By now, every distributor knows that they need to “digitally evolve” into modern organizations.

Cue the latest tech stack: the tech-enabled website, the CRM, the marketing automation platform, the sales dialer, the sales automation tool, the predictive intelligence platform and all manner of analytics tools. But most distributors are not utilizing their existing tool set to their advantage – or are unaware of new tools that can create a competitive edge in the industry. Distributors that are making full use of what’s available are driving efficiency, enhancing customer engagement and unlocking growth opportunities. 

From account-based tools to predictive analytics and AI-powered insights that personalize sales and marketing outreach, all distributors should be harnessing the most recent innovations for improved relationships with their leads and customers. How does your business measure up in the following areas? 

1. The Customer Relationship Management System (CRM)

Regardless of the platform you house your sales and customer data in, it likely has valuable features and functions you aren’t taking advantage of. Only 50% of distributor sales reps who have a CRM actually use it, indicating a wealth of untapped potential. 

• Sales Automation: The first step is to ensure that entry and exit criteria for each stage of the sales process is clear and well-defined. This allows distributors to create fields in the CRM for the team that, once checked, will automatically advance the record to the next sales stage. This is the most important automation you can implement to save time and reduce human error in the long run. Honorable mentions include: triggering notifications to internal team members from fields to indicate next steps; triggering email sequences to prospects and customers from fields; and creating calendar meetings automatically from fields being filled out or stages advancing in the system. 

• Company and ICP Scoring: Developing a scoring model that fits your business targets is key for modern distribution wholesalers. You can set up rules in the CRM to add or subtract points for customers above a certain revenue threshold, in specific industries, with certain business models and more. ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) and Persona Scoring can add more actionable information for sales and marketing by adding and subtracting points for different buyer personas based on job title (Head of Product vs Head of Finance for example). 

• Automatic Data Enrichment: With database resources more available and affordable than ever, there’s no reason not to enhance records with outside data sources. The more information that’s available to you, the easier it is to score records and focus sales rep time on best-fit matches for your target customers. 

• Data Analytics: CRM-based analytics can provide deep insights (even without a separate business intelligence tool) that can improve sales forecasting, Target Account strategy, and sales territory management. These turn into competitive advantages in the market. Some examples of reports that can be run natively or exported into spreadsheets: Target Account Penetration %; Customer Account Whitespace; Account Ownership by Field Sales Rep and Region (# of Accounts, $ value).

2. The Marketing Automation Platform (MAP)

The MAP enhances marketing efforts through better targeting, content creation and campaign optimization, but distributors aren’t fully leveraging these features: 

• Automatic Lead Qualification and Disqualification: Once you’ve set up Company and ICP Scoring in the CRM and connected a data enrichment source (above), automatically qualifying (and disqualifying) leads is a walk in the park. When a lead fills out a form on your website or is identified by a sales rep, they can automatically have their information enriched and matched to your ICP—or, if they’re not a fit for your business, you can automatically send them a polite email with other resources. 

• Automated Lead Nurture: All distributors need initiatives that nurture leads over time, letting the lead re-engage when they are ready. Enter the “nurture sequence”: an automated series of touches (usually email) that are designed to keep you top-of-mind for everyone who has said they’re “not ready” to move forward. Companies that employ lead nurture sequences generate 50% more sales-ready leads at a 33% lower cost, so it’s worthwhile to set them up. 

• Email Performance Analysis: Native to all MAPs, this feature will analyze your emails and suggest ways to optimize various elements including subject line, length, sending time and deliverability.  

• Multi-touch Attribution: The modern buying journey is multi-touch and multi-channel. Tracking and weighting all of those touches and displaying them in a unified manner is what MAPs are there for. If you’ve only been using first-touch or last-touch attribution, enable multi-touch attribution and test it out to see what new insights it can bring and where you should be investing more resources. 

• Tradeshow and Event Lead Capture: For most distributors, in-person tradeshows are a core business driver. What many lack, however, is a digital way to capture leads and automate follow-up. A simple form connected to the MAP for leads to fill out, a QR code for leads to scan that links to a landing page, a badge scanning app with automatic CRM entry: all can save time and reduce input errors. Extra points if you’ve already queued up an email sequence that starts sending to the person’s email a thank you for visiting the booth or connecting with a rep, plus some company information and next steps. 

3. The Sales Engagement Platform (SEP)

Used for creating multichannel outreach sequences, the SEP is a must for modern distribution sales teams. This allows teams to build multi-month automated cadences of emails, phone calls, LinkedIn messages and even text messages. Many CRMs come with this built in, but for those that do not, they can be integrated into your technology stack. 

• Audience Segmentation: No one likes receiving generic, robotic-sounding emails. If you have segmented your audience using Company and ICP Scoring in the CRM (see above), you can create dynamic elements of your messages that are customized to your intended audience, referencing their Company name, industry, competitors and more. All the more reason to ensure the data in the CRM is clean, complete and up-to-date. 

• AI-Enhanced Copywriting: When a marketing email is well-written, the recipient is more likely to open it, read it and take action. AI-powered SEP tools can analyze thousands of customer data points to suggest language that is more likely to generate responses. They can also make sure your messages will be readable on mobile devices. If your SEP doesn’t have these tools built in, they can be easily added or used as a browser extension. 

4. The Conversational Intelligence Platform

Once thought of as a nice-to-have, digital meeting platforms are now crucial. Most platforms have basic recording and transcription functions, but you may want to go a step further and find a platform that can provide detailed meeting summaries, gauge sentiments and suggest next steps. 

• AI Conversational Insights: From identifying customer sentiments to suggesting questions and potential risks to address, these tools can help a sales rep proactively provide assistance and sell more consultatively, thus improving relationships. 

• Automated Meeting Recaps and Follow-Ups: Meeting recaps and automatically generated to-do lists can shorten time-to-action by reducing the need for note-taking, post-meeting analysis and playbacks. A bonus: Any sales rep time spent on admin work can be better utilized in revenue-producing activities. 

5. The Predictive Intelligence Platform

Some of the most advanced distributors leverage AI-powered insights derived from website visitors and tracked behavior of leads, distilling them into predictions about which leads are “sales-ready” or most likely to become a customer. 

• Website Visitor De-Anonymization: These tools identify website visitors (even before you have “cookied” them) and send your sales reps a heads-up. Sales reps can take action on this information and reach out to maximize immediacy of contact, or you can trigger automated reach-out sequences to your no-longer-anonymous visitors. 

• Signal-Based Prospecting and Intent Data: These platforms can digitally track leads to identify signals that the lead is “sales-ready” and receptive for a conversation (also known as “intent data”). Together these indicators can be paired with ad campaigns to keep your brand top-of-mind wherever the lead goes online– and when the timing is right, a sales rep can reach out.  

Implementing these tools can lead to significant improvements in team efficiency, cost management and overall business performance. Regularly conducting marketing and sales technology audits will ensure you are getting the most out of your investments and enabling your teams for success in the ever-evolving world of digital distribution.

Carly Cais

Carly J. Cais (“case”) is a consultant who optimizes and enhances go-to-market teams for B2B companies. With deep experience in industries such as construction, manufacturing and distribution, she identifies opportunities for growing both inbound and outbound leads and improving internal Marketing and Sales collaboration. Her approach ensures full usage of the existing technology stack clients have already invested in, along with adding in technologies and methods that improve team performance and automate repetitive time-consuming tasks. This helps distributor Sales & Marketing teams reduce non-ROI administrative busywork, increase qualified lead flow and grow revenue. To learn more about Carly and how she helps spark more revenue for companies, visit RevvSpark.com. She can be reached directly at carly@revvspark.com.