Keeping the Customers Happy in 2012

As 2011 draws to a close businesses are reflecting on the year’s achievements and downfalls to plan for a fruitful year ahead. To be successful a business primarily requires growth in some form of sales. But in conjunction with sales it is also crucial to retain current customers and their loyalty to the business.

As reported by MyCustomer.com, businesses find that engaging and retaining customers is one of their greatest challenges.  Loyalty 360, the US Loyalty Marketing Association, has outlined top loyalty trends to be aware of and act on in 2012, which the added support of lead generation software from Profunnel can help to accomplish.

Customer engagement is paramount to marketing and sales and a deeper level of engagement is needed to maintain customer loyalty into the next competitive year. Businesses should ensure they deliver a quality customer experience from an initial website visit right through to the final purchase and this is often achieved through a personal approach. Profunnel can track and monitor visitor activity to find interests in your business. This information provides marketers with a valuable insight to easily engage with a prospect. Current customers can receive targeted email marketing messages with new information about products or services they have previously purchased.

With the relevant data and preliminary contact established via email campaigns, sales teams have the tools and information to confidently approach a prospect while maintaining a high level of engagement with current customers.

Visit Profunnel for more information on lead generation and other online marketing solutions.

Marketing Merged with Sales to Improve Business

The chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) has published a report suggesting marketing and sales should be merged in order to protect the future of marketing.

As reported by Marketing Week, the Sales and Marketing Fusion report from the CIM believes a tighter bond combining the two departments within a company is necessary to stop the relegation of marketing which has become apparent during the recession. The report continues to suggest that by working in unison, efficiency improvements can be achieved through a mutual view of company objectives and customer satisfaction.

The report has sparked both negative and positive views from marketers across the industry, with some claiming this is an unnecessary move. However there is a common agreement that marketing and sales departments do need to work together more closely.

Profunnel realises the importance of a streamlined sales and marketing strategy – our demand generation platform can help you to improve company productivity through its various tools. Intelligent web forensics will identify warm leads to target by tracking visitor behaviour on a company’s website. This allows marketers to send emails tailored to particular interests via the available email marketing templates. The focus on warm leads develops B2B lead generation while relationships with high-value prospects allows sales to engage more effectively and build on their customer base.

Visit Profunnel for more information on demand generation marketing.

Read our whitepaper The Sales and Marketing Coalition for more information.

Marketers Not Making The Most Of Lead Generation

Research by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has highlighted a lack of understanding surrounding lead generation within the marketing sector, as reported by The Drum.

The poll has found many of the 125 marketers questioned to lack a thorough understanding of lead generation and how it can be employed most effectively – 52% believe they are not taking full advantage of the marketing tool.

Chair of the Lead Generation Council, Trine Buus, identifies that “online lead generation is proven yet misunderstood”. He also suggests that the relationship between lead quality, conversion rates and ROI needs to be clearer.

Integrating a B2B lead generation platform such as Profunnel can assist in eradicating the current misunderstanding amongst marketers and focus on a successful campaign. The tool can track known and anonymous visitors on your website, monitor their actions and feed this information in real-time to marketers. The detail in this data allows marketers to send targeted emails to prospects, creating greater potential for new customers. Additionally, the lead generation software can be tailored for individual business requirements, providing a clearer ROI.

Visit Profunnel for more information on online lead generation.