The promises of customer relationship management (CRM) software are intoxicating.

Sales reps access timely information about accounts and a historical record of interaction with key points of contact. Identified opportunities are tracked with corporate resources appropriately marshalled to increase win rates. Revenue projections are more accurately distilled to facilitate reporting and business planning.

And, when integrated with a marketing automation platform such as Oracle Eloqua, Marketo, Pardot or eTrigue, an organization follows a prospect during the buying cycle at nearly every point of touch.

In theory, CRM-powered sales and marketing teams are efficient, effective and scalable. That’s why more than half of all North American companies surveyed by Computer Economics have adopted CRM.

As we all know though, there is often quite a gulf between theory and reality, especially in today’s complex and multi-dimensional organization.

A pressing challenge faced by marketers who seek to drive value from their company’s investment in CRM is how to motivate sales reps to take action on identified leads, without creating a hostile and adversarial environment.

Taking this issue head on is the mission of the new Strategic Lead Management CRM Solution, my firm developed in partnership with Rainmaker Associates. Utilizing the functionality of Salesforce.com (the market leader in CRM), we help marketers more effectively capture, route, track and report on sales leads.

This week I hosted John Sisson, Rainmaker’s managing director, for an exclusive online chat about how CRM can be leveraged to inspire sales team action and accountability. A replay of our best practices-focused conversation is below.

Web2Sales How Marketers Can Inspire Sales Team Action and Accountability from Kristin Janeiro on Vimeo.