Who Owns Your Customer & Prospect Database? Sales or Marketing?

Lately, I’m seeing a new trend in mid-size companies – a trend where marketing is taking ownership of the customer & prospect database.  Many marketing departments are expressing frustration with sales not closing the loop on lead development, not paying enough attention to customer retention and data quality.

Although salespeople work hard on closing the “hot” leads, it seems they spend too little time on nurturing the “warm” leads.  Statistics show that about 63% of all leads turn into a sale for somebody within 1 year.  Both current customers and qualified leads need to be monitored and nurtured consistently.

Sales is usually so intent on “hitting their numbers” that their attention to the management of the customer & prospect database is neglected.  A sales manager wants the next sale. There ends up being not enough time for managing the database.  So contact data is often missing, incorrect or duplicated, and not in the shape marketing needs for effective lead generation campaigns.

Often marketing has the need, interest and time. As a result, marketing departments are taking ownership of the CRM database.  They are bringing sales reps into the system and monitoring the usage to close the loop on the lead generation process.  Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are monitored by marketing and reported to management. 

Ideally, these reports show:
- Lead generation source – tradeshow, website, mailing, ad, etc.
- Where assigned, such as distributor or rep – number of days to follow-up or assigned elsewhere
- Status update – what did rep or distributor do with the lead
- Status tracking – hot lead, warm lead, bad lead, sale, or don’t know
- Which follow-up activities, lead sources, conversions, and next actions work 

With marketing building and managing the customer & prospect data system, it is proving to be a great way to finally get everyone “on the same page.”

Who is managing your customer & prospect database?  It would be great to hear your comments and experiences.      

Was this article valuable? 

Comments

[Suzanne Obermire]

In my experience, it's the marketing department that manages the customer/prospect database, IF they do a significant amount of direct mail. For companies that don't do a great deal of direct marketing, the lead database most likely resides in sales, or in some sort of sales force automation/CRM/lead management system.

We referenced your blog in our blog today. Specifically, we outlined our experience where we've seen an ongoing argument between sales and marketing. Sales challenges the quality of the lead generated by a marketing program. Marketing says that sales doesn't work the lead to its fullest potential.

How do you think that this argument can be overcome? Is it simply by better communication?

[Bob Sullivan]

Communiations is a big part. One would expect if sales and marketing are reporting to the same VP the problem should be correct. However, sometimes it is not fixed. We are finding that putting marketing in charge of the CRM database and the development of lead management process is heading in the right direction.