Are the Upfront Costs to Sales Automation Software Tools a Smart Investment?

The implementation of sales automation software in your company can be an expensive adventure. It requires a significant amount of investment in terms of both time and money before you even start to use the software.

You have to spend some time in evaluation of various tools, as well as learning about their implementation. At the same time, you have to invest time and resources in training your staff.

Having all of this in mind, it’s reasonable to pose the question – are all these upfront costs worth the investment? We’ll take you through both the costs and the benefits of adopting sales automation software so you can make a final decision.

Sales automation software setup investments

In order to give you a more clear perspective, we can use Infusionsoft as a good concrete example. Being one of the best sales automation software solutions, it brings numerous benefits, but also requires significant investments. It’s worth mentioning that Infusionsoft is one of the most affordable solutions on the market.

Financial investments

Infusionsoft combines sales and marketing solutions in one unified system. It also offers e-commerce capabilities for businesses which include selling products or services online. Infusionsoft offers different packages ranging from $199 to $379, depending on the number of contacts, number of emails per month and number of users.

The Essentials package covers your basic CRM and marketing automation needs. The Deluxe Sales package is designed for companies with sales teams that need more advanced CRM features. The Deluxe e-Commerce package covers the specific needs of companies that rely mostly on web sales.

The Complete package is the most expensive one with a monthly fee of $379. It provides features for contact management, sales automation, marketing automation and e-commerce. In case you need more features than the ones offered in your package, you can additionally purchase apps and plugins from the Infusionsoft marketplace.

Infusionsoft has a monthly billing schedule without any contracts or any additional annual fees. Aside from the monthly fee, Infusionsoft requires using the kickstart service for all packages. Every new account holder needs to get a kickstart package ranging from $1,999 to $3,000.

Kickstart packages include coaching which is essential to get familiar with the software and make the most of it for your business. They’ll help you set up the system and provide you with strategy plans to capture, nurture and convert leads. Note again that they will not let you sign up without getting a kickstart package.

Investments in terms of time

The implementation time for Infusionsoft or any other sales automation software can range from 6-12 weeks, assuming that you and your team have average technical skills. You’ll need to use this time to get to understand all the capabilities of the system and automate all the business aspects you need. After that, you can feel the true value of your sales automation software.

In order to speed up the adoption time for this system, you can hire a consultant or attend the Infusionsoft user conference called InfusionCon. Infusionsoft is a leader in terms of community support. Beside InfusionCon and several local meet-ups and groups for sharing knowledge, Infusionsoft also has online forums for connecting with other users.

You can also take basic and advanced courses at Infusion University, or visit the Infusionsoft offices during implementation days and get help from experts. You have various options for getting to know the software; Just make sure you have enough time to spare.

Are these investments justified?

Yes, these investments are justified if you know how to make the most of your sales automation software. You can save on costs and generate greater revenue if you put to use all the features that sales automation tools offer. Here are a few benefits that software solutions such as Infusionsoft can bring to your business.

Improved sales efficiency

Sales automation software solutions such as Infusionsoft help sales reps by providing useful information about the prospect’s needs and wants. The marketing features of the software ensure better engagement with leads, building and nurturing better relationships. They help your in earning customer trust through the nurturing process, bringing buyers closer to the point of making a decision.

Infusionsoft automation tools include features such as automated sales tasks, simplified sales activities, viewing and managing sales and conversion reports, and data importing and management. Offering the possibility to segment customers, qualify and capture leads with web forms, they reduce the costs to earn a new customer.

Automation tools can build and deliver up-to-date lists of hot prospects prioritized by lead score. Having all the information they need to make informed decisions, sales reps will know exactly how to craft a pitch from the moment they engage, which eventually leads to more closed deals.

Infusionsoft also offers creating a fully featured e-commerce shopping cart. It makes it easy to create electronic order forms, manage inventories, and offer payment plans. It provides the opportunity to trigger post-purchase follow-up and sell more volume by offering discounts and trials.

Improved marketing efficiency

The largest benefit of using Infusionsoft for marketing automation is saving time. You can easily create and deliver effective marketing campaigns which are fast, scalable, accurate, and can run 24/7. This can hardly be done manually.

Infusionsoft offers tools for creating smart relationship building campaigns. You can easily automate the social media sharing processes and measure results with automated reports. You can also search and remove duplicated contacts from your CRM database, which is a great time saver.

Infusionsoft also has a great visual drag and drop campaign builder for easy broadcast of both text and HTML emails. You can create smart auto responders and get more personal with your audience using behavioral triggers.

Sales and marketing processes synchronization  

Businesses often face friction between their sales and marketing teams. Marketing and sales automation software solutions now make it possible for these teams to work together and achieve common goals.

Automation tools help in overcoming mixed messages and forecasts, as well as resolving differing goals between these two company sectors. They provide an infrastructure that can ensure transparency and accountability between sales and marketing.

Using sales automation software properly can impact the entire buying cycle. It ensures proper lead determination, as well as helps in designing effective nurturing strategies. All of this leads to better sales processes and a bigger revenue.