The CRM is the hub of your ecosystem that powers all other efforts by standardizing data and making it easier to analyze activity, spot trends, and find opportunities. It contains not only the basic information such as contact names, email addresses, and phone numbers, but it also lists the topics covered in past meetings, website content accessed, and current lead status to align sales and marketing efforts. When the CRM is aligned with your segmentation strategy and synced with the company’s website and marketing automation system, it’s possible for sales and marketing to deliver personalized, targeted, and holistic experience to prospects and clients.

2. Accurate data informs prospects that you pay attention to every detail

A CRM is only as good as the data it contains. That starts with having valid email addresses for your contacts, but also includes standardized entries for activities. Successful marketing automation programs and efficient sales enablement depends on first getting the CRM right. Having processes in place to keep the data clean over time is also important, and firms that place a premium on ensuring duplicate records aren’t created, invalid email addresses are updated, and data entry follows specific standards are primed for long-term success.

3. Marketing automation works because the customer decides when they want information

You expect to receive a call from a salesperson after requesting a quote through a car dealer’s website. The same goes for your prospects. If someone begins accessing investment information, fills out a form to download your latest whitepaper, and starts clicking through emails to get more product information, they are signaling their readiness to talk. With marketing automation, marketing can create emails to send automatically on behalf of sales when advisors take specific actions on your website or enter a new stage of the buyer's journey. The system tracks and generates alerts to sales when someone becomes a qualified lead, and the system becomes smarter over time by determining which efforts produce the desired results. An added benefit is that most marketing automation platforms allow users to create emails that optimize the design for viewing on desktop monitors, tablets and smartphones so the email will always look as you intended no matter which device the advisor is using.

4. A website that attracts and identifies new prospects

You may have a beautifully designed website with professional pictures and background information on your firm, but so do your competitors. Your website can stand out by offering content specific to each stage of your clients’ buyer’s journey accompanied by forms that feed into your CRM and kick off marketing automation campaigns. A well-organized and search engine-optimized website can boost traffic from your desired audience by showing up near the top of Google’s search engine results. It can also host content featured in your emails, include forms to qualify new leads, it can serve as a resource for the sales team during conversations, and add more details after a meeting.

5. Sales enablement sets up the sales team for success

After you have your technology and marketing programs in place, including a CRM with high-quality data, a website loaded with information prospects seek, and marketing automation programs initiating new leads, the final piece is sales enablement, the process of providing sales with the support and training required to take advantage of the revenue-generating tools the above systems offer. The sales team will need to know how to enter CRM data, understand which emails are being automatically distributed, and know how to best frame conversations with leads generated by digital engagement. This could also be an opportunity to help sales leverage these tools to conduct productive video meetings through Zoom or WebEx while building relationships with advisors virtually. A feedback loop should be established in which marketing and sales meet regularly to analyze data, identify opportunities, and hear both challenges and success stories. A shared roadmap with scheduled improvements should also be maintained.

Advisors receive a barrage of emails and phone calls from asset managers, which means it takes a differentiated and targeted approach to break through the noise. By combining a CRM system with clean data, a well-organized website, a marketing automation program, and sales enablement training, asset managers will be more efficient and productive by being able to reach the right advisor with the right message at the right time. It’s a formula that will help asset managers scale their business and thrive in today’s environment.