The entire buying journey has changed. Shopping habits picked up during the pandemic are starting to seem permanent, as customers continue shopping and engaging with companies online. If companies aren’t adapting to this new customer journey, they’re losing leads, deals, and revenue. And sales leaders are starting to worry, with just 6% of chief sales officers say they’re “extremely confident” about their team’s ability to meet their revenue goals (Gartner). 

What’s behind such low projections? Perhaps another survey, this one from MHI Research Institute, can shed some light. According to that study, the number-one issue inhibiting sales success in B2B companies is the ‘inability of the sales teams to communicate their value story.’ Now more than ever, sales strategists like Lisa Cramer from SAP, say it’s imperative for crystal clear messaging to reach customers. That means knowing how to connect marketing and sales teams. “The more connected an organization is between sales and marketing, the more successful,” says Lisa Cramer, Global VP, Sales Strategy at SAP, “and I think there’s plenty of stats that have proven that out.” 

Automation is the Key; The Customer is the Center 

Tools to connect teams are imperative, and marketing automation is the key. When marketing and sales intelligence systems are in sync, proactive messaging reaches customers at the right time, and in the right way, with the customer at the center of it all. And Cramer is right, the numbers prove the effectiveness. According to research from Deloitte, customer-centric organizations are 60% more profitable than those that do not focus on the customer. 

Investing in Digital 

This year, the global spend on Customer Experience technology is poised to reach over $640 billion, according to figures from IDC. Businesses across all sectors are taking steps to connect with customers by investing in digital technology like messaging and automation. “A lot of our structures were put in place before this digital acceleration,” says Tennille Kopiasz, CMO at Fresh. “We really took a step back and said, ‘half of our business is in digital, are we putting half of our resources in digital?’” 

Leading brands are arming sales and marketing teams with automation tools to drive engagement and create an intuitive, customer-centric buying experience to accelerate sales pipeline. 

Shared Data 

To empower companies to really understand the customer, sales and marketing teams need access to the same data. A single view of the customer that’s accessible to everyone within the company who may interact with the customer. That’s leading many organizations toward Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), which have potential to better harness first-party data and give an accurate picture of the client and their needs. 

Winning Customer Loyalty 

Making the client feel understood, especially between handoffs from one part of the company to another, will be the key to customer loyalty and lifetime value in 2022 and beyond.