Business automation is not automatic
More small businesses are online, which is a good thing
More small business are online than ever before. That’s a good thing, according to Anita Campbell. She is CEO of the Small Business Trends family of publications.
Coming with that online presence are more tools for automation.
“That’s an overwhelming landscape to deal with,” Campbell said. She talked with Ivana Taylor and Iva Ignjatovic about how to choose the right sales and marketing automation tools for your business.
Taylor owns DIYMarketers, a company “committed to helping small business owners get out of overwhelm.” Ignjatovic is a marketing, strategy, leadership and business consultant.
Sales and marketing automation can be good if done well. Automate the small, mundane, unimportant stuff. Too much automation risks losing the human touch on things that matter.
“This is true,” Campbell said. “Automation has to be coupled with the personal touch, or it can be counterproductive.
“Sales and marketing automation is definitely a good thing,” she said. “You can get to your goals faster without needing to do a lot of labor. Think about sales and marketing automation this way: Accomplish more. Spend less.”
Taylor opted for the good aspect because automation forces entrepreneurs to map out their customers’ buying journey.
“It can go both ways,” Ignjatovic said. “In most cases it’s a good thing. Automating certain actions gives us more time for customers, business development and building relationships.”
Sales and marketing tools can work with marketers. The main thing is that marketers not let themselves get so robot-like that they act mechanical.
“Sales and marketing automation tools will never replace professional marketers,” Campbell said. “If anything, it elevates what marketers spend their time on — and that’s good.”
Taylor noted that sales and marketing automation tools have replaced lower-level marketers who do busy work, but still require a high level of experience.
“When you think about it, the whole replacement theory is quite silly,” Ignjatovic said. “Automation took over certain tasks enabling marketers to level up their work.”
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Sales and marketing automation tools have evolved through the years.
“In the past, there were email marketing tools and customer relationship management tools,” Taylor said. “Each has added marketing automation to their base.
“When choosing, you have to choose based on your sales process and the tool’s strength,” she said.
Campbell has seen a growing combination of complexity and convenience.
“Sales and marketing automation tools have gotten more sophisticated,” she said. “The better tools have gotten easier to use.
“Another way that automation tools have evolved is that we’ve seen a morphing of various types of tools that once were separate, now blending,” Campbell said. “Email marketing includes CRM. CRM includes social media functionality and so on.”
The origins seemed so simple.
“Automation started as a basic data storage that we could filter,” Ignjatovic said. “Now, automation analyzes data providing customer experience and personalization.”
Sales and marketing automation can make small-business owners be more productive. They also can become too enamored with them and neglect connections with the real people they serve.
“These tools can hurt sales efforts when you choose the wrong tool for the job and then not use key features,” Taylor said.
Ignjatovic cautioned that if someone doesn’t know how to use a tool in a particular situation and why, automation will harm any business.
“Automation in sales and marketing can hurt when you haven’t set up the tool properly to begin with or don’t use the tool well,” Campbell said. “Yet, automation helps when you cut down routine admin work and deliver a better experience.
“Automation without people is just plain cold, unfeeling — and unproductive,” she said. “It doesn’t replace people.”
According to Taylor, the biggest mistakes small businesses make with sales and marketing automation are when they choose the tool based on a sales pitch, not on their sales and marketing process.
What works for others is not universal.
“Don’t use a tool based solely on the experience of another business without thinking about your needs,” Ignjatovic said. “What works for some probably won’t work for everyone.”
Then there is the outright bad selection.
“The biggest mistake is choosing the wrong tool,” Campbell said. “Write down what you want the tool to do. Test out a few. All tools are different.”
She gave other big mistakes:
- Not selling your team on the advantages. Play up how the tool will help them.
- Not taking the time to read help files and getting-started guides or watch how-to videos about the product.
To select the right sales and marketing automation tool for your business, assess your wants and needs. Then you can seek tools based on that rather than buy a tool and have to make it fit.
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“This is very important,” Campbell said. “Ask, ‘What do I need this tool to do?’ before jumping in and using features you don’t even need.”
These are her suggestions when choosing a sales and marketing tool:
- Ask owners of similar businesses what they use.
- Read feature tables — usually on the pricing page — and compare.
- Take advantage of free trials.
“First, understand if you are a direct-selling business or an online lead-generation business,” Taylor said. “Then choose a tool developed for that sales process.”
Remember, there’s a person at the other end of transactions.
“It’s all about personal relationships,” Ignjatovic said. “Choose a tool that lets you create customized one-to-one engagement.”
If you start to feel overwhelmed in your business, it’s time to take a break and assess if automation will help your cause.
“After you’ve mapped out your customer journey and laid out your sales and marketing funnel, it’s time to look for a tool that helps you automate redundant tasks,” Taylor said.
It’s not so much a matter of when but what.
“There’s no special timing,” Ignjatovic said. “Why would you use a typewriter if you could use a computer? Don’t wait for automation to happen. Know your work process. Research the tools.”
Campbell said this is when to look at sales and marketing automation:
- You don’t think you’re growing fast enough.
- You can’t get out of your own way internally, and things fall through the cracks.
“I use Nimble CRM,” Taylor said. “I meet my prospects online and typically have one-on-one conversations. It’s the best tool for managing those relationships.”
Ignjatovic has manufacturing clients who use HubSpot.
“It’s pricey, but they love the integrated platform,” she said.
Sales and marketing tools Campbell uses include Zoho CRM, Zoho One, Nextiva, Infusionsoft and Leadpages.
A Swiss Army knife of tools is OK if they are tools you really need and not the result of being hypnotized by a bright, shiny object.
“I use different tools for each function,” Taylor said. “I like the flexibility, and I think it’s cheaper. That’s not a good choice for some people. All-in-one tools seem to be average at everything.”
The best fit might not match the best price.
“It depends on your business and your level of expertise and comfort,” Ignjatovic said. “If you’re technical, go ahead and mix. If not, don’t try to save money. Just use something integrated.”
Much like gasoline efficiency, your results might vary.
“There are advantages to both approaches, depending on your situation,” Campbell said. “In some industries, you may need to cobble together ‘specialist’ solutions just to get the right functionality you need.
“You’ll often be better off with an all-in-one platform,” she said. “There is less work and expense on integrations, which are really tough for small businesses to accomplish.”
Beware of being sold by a salesperson.
“When choosing tools, don’t just take vendors’ word for it that their tool ‘integrates’ with another vendor’s,” Campbell said. “It could be just a single data field that integrates — or it may integrate in the product when you need that data or transaction to go out.”
Looking ahead
In the coming years, Campbell, Ignjatovic and Taylor foresee trends in sales and marketing automation.
“I see more and more overlap,” Taylor said. “It’s going to be more confusing for small-business owners to choose the right tool.”
Ignjatovic thinks artificial intelligence will play a bigger role.
“You already have emails being delivered at a time when recipients will see them,” she said.
This is Campbell’s forecast for sales and marketing automation tools:
- Cheaper.
- Smarter, thanks to AI and machine learning.
- Less set-up time needed due to lower cognitive load.
“If you don’t use the tool or don’t use it properly, it’s not only a waste of the subscription cost for the tool, but the time you wasted on a half effort that fails to deliver,” Campbell said.
She and Taylor also had a video conversation that addressed eight simple steps to choose the right sales and marketing tools.
About The Author
Jim Katzaman is a manager at Largo Financial Services and worked in public affairs for the Air Force and federal government. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
