Do I Need a Sales Acceleration Tool?
Thursday, September 27th, 2012
I often get asked, what exactly is sales acceleration and where does it fit in the buying cycle?
The short answer: sales acceleration is a point you reach during the lead nurturing process, where the prospect is almost ready to buy – but not quite. When leads are primed to buy, but need a little extra nudge in making the final decision, a sales acceleration campaign can help close the sale.
In other words, a sales acceleration campaign is a campaign that specifically targets warm leads with appropriate messages. Those messages would not be appropriate for colder leads that need to slowly move through the sales funnel.
How to determine who is ready for a sales acceleration campaign
Obviously, the sales rep can decide when a prospect is ready for a sales acceleration campaign and start sending her personalized messages, either through the marketing automation system, or right in the CRM system.
A more automated – and perhaps more accurate – approach would rely on lead scoring. When a lead’s behavior shows an increased interest and readiness to buy, he can be entered, based on a pre-determined score, into a sales acceleration campaign that sends out appropriate messages.
What type of content should I send out?
The content used for sales acceleration usually includes case studies of similar companies and ROI documents. The idea is to give the prospect information that would help seal the deal and support the efforts of sales, which means that these campaigns should always be coordinated with sales so that content and messaging fit the path that sales feels is useful.
Real-time lead alerts
One of the things I like best about sales acceleration tools is real-time lead alerts. Sales reps gain the ability to personally send trackable email from within SalesForce CRM, and to receive real-time email when emails are acted upon. This gives sales reps the real-time sales intelligence they need to sell more effectively.
Why is automation useful here?
Unlike human management of lead nurturing, which unfortunately is prone to errors, automated tools respond to prospect cues in a timely manner, never speeding up the process too soon, or allowing a warm lead to become cold. Detailed tracking information and lead scoring, coupled with real-time lead alerts, mean that sales reps can always follow up in a timely manner. In addition, automated sales acceleration, just like marketing automation in general, is very helpful for companies with limited marketing personnel and resources.
What NOT to expect from a sales acceleration campaign
It’s important to realize that automated sales acceleration tools do not speed up the prospect decision-making process. They do, however, make sure that when the lead is very close to making a final decision, she will have all the information she needs in a timely manner, and that sales would be aware of her reactions to that information. So while the lead is still in control of the process, you are in a position to respond to her actions efficiently and immediately, making sure that no sale ever falls through the cracks.
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Marketing automation takes at least three key ingredients to be successful: process, content and technology. But 
