New On-Demand App Meshes Analytics, Marketing, Sales

A new start-up called Genius has introduced an on-demand application that combines Web analytics, marketing and sales functionality to help reps improve their tracking of prospect leads and respond to queries with tailored marketing pitches.

Called SalesGenius, the software empowers users to capture and identify Web visitors most likely to buy a product, Yankee Group analyst Sheryl Kingstone told CRM Buyer.

"It is a new category that I call 'marketing and sales effectiveness.' It fills a very necessary need for qualifying prospects online," she said.

What, and for How Long

Through a tool it calls Genius Tracker, SalesGenius monitors activity on a Web page -- for instance, how many times a particular user has looked at a certain item and for how long -- via an Instant Messenger-like client. This client alerts a sales rep when prospects open their SalesGenius e-mail and opt to click to the corporate Web site.

SalesGenius guides the sales reps to establish the initial contact with interested prospects. First, an e-mail is created through the SalesGenius application or through Outlook.

In this e-mail, the sales rep includes links to the corporate Web site in which the prospect might be interested and then sends the e-mail. The application then provides the sales rep with data as to which prospects have clicked on the various links.

Armed with this information, sales professionals can prioritize and tailor call backs.

"While Web-analytics tools and CRM solutions are able to provide campaign response rates or pages browsed on a per customer basis, this insight is not immediately available to a salesperson," said Leslie Ament, director, customer intelligence research, Aberdeen Group.

"Sales tools that provide real-time access to actionable customer intelligence will transform how sales and marketing professionals interact with customers by enabling higher levels of personalization," Ament added.

On-Demand Links

SalesGenius can be easily integrated into other on-demand CRM applications, David Thompson, CEO and co-founder of Genius, told CRM Buyer.

He noted that Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) users, in particular, have expressed interest in developing an application that would embed SalesGenius into the Salesforce.com product -- most likely through AppExchange.

Interest from on-premise vendors has not been as intense, Thompson observed, primarily because they appear to be under the impression that the system and subsequent integration is either too expensive or unworkable.

Little wonder, he adds. Integration of marketing and sales is not always an easy endeavor for companies. "SalesGenius is a natural mesh-up of marketing, analytics and sales," Thompson said.