Demand Gen Report

EPM Live, a cloud-based work management and project portfolio management platform, has released a Salesform.com app. The application integrates CRM capabilities with EPM Live’s existing software that will help streamline business processes and increase ROI, according to company officials.

Individuals can customize the app to personal preferences and communicate with other corporate teams through the Salesforce.com cloud. All critical data that needs to be shared is centralized in the Salesforce.com database, allowing all users in the cloud to view progress and identify potential problems in real-time. Data that can be shared in the cloud include milestones, budget costs, billing and status information.

 B2B buyers not only have to connect with buyers through engaging content, but they have to anticipate their future needs. That was one of the key points made by Lee Odden, CEO and Founder of TopRank Online Marketing in a session at the B2B Content2Conversion Conference hosted by Demand Gen Report.

 “Empathize with that customer journey and anticipate, maybe through search, what they’re interested and what they’re looking for,” he said. “Visual media is clearly something that is resonating with a lot of people.”

When sales and marketing fail to collaborate, it has a big impact on the bottom line. That was one of the key messages from the Sales Enablement Strategies panel at the B2B Content2Conversion event.

Moderator Jon Russo, Founder and CEO of B2B Fusion Group, told the audience that poor sales-marketing alignment costs $14 million a year at a $1 billion firm. “For every 650 leads, one deal is closed in 19 months and sales cycle times have increased by 10% over the past three years, from five months in 2010 to 5.4 months in 2012,” he said, citing figures from Gartner, IDC, Alinean and DiscoverOrg.

Only 3% of companies can track social media to sales, according to the Ragan/NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions survey, highlighted in this infographic developed by Go-Gulf. Most (82%) of companies have fewer than three people on their social media team.