For a long time, we have known that knowledge is power. However, there can be too much of a good thing. All too often, teams today are complaining that they have too much knowledge and not enough of it is actionable.

In this blog post, we will explore what is called the White Noise Problem. White noise is when a sound contains too many frequencies to be discernible. In other words, when a sound wave contains too much information for any person to be able to interpret. This happens all the time in sales and marketing when representatives get so many alerts, notifications, and dashboards that they learn to just ignore them. 

The seemingly important emails, pings, and notifications all become meaningless white noise, thus the white noise problem.

Systems of Action vs. Systems of Record

At Qualified, we have a saying for the modern sales and marketing team: "Data without action is just useless information."

The tricky part for every single marketing and sales team right now is finding that intricate balance between the systems of record and the systems of action. 

Now what the heck does that mean?

Well, every company has two distinct types of revenue systems, systems of action and systems of record. For instance, Google analytics, Salesforce CRM, a data lake or Customer Data Platform, are all common systems of record where information is gathered, stored, and analyzed. 

Conversely, a marketing automation platform, a sales automation platform, Gmail or Outlook, and internal communication tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams are all systems of action where the information from the systems of record is leveraged to react, whether that be an email, an alert, or some other form of delivery.

How Qualified cuts through the noise

Now, the question becomes, how can companies avoid this problem?

The answer is simple, but, as always with simple answers, easier said than done. Prioritize the information from the systems of record to send to the systems of action.

There is no better example of this obstacle than with Slack or Microsoft Team alerts. Imagine sales reps got a slack alert every single time a visitor came to the website. The sellers would learn with astounding speed how to silence those “noisy” notifications. However, by silencing those notifications, these same sellers would potentially lose out on knowing which of their key accounts came to check out the website. This is where Qualified comes in.

In any implementation process, you are not only implementing technology, but also the business processes to make that new tech successful. At Qualified, we’re always thinking about this White Noise problem and striking that balance between operationalizing technology and utilizing features to their maximum potential. 

In the case of alerting, we always ask the question, "who are the most important visitors that might come to your website?". These are the visitors that warrant an alert. Sales and marketing folks have little patience, so ensuring that every alert brings value is critical to success.

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How Qualified operationalizes data 

Another way to tackle this White Noise Problem is through dashboarding. Sellers prioritize their time by looking at intent data, behavioral data, firmographic data, and data from these different systems of record to inform their approach within the systems of action. With so much tracking and intelligence in place, it makes perfect sense that marketers and sellers are in a constant state of information overload. Many people don’t even know where to start their day with analysis paralysis. 

That’s where dashboards come in. Creating a report or dashboard should be considered an Olympic sport. With Qualified, our Qualified Success Architects determine the best way to present this information, sorting through the data that’s most useful and cutting through the noise.

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Again, a benefit of Qualified’s implementation philosophy is that data needs to be operationalized. The Qualified Success Architect will come into an account with templatized reports and dashboards that follow best practices seen across the industry. 

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The landscape of marketing and sales data has shifted. Previously, sellers would be asking for all the data we can gather, and, now, they are pleading to only see essential data that can be used in practice. The White Noise Problem perfectly captures this challenge for the modern team. The first step is to recognize that the problem exists. The next is to prioritize only the necessary information from the systems of record to send to those systems of action, creating a crystal clear note!

Here’s where Qualified’s Success Architects and our model of supporting all customers through a full implementation of Pipeline Cloud truly shines. Learn more about how our motto of “whatever it takes” has helped hundreds of customers to cut through the noise.