You might be wondering, “What does rowing a boat have to do with marketing automation?” It seems like the two couldn’t be more unrelated. However, rowing can actually teach us a lot when it comes to creating the perfect working relationship between sales and marketing. Today, the most successful organizations have discovered that sales and marketing are best thought of as an integrated unit that works together to win the race for customers.

To hit home on this analogy, let’s think of rowing in a dragon boat race. Each member has a role and must work together to achieve the common goal of either winning the race or acquiring new customers. These roles are:

The Steerer – Where would we be without qualified leaders to steer us in the right direction? Every crew, whether it be in a boat or an office, needs strategic leaders to tell us where to go and how to get there effectively.

The Paddlers – These individuals are the boat’s powerhouse or engine so to speak. Imagine your sales people on the left side and your marketers on the right; working together in perfect alignment to nurture leads and close sales. Just like Paddlers, Marketing provides the tools and content for nurturing prospects and Sales put in the time and energy to convert them!

The Drummer – Finally, the glue that sticks the whole conversion process together! The Drummer is the Marketing Automation System, setting the pace with a steady rhythm and perfectly timed-out beats. This lets the Paddlers know when to go guns-blazing ahead or to slow down and nurture more leads until they become sales ready.

So there you have it! Marketing automation is a lot like rowing in a dragon boat race. Online lead management systems like ActiveConversion can help align your sales and marketing to function as an integrated unit, putting your organization on the right success path. At the end of the day, we’re all in the same boat…literally.