In the midst of the biggest decline in oil prices since 2008, headlines in the industry seem to be a constant stream of “budget cuts”, “projects on hold”, and “reduced capital spending”. In this climate, many businesses within the industry will start 2015 with serious reflection and planning. While some companies may simply be bracing for the worst (or turtling like our picture) and waiting for better market conditions, the most resilient companies will adapt by adopting innovative technologies and strategies.
So what does this mean exactly? With the energy industry implementing plenty of cutbacks, agile companies will see the increasing importance of each project and customer to business, as well as a growing need to expand into markets that aren’t as impacted by the price drop. All of these considerations are heavily reliant on a company’s business development efforts. Of course in the current climate, many companies will be focused on streamlining operations and reducing costs, which is traditionally at odds with increasing business development efforts.
So what is the solution? Is it simply a choice between increasing costs, or risking losing customers to competition? Instead of making this sacrifice, innovative companies will choose to avoid forfeiting, by focusing instead on increasing the efficiency of their sales and marketing efforts. This is where technology offers savvy businesses a powerful solution for sales and marketing systems.
Sales and marketing automation software, not unlike equipment automation out in the field, allows companies to streamline their sales and marketing efforts by optimizing, all the while recording data and results. A good system provides an all-in-one sales and marketing platform that combines lead generation and management with marketing and reporting. This type of technology allows companies to increase sales, save time and money, and easily manage all of their efforts in one place.
Here is a look at some of the many ways that a sales and marketing automation software like ActiveConversion can help companies to thrive during a rough patch.
Makes the Most of your Company Resources – Why waste time on efforts that aren’t producing results? Sales and marketing automation tells companies which of their outbound efforts are most effective, and ultimately where they should they focus their resources. With resources already spread thin in the current climate, why would anyone want to just “cross their fingers” when they can see ROI.
Provides Sales Intelligence – With in-depth intelligence on a prospect or customer’s activity, companies will gain insight on when, where and how they should target their sales tactics. Information such as: which offerings a prospect is interested in, what their level of interest is, and when they are looking, allows outbound efforts to be put to use on the right prospects at the right time. This type of intelligence can help companies to anticipate the future needs of existing customers while also ensuring that potential new deals don’t fall through the cracks.
Simplifies Lead Nurturing – With increased importance on each new deal, sales and marketing automation relieves the pressure of having to manually reach out to each new prospect.
These are only a few of the many ways that sales and marketing software offers companies a solution during uncertain economic times. This technology offers a way for companies to avoid making a sacrifice to their business development efforts, or their budgets. There is change happening in the energy industry, and it’s up to each company how they will handle it. As oil prices continue to drop and eventually recover, there will be a variety of different reactions from businesses. Ultimately as time goes on, two categories of companies are likely to emerge, those who innovate and those who eventually get beat by those who innovate.
Popular Articles