Sales automation: the future of CRM software

Joel ‘Cap’ Capperella is a solo-preneur in the business of helping small businesses raise their marketing and sales game. He brings over 20 years of experience in marketing of software and SaaS, working with both big fish like Oracle and with smaller startups. He’s an active contributor to some of the most influential business publications, such as The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com and FastCompany. We sat together with Joel to hear his thoughts on the future of sales automation.

What does sales automation mean to you?

That’s a pretty good question. To me, its mainly about making sales management less of a burden, time- and energy-wise. Sales automation is anything that makes it easier for the sales person to connect with potential customers, get them into the pipeline and subsequently accelerate the journey throughout the pipeline. It all boils down to removing barriers to connect, engage, listen and build relationships.

Wie sieht Ihre Vision der Vertriebsautomatisierung aus?

Sie sollte sich in die umfassendere Idee einfügen, dass Daten den Menschen in einer Organisation dienen und nicht andersherum.

CRM war ursprünglich hauptsächlich auf das Vertriebsmanagement ausgerichtet, wobei viel Zeit und Ressourcen in Daten und nicht in Menschen investiert wurden. Diese Logik kehrt sich nun um, da Daten und Algorithmen mehr und mehr für die Menschen arbeiten und nicht mehr umgekehrt.

In diese Richtung sollte die Vertriebsautomatisierung gehen: Die Software sollte nicht nur ein schnelles und zielgerichtetes Vertriebsmanagement ermöglichen, sondern, was noch wichtiger ist, das CRM sollte sich auch stärker auf das menschliche Element des Verkaufs konzentrieren. Beim neuen CRM geht es darum, so zu verkaufen, als ob Menschen wichtig wären.

We’re seeing the same tendencies in HR. HR management tools used to revolve around administrative tasks required to manage a workforce. Yet today, HR software is becoming more and more people-centered. It’s keeping employees engaged, connected and productive. It helps them do their jobs more effectively and manage their career development more personally.

To me, sales and people (HR) are connected like two sides of a circle. They seem opposed, yet are very related. You can’t make sales without employees and you can’t hire people without sales. Software that helps both sides, to put people at the centre and data at their service, will make the relation between people and sales in organisations all the more circular, as it should be.

Was sind Ihre besten Tipps/Richtlinien zur Vertriebsautomatisierung?

There’s so much information out there. And it’s becoming more and more everyday. Somewhere in that pile of data is the exact piece of information, often a combination of bits of data, that you need.

Verwenden Sie eine Software, die es Ihnen leicht macht, immer wieder an diese eine Information zu gelangen. Die wahre Magie besteht darin, mehrere Tools an einem Ort zu vereinen, so dass Sie die Informationen sofort nutzen können, um Ergebnisse zu erzielen.

Which sales automation tools are you using?

I’m currently using HubSpot CRM, not Salesflare, mostly because I got a very good deal on it. I have it integrated with ActiveCampaign, my marketing automation platform. I use Zapier to automate tasks between Evernote, Google Sheets and my CRM. For extra hands to help me with some design work, finding email addresses or something like that, I turn to Upwork.

Any tactics you would like to share?

I’m a big content believer. Content is a huge way to connect and engage, plus you can use it in all the different stages of the sales process. The key is to carefully measure what type of content is working best in different stages.

For example, I set automatic series of emails after a specific offer. For each one I will track the recipient’s reaction to it; how long it takes him or her to react, how often he/she opened the email, whether he/she visits my website and how long etc.

Diese Engagement-Kennzahlen bestimmen, wie viel Zeit ich für eine Person aufwenden muss, um sie umzuwandeln.