the prompt benefits of predictive analytics. Marketers can use the data to understand customer behavior and preferences.
Neil Capel, founder and chairman of the company, brought attention to a Gartner statistic: 80 percent of any given brand’s future earnings will come from a mere 20 percent of existing loyal customers. At the same time, connected and wearable devices will be taking on an increasingly integral role in customers’ lives. But as audiences become more connected and inevitably grant companies more information to work with, they’ll also be getting more selective about the kind of marketing they’ll tolerate.
Bill Wallace, Vice President of Revenue Storm, recommended firms to be more analytical of the leads they pursue. “When in doubt, throw it out,” Wallace suggested. “If an opportunity comes back to you, fantastic.”
He marked that success rates are on average 20% to 25% for most organizations he works with, thereby making the rest 75 to 80 percent as inevitable losses. “Salespeople don’t like to kill deals. It’s anathema to them.” As a result, sales cycles become longer and drawn out, one of the biggest time wasters for sales reps.
