 It's no big secret in the business world that sales and marketing don't always play nice with each other. Usually, this doesn't come from a place of malice. Both teams are working hard to fulfill their roles in the organization. They may even be rooting for each other to succeed. But when barriers to communication and collaboration have been established for a long time, sales and marketing alignment is non-existent. This scenario can be difficult to overcome.
However, the results of sales and marketing alignment are well worth any effort expended. Sales and marketing integration supercharges the efforts that both departments put into generating and nurturing leads. Ultimately, it offers a competitive advantage to the organization as a whole. The teams that work together really do win together. An Example of How Sales and Marketing Alignment Can Pay Off How can sales and marketing integration drive results in the real world? Let's use the following scenario as just one example: Imagine that the sales and marketing teams of Company X are in a meeting. During the meeting, the sales director discloses an obstacle that has prevented several reps from closing sales. Many leads want to hear from actual customers about their experience with Company X, instead of salespeople or online content. In another organization, the sales team would just have to navigate that challenge on their own. But Company X enjoys sales and marketing alignment. Therefore, their marketing team can come up with a solution: an ambassador program that features enthusiastic customers who are willing to talk to prospects about the benefits of working with Company X. As you can tell from the foregoing example, sales and marketing alignment isn't just a corporate buzzword that gets thrown around a lot. When implemented properly, it leads to better outcomes in the real world. With that being said, the question now becomes: How can a business get the alignment process started? Here are five key steps to keep in mind: 1. Become Aware of the Problem As the old saying goes: "The first step in solving a problem is recognizing there is one." Sales and marketing leadership must internalize the fact that siloed teams result in less-than-optimal results. There must be an acknowledgment that each team, and the organization as a whole, will benefit from an integrated approach to the sales and marketing funnel. Even if your company has always done things a certain way, that doesn't necessarily mean things have always been done the best way. Strategies that heavily rely on "winging it," accidentally stumbling across workable solutions, or simply "going with the flow" without a clear plan in place are not sustainable in the long run. Do these strategies describe your company's approach to sales and marketing? Then it's time to acknowledge that change is needed. 2. Accept the Need To Shift Acknowledging a problem is one thing. Actually doing something about it is something else entirely. Sales and marketing leadership must accept the responsibility to take charge of the integration process. There should be consistent advocacy for alignment, both from management and from team members. One of the biggest pivots your business may need to make involves communication between the two departments. There should be a constant, free flow of information between the sales and marketing teams. For example: does the marketing team consult sales during the development of a new campaign? Does sales understand the unique selling proposition (USP) that marketing emphasizes for new leads? It may take some time to implement the shift toward integration fully. Strategic thinking, planning, process development and mapping, iteration and action will be required to achieve the ultimate goal of alignment. If leadership forges the path, the teams will follow. 3. Meet Buyers Where They Are on Their Buying Journey One of the main reasons for pursuing sales and marketing alignment is to facilitate each buyer's journey toward a purchase decision. It's no surprise that different buyers take different paths as they contemplate an offer. Some make decisions based on pricing, others on product quality, still others on support infrastructure. Some leads may want to "de-risk" their decisions based on direct interaction with current customers. Others may be convinced by reviewing simple case studies or product overviews. The point is, sales and marketing alignment should be designed to accommodate the unique needs of the individual buyer. Both teams should feel empowered to adjust their messaging and approach to address the prospect's concerns. 4. Support Lead Movement Through the Sales Funnel Sales and marketing integration should be focused on effectively moving a lead from one stage of the sales funnel to the next. There's no place for possessiveness or "territorial disputes" between the two departments. Teams that are in alignment with each other will understand what constitutes a marketing-qualified lead vs. a sales-qualified lead, and when and how the hand-off should take place. Leadership has to clearly define what guidelines each team should follow, without taking away the flexibility required to handle one-off cases. The more intentional a company's sales and marketing strategies are, the more rewarding the results will be for customers, teams, and the entire organization. 5. Measure Results, Iterate, and Evolve As your teams come into alignment, you should be able to measure the difference in performance compared to your previous approach. Sales and marketing key performance indicators (KPIs) are the "scorecard" that measures the success of your efforts. Regularly reviewing this scorecard can help you identify areas in which alignment is progressing well, along with areas that need continued attention. The combination of quantitative and qualitative data (e.g., hard metrics and anecdotal evidence) can help both teams see their role from a new perspective. Perhaps most importantly, seeing what they can achieve through alignment will motivate team members to stay on that path and reap even more success. In summary, sales and marketing alignment can be a powerful driver for business growth. It offers your company an edge over the competition and may contribute to innovative solutions for challenges that arise. If you implement the five steps discussed above and promote a culture of interdepartmental collaboration, you're all but guaranteed to see improved sales performance as a result. Learn More A healthy relationship between sales and marketing is vital to an organization’s success. Dive deep into this effective strategy in a new book called Sales & Marketing Alignment. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us. Or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources.  It's an all-too-common story in today's business world: A successful company (we'll call it Company X) starts to see its influx of customers dwindle. Year after year, there's a small but significant decline in revenue. As a result, the CEO of Company X puts pressure on the sales director and CMO to turn things around. However, without a clear sales and marketing strategy in place, a ton of effort is expended without seeing a big return on investment.
All the while, Company X is still offering superior products compared to its competitors. Also, it's still providing exceptional customer service to existing clients. So what's the core issue that led to such a problematic situation? In many cases, it's a failure to take into account three key sales and marketing lessons, namely:
Let's dig into each one of these sales and marketing lessons. We'll examine how taking leadership of each one can positively impact your business in ways both big and small. Lesson #1: Sales and Marketing Teams Must Adapt Change can be difficult for anyone. That includes marketers and salespeople, especially if they've been used to doing things a certain way for several years. For instance: your marketing team may be used to throwing money at Google Ads every month or uploading two unconnected social media posts a day. However, even when the results no longer justify the process, they're reluctant to change the process. Or maybe your sales team is getting a bunch of leads that want some more info on your product, but aren't quite ready to sign on the dotted line. Instead of gently probing to see what those prospects really need and why they're considering your business in the first place, your team members' first instinct is to tell them, "Call me when you're ready to buy." Obviously, there are some key opportunities in these and other scenarios that need to be addressed. But any solution is going to require adaptation. Your marketers may need to shift their perspective to building a fan base rather than distributing ads. Similarly, your sales reps may need to lean into lead nurturing instead of just taking down orders. The reality is the sales and marketing of yesteryear cannot effectively compete within the hyper-strategic, systematized digital age in which we live. Companies must be willing to adapt. Or they must accept the fact that they'll eventually become irrelevant. On the other hand, if you become a change agent for your teams in terms of strategy or process, then they will almost certainly be able to perform at a higher level than before. Lesson #2: Sales and Marketing Are Experiencing Disruption Two major changes have taken place in the world of sales and marketing recently. Let's briefly discuss each of them: 1. Buyers will research you before you ever speak with them. Today's online buyers really have an embarrassment of riches in terms of the information that's available to them. They can easily visit your website and your social media profiles. However, they can just as easily see those of your top competitors. And they may stumble across your competition before even thinking about initiating contact with one of your team members. Of course, the digital world is also saturated with spam, clickbait, scams, and automatic opt-ins. And buyers have become ever more discerning in terms of avoiding online dangers and annoyances. So, the task that's laid before your marketing team is to make your company as attractive as possible to prospects. At the same time, you must distance yourself from both legitimate competitors and scammers. 2. Competition has intensified, and adding value is mandatory. Once you've effectively set up your company's digital presence to be found by interested prospects, the next big step is to add value to their customer journey. The specific value you're adding (whether it's a downloadable white paper, an online quote estimator, or even a free consultation) will obviously depend on the nature of your business. The point is it's essential to offer value to your leads from the very beginning of their entry into your funnel. And you must continue to do so as you guide them through each stage of their journey. You can be sure that your competition will seek to add value to the consumer base. However, if you do the work, you'll be able to add more value and win more attention. Lesson #3: Sales and Marketing Need Each Other (and Effective Leadership) It's easy for sales and marketing to play the "blame game" with each other when things aren't going right — and especially if a "silo mentality" has crept into the company culture. However, whether your goal is to right the ship or to increase already healthy revenues, it's vital that sales and marketing coordinate their efforts around a unified strategy. In this regard, two elements are indispensable: 1. Good Communication Leaders have to ensure that there's a constant, open dialogue between sales and marketing. It may take regular interdepartmental meetings to get everyone on the same page (and keep them there). But it's well worth the effort. 2. Clearly Defined Roles Some of the greatest friction that occurs between sales and marketing is in that transitional phase of the customer journey, when a marketing-qualified lead transforms into a sales-qualified lead. The good news is you can greatly reduce (or possibly even eliminate) that friction by developing and then communicating clearly defined roles for each team. In general, your marketing team should be tasked with providing clear info to prospects, explaining the values and benefits of your product/service, and then outlining their next steps for working with sales. Once the lead has been handed off to sales, they should be able to answer questions, respond to concerns, and provide instructions on how the customer can get started. By working together in this way, with the help of active, unifying leadership, your sales and marketing teams can become a solid "one-two punch" for achieving your goals. If you and your team take these three key sales and marketing lessons to heart, then you'll be in a much better position to reverse the trend of declining sales. Or, if your sales are already robust, you'll be able to improve them even further. And if you're willing to do the hard work, you'll almost certainly see a major ROI for your trouble. Learn More A healthy relationship between sales and marketing is vital to an organization’s success. Dive deep into this effective strategy in a new book called Sales & Marketing Alignment. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us. Or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources.  Business is good. Accounts keep coming in. Our team doesn't have any drama, and everyone works together well. The only problem is... I feel like opportunities are being missed because of my lack of organization. How do I get my sales team organized? Can you relate to the above thoughts? Many SMB owners who run successful companies have to face the "organization dilemma" at some point in their journey. Maybe it was easy to handle the day-to-day of sales when you were just starting out — but now you have an entire sales team to manage, and dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of accounts to maintain. Are you giving your reps the direction they need to succeed? Are you giving them guidelines and boundaries that will keep them focused? Has your sales process been broken up into defined stages or steps? Your business may be doing great. With a more organized approach in place, it could do even better. So we go back to the original question: Where should you start? Here are three practical tips that can help you keep your sales team organized, focused, and effective: 1. Get Intentional The first thing you need to realize as an owner is that unless your company has a designated sales leader... you are the sales leader. You're the one your reps will look to for clarity, structure, and support. You're the one who can either empower your team to exceed expectations... or hinder them from reaching their full potential. Bottom line? It starts and ends with you. And that's why it's so crucial to get intentional with your sales process. Being intentional means starting with the end in mind. In other words, you need to develop a clear "game plan" for your sales team. What exactly is their role in the overall process? For example:
It's important to define your main objectives, and then work out the details that go into each one. This is where the concept of "co-creation" can really generate a positive impact on your process. Communicate with your sales team. Lay out your vision for them to see, and then work with them on how best to make the vision a reality. If you can come out of those meetings with a process your team can get behind 100%, it's a win-win, hands down. 2. Ensure You Have the Right Tech Stack Let's say you've already defined your primary objectives, and have given structure to the overall sales process. All the documentation is set, and your team is onboard with your game plan. Now the challenge is to make sure that your tech stack supports your vision. The size, scope, and nature of your business should inform the kind of tech stack you have — as should the makeup of your sales team, and your recently defined goals. Companies in the SMB space often use CRM platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Pipedrive (to name a few). The exact features and subscription plan(s) you'll need will depend on the intricacy of your sales process. Just as an example, imagine that you want your sales team to manage automated drip campaigns as part of their lead nurturing duties. You'd need to make sure that your CRM system offers email templates, the ability to set up automated email sequences, and a way to effectively segment prospects according to shared characteristics like funnel stage, company size, geographical location, and so on. Along with a robust CRM platform that meets all of your sales team's needs, you also want strong reporting built into the process. KPIs and other metrics can provide you with a helpful "snapshot" of your sales process' current status. Reports can also help you to identify bottlenecks in the pipeline, and even determine which reps could use some extra training. 3. Work, Review, Discuss, Iterate Okay, you have your process in place. You have the right tech stack to support your goals. What's the next step? Simple: it's time to work the plan. Working the plan is often that secret ingredient that separates a good sales team from a great one. Just stop for a moment and think about all the ways that a cohesive plan will enhance the effectiveness of your reps:
Of course, as you and your team work the plan, you'll inevitably identify opportunities for growth. So make sure to periodically examine the data you receive. Hold intentional meetings where you ask your reps for their feedback, and then discuss possible solutions. Don't be afraid to iterate your sales process — the next version may be at least a little better than the current one! True, it will take time and effort to develop and implement a more organized approach. But if you follow the three tips discussed above, your team will be more scalable, more focused, and ultimately more successful. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us. Or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources.  One of the biggest challenges that a business organization may face is finding an effective way to achieve marketing and sales alignment. Obviously, both departments are important to the company's overall success. In fact, you could think of them as the two wings of a bird. Without either one functioning properly, there's no way your organization will be able to "fly," much less soar.
The issue is that these two teams are often at loggerheads with each other. Marketing is upset that sales isn't sticking to their message. Sales is upset that marketing isn't giving them properly qualified leads. And so on and so on. You get the idea. Marketing and sales alignment is non-existent. Even when the two departments are at peace with each other, there may still be a lack of alignment between them. Strategies and objectives may differ. And there may be a deeply ingrained "silo mentality" within both teams. With all that in mind, how do you achieve marketing and sales alignment? How about this proposal: why not have someone oversee both marketing and sales on a macroscopic level? This person could bring everything together by developing and implementing a unified strategy. Their role defines primary revenue goals and KPIs, and ensures that both teams are in lockstep with the plan. Let's discuss how marketing and sales perform different functions within an organization. And we'll address why appointing a leader to head up both departments may be a winning play. The Role of Marketing Go back to the traditional paradigm of the "sales funnel." Marketing definitely owns the top of that funnel, and at least some of the middle. Of course, your marketing team's first goal is to generate favorable exposure for your brand. This typically involves all the high-level tactics and acronyms that are so popular today (SEO, PPC, SEM, and so forth). However, marketers are also interested in educating and conditioning prospects before handing them over to sales. Think of it this way. If you're walking into a meeting with a prospect you've never met, and know nothing about, how comfortable would you feel? But what if a colleague prepped you for the meeting? They might describe what the prospect is like. They may tell you what they're interested in, what pain points they're dealing with, and the solutions they're considering? You'd feel a lot more confident going into the meeting, right? In the same way, marketing's role is to educate prospects before they're introduced to sales. Marketers should give prospects an idea of what they can expect throughout the sales process. How does the company's product or service can address their pain points? Of course, a well-aligned marketing department will also give the sales team the info they need to successfully close the deal. The Role of Sales Once the MQL has turned into an SQL, it's time for the sales team to take over. Their job is to interact with the qualified lead, answer questions in detail, and help the prospect make a well-informed decision as to whether your product or service is right for them. They may have a stake in the middle-of-funnel "evaluation" stage. And they definitely own the bottom-of-funnel "decision" stage of the buyer's journey. In some cases, your sales reps may also serve as account managers, especially if your customers have a long lifetime value (LTV). Regardless, your sales team is focused on forging strong, ongoing relationships with clients, and proposing in-depth solutions for each one's particular needs. Of course, they also want to close the sale in a way that's mutually beneficial for both parties. If you frame the roles of these two departments in baseball terms, marketing is like your starting pitcher. And your sales team is your closer. The problem arises when they're both trying to be on the mound at the same time. And this is where having both departments answer to one person starts making a lot of sense. Where the VP of Revenue Fits Into the Picture t's true that marketing and sales usually operate independently of one another. However, there are a ton of areas in which their activities could overlap. For instance, what conditions determine when a lead transitions from marketing-qualified to sales-qualified? How in-depth should a marketer go into a product's features before introducing a sales rep to the prospect? Who should determine the company's UVP (unique value proposition) for a major service offering? Without a centralized authority figure in place, it can be extremely difficult for both departments to get on the same page. In contrast, appointing someone to whom both the director of marketing and the director of sales must report to -- the title could be VP of Revenue or Director of Revenue, just as a couple of suggestions -- can be a huge help in building an integrated team. We include "revenue" in the proposed title because the point of this position would really be to avoid trapped revenue in the funnel. When you have marketing and sales alignment in terms of strategies, tactics, reporting, accountability, and assigned tasks, the ultimate effect is a smooth experience for the customer. There won't be any more friction points that send a lead flying out of the funnel, or messaging inconsistencies that lead to "closed lost" situations. Instead, your company will become a lean, mean, revenue-generating engine. Final Thoughts on Marketing and Sales Alignment To sum up: marketing and sales each have distinct roles within the overall sales process. There may be challenges to alignment. However, appointing someone who's responsible for both departments is one excellent option for getting (and keeping) everyone on the same page. Whatever you call the person (Director of Revenue, VP of Revenue, or just Director of Marketing & Sales), you can expect them to look at revenue holistically. In addition, they can make sure that the entire buyer's journey is a smooth progression through the sales funnel, and work with directors and team leaders to address any bottlenecks they identify. If you're looking for ways to improve your organization's sales performance, and alignment between marketing and sales is a key issue that needs to be addressed, seriously consider implementing this solution. You may find it's the best way to integrate both teams into a unified whole. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us. Or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources.  Too often, the concepts of sales funnel and marketing funnel are used interchangeably. The truth, though, is much more complex than that. Each are unique concepts. However, both also have to be integrated with each other for a truly successful sales and marketing operation.
That doesn't always happen. We've often worked with clients who have had to close a gap between marketing and sales. Or, they treat the two departments as identical. So, in this post, we'll explain the differences and unique aspects of sales and marketing funnels. And we'll dig into how to make sure both work together for maximum sales and revenue performance. Just the Basics: The Marketing Funnel The marketing funnel drives audiences from the first time they become aware of your brand. They are pushed through whatever process or system marketing has developed to prepare and prime these leads for a transfer to sales. This involves all the steps and stages from bringing the lead into your CRM until they are ready to consider purchasing your product or service. Within that basic definition, the marketing funnel usually includes a few crucial steps as the audience narrows down from your entire potential customer base to marketing and sales-qualified leads:
Just the Basics: The Sales Funnel The sales funnel takes sales-ready leads in the CRM, and drives towards a customer conversion (i.e. a sales transaction). That includes a few important steps to narrow down the audience over time:
Where Sales and Marketing Funnels Intersect Based on the unique processes and differences between marketing and sales funnels, it's tempting to keep the two separate. Unfortunately, that can cause some significant issues. Bridging the gap between marketing and sales is absolutely necessary for a consistent, integrated customer experience. That's especially true because, as clearly distinct as the definitions for each might be, they also clearly intersect. In fact, the bottom of the marketing funnel is typically synonymous with the top of the sales funnel. Marketing often ends with lead generation. But this should not be the case. These leads immediately need to be nurtured, starting with the first email they receive to thank them for their contact information. Interest naturally flows into the more conversion-oriented process. In turn, the sales team looks to engage these leads when they either raise their hand or demonstrate activities that indicate they are primed and ready to interact with the sales team. While the emphasis might be different, it pays to think of the marketing and sales funnels as an integrated whole. They both benefit from one another to maximize opportunity. The whole, in this case, truly does become bigger than the sum of its parts. 5 Opportunities To Integrate Your Sales and Marketing Funnels Fortunately, once the marketing and sales funnels are viewed as a larger whole, integration possibilities become more visible. These five opportunities are especially easy to implement as you look to build a better customer journey for your audience. 1. Sales Insights for Marketing Strategy What does your sales team know about prospects as they move through the funnel? What types of prospects are most likely to convert to customers? Marketing can use this information to better target its efforts, from different demographic targeting to the channels chosen for promotion. 2. Lead Generation and Nurturing Overlaps The traditional marketing funnel ends with lead generation. Conversely, the traditional sales funnel begins with lead nurturing. In reality, though, the two concepts are almost necessarily connected. For audiences, they're likely seen as a single process. Thus, a mutual planning effort to make sure that any lead generation messaging and channel strategy matches with its lead nurturing equivalent is vital for a more consistent, successful strategy. For example, sales teams can call prospects that might not be hand-raised leads yet, introducing themselves and setting the stage for later nurturing efforts. 3. Marketing Content To Improve Sales Efforts The job of the marketing team is not necessarily done when a new lead is generated. Lead nurturing, and even the pitching process, can often benefit from additional resources that marketing can provide to support the velocity of leads moving into and through the sales funnel. For example, blog posts, short videos, or even private LinkedIn groups can all help sales in their efforts to convert new customers. 4. Integrated Messaging Throughout Both Sales and Marketing Integration is the name of the game. And that's especially true for messaging throughout both funnels. Experienced marketers already know that the language and selling points of awareness-based ads have to match up with landing pages, conversion messaging, and more to truly make an audience impact. It's only natural to conclude, then, that this consistency can't stop at the marketing-sales hand-off. The more one core message drives the strategy from awareness to customer conversion, the more convincing that message will become. 5. Comprehensive, Action-Based Insights Finally, sharing analytics and reports can be a significant boon to both marketing and sales in improving their efforts. Insights from sales can help marketing adjust their efforts, while marketing insights can provide a crucial background for sales to optimize theirs. Knowing whether a lead came from social media or a Google search can help to optimize the sales pitch, and vice versa. In short, the natural gap between marketing and sales needs to be as non-obvious as possible for audiences. That's only possible with a direct integration between marketing and sales funnels, all working towards the shared goal of optimizing customer conversions and revenue. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us. Or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources.  For many businesses, the "gap" between their marketing and sales departments might as well be the Grand Canyon. Marketing and sales aren't on the same page. They live in "siloed" spaces — and they don't even like each other! If you're facing such a challenge within your organization, then you're far from alone.
The question is: Why is there a gap between these two departments? Ultimately, their goal is the same: to win customers and close sales. Yet, they often seem to be at odds with one another. Let's dig a little deeper, and see if we can discover some reasons why the gap exists. Discrepancies in Time and Space While there could be several reasons why your marketing and sales teams aren't in alignment, two of the most common ones have to do with what we'll call "discrepancies in time and space." Here's what we mean by that: 1. Time Sales reps often view time very differently from marketers. For them, speedy results are critical. They have quotas to meet, deals to close, and precious little time to do it! In contrast, marketers often take a more long-range view of the buyer's journey. They're interested in deploying tactics that may not have immediate results, but will have a cumulative effect on their target audience. 2. Space The sales and marketing teams occupy very different spaces — literally and metaphorically. They often come under the oversight of different managers, have different goals, and interact with customers in two completely different ways. For instance, sales reps spend a lot of their time working with prospects that are in the later stages of the sales funnel. On the other hand, marketers may spend more time interacting with existing customers as part of focus groups. When you combine these two factors, it's easy to see why a gap could exist between marketing and sales. Traditionally, they live on different (and sometimes competing) schedules, and see the consumer base from vastly different perspectives. Listen to Gretchen Lehman of The Carruthers Group and I discuss this topic in this video clip. How to Bridge the Gap Of course, knowing why the gap exists isn't going to change things in and of itself. The question is: How can you bridge that gap, and successfully integrate marketing and sales? Here are three basic tips that can help:
True, bridging the gap between marketing and sales may be easier said than done. However, with some time, forethought, and patience, you'll be able to successfully do so, and align the strengths of both teams toward sustainable growth. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us. Or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources. |
Meet Me
Archives
January 2023
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed