I just returned from a trip to Belgium and Germany to meet with some of our outstanding partners. The insight gleaned from them was invaluable; trips like that really help me stay in touch with how Europe is embracing marketing automation and how that market is really picking up. It’s impressive.
I get asked a lot by partners and partner prospects about selling the difference between email marketing and marketing automation to end users who have only used email service providers. There are a number of white papers and articles on this subject (we even have one ourselves!), but I like to boil it down to a few sentences for our partners and make it really brief and to the point. It goes like this:
Think of email marketing as the worst salesperson in your organization, and marketing automation as your best. Your worst salesperson doesn’t listen to any prospect, has no idea what they want and need, and repeats the same message to everyone they talk to. Your best salesperson has an understanding of every prospect’s stage in the buying process, listens to their wants and needs, and tailors his/her message based on that knowledge.
That’s it. It’s that simple. Now, which person do you want working for you?
It’s time to fire your worst salesperson.
