 Are you using the Revenue Equation? First, let's cover why it's important. In order for any sales and marketing tactic to work at maximum effectiveness, it must be implemented within the context of an overarching strategy. Simply put, you need to determine where your business is right now and where you want it to go. Then, develop a plan to get from point A to point B. That's your strategy. Many sales and marketing teams pull the trigger on key decisions without having a clearly defined strategy in place. On the other hand, the most successful companies out there adhere to their core strategy in all major sales and marketing decisions. They have a firm grasp of what their sales strengths and weaknesses are and deploy their tactics accordingly. At the end of the day, your company's strategy will determine the ultimate success of your sales and marketing efforts... which in turn will determine whether you hit your revenue and profitability goals. Thus, the ability to identify strengths, weaknesses, areas of misalignment, and adjustments that are "low-hanging fruit" is vital to sustainable success in your sales and marketing integration journey. You may wonder: Okay, I understand all that, but how can I effectively identify those things and then make the needed changes? This is where an exceptional tool comes into the picture: namely, the Revenue Equation. Why the Revenue Equation Is So Powerful The Revenue Equation is a framework for sales and marketing organizations. It's an assessment designed to help understand the root causes of sales and marketing problems. Ultimately, the goal is to create systems that will solve those problems. The true power of the Revenue Equation kicks in when all the stakeholders in an organization (specifically, leadership, management, and sales/marketing team members) get on the same page. When everyone in a company has a clear, shared understanding of what needs to happen moving forward, then everyone can work as a team to turn that vision into a reality. I talk more about the Revenue Equation in this recent audio interview. How the Revenue Equation Works The Revenue Equation consists of three core factors that paint a comprehensive picture of what's needed for revenue stabilization and growth. These three factors are:
For each factor, you'll need to assess where your company stands at the moment, especially in comparison to where you want it to stand. Everyone in your company should take part in this assessment. Remember: you want all stakeholders to be on the same page. With that in mind, let's briefly list some questions that your assessment should include, taking it one factor at a time: 1. Foundations How well defined and understood within your organization are:
2. Design How well defined and used within your organization are:
3. Infrastructure How well defined and used within your organization are:
As you implement the above assessment throughout your company, you may indeed find several areas of opportunity that need to be addressed. However, don't forget about the flip side of the coin: you'll no doubt also identify several sales strengths that your organization possesses — advantages that your competitors may not have. So the Revenue Equation is not only a great way to identify bottlenecks in your sales and marketing process that is hindering progress; it's also a wonderful way to remind yourself of and solidify those aspects of sales and marketing that your team already does really well! How the Revenue Equation Can Lead to Strategic Success It should be noted that the Revenue Equation is not a "one and done" type deal. It can (and should) be refined and redeployed over the course of time, as your company grows and adapts to new opportunities in the market. Leveraging the Revenue Equation in such an intentional way can create accountability, increase efficiency, and optimize performance throughout your organization. It will help your sales and marketing teams become (or stay) aligned, and develop greater clarity around their role in propelling your business forward. Let's briefly review what you can do to leverage the Revenue Equation into a sustainable growth driver:
It's true that investing in strategic development can be time-consuming at first, and it may be tempting to "skip ahead" to sales and marketing tactics. However, using the Revenue Equation discussed above can lay a solid foundation for all of your future sales and marketing efforts. It can help align all departments within your organization and ultimately improve your sales performance. Ultimately, it will increase sales! 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.  Any business leader worth their salt wants the company's sales and marketing teams to function at peak performance. However, this won't happen automatically; the leader needs to be a leader in several vital areas before the teams will follow. Buy-in starts at the top, and management's words and deeds are what set the tone for the rest of the organization.
With that in mind, here are six key ways in which leaders can contribute to improved sales and marketing performance from their team members: 1. Show Respect This is a fundamental step in optimizing your team's performance... one which sadly goes neglected more often than not. It's important to understand that your marketers and sales reps are "subject-matter experts" when it comes to prospects' pain points, concerns, and values. They have experience in offering targeted solutions that guide leads through the sales funnel and toward a final purchase decision with your brand. That experience — that expertise, hard work, and passion — must be respected by leadership. Make it clear to both your sales and marketing teams that you understand how they are directly contributing to the company's mission, vision, goals, and ultimate success. Vocalize your appreciation for their efforts. By simply filling this basic human need — the need to feel respected and valued — you're already setting your teams on the right path, and motivating each member to give their best, even toward the most ambitious revenue goals. 2. Support Teamwork Do everything you can to push back against collaboration's silent killer: the "silo mentality." Sales and marketing experts may be able to accomplish quite a bit apart from each other, but that pales in comparison to what they can accomplish together. For that reason, aligning your sales and marketing teams toward a common vision and goals should be a top priority on your leadership agenda. Set up processes that promote communication and collaboration between the two teams, such as regular interdepartmental meetings. Communicate with team leaders in joint strategy sessions. Do what you can to walk the walk, and your managers and team members will fall in line. 3. Ask for Feedback (and really listen to it) What if your departments aren't performing to expectations? The quickest and most effective way to uncover sales and marketing roadblocks is to seek feedback from your teams. Ask questions, and pay close attention to the answers. It may be enough to seek feedback from team leaders, but at times you'll need to get feedback from the entire team. Your sales reps in particular can help you understand what prospects truly want, and why deals may not be closing as expected. These team members are "on the front lines" when it comes to customer interactions, and they can function as the de facto eyes and ears of your organization. Be willing to tap into their knowledge and experience, especially when contemplating major strategic changes. 4. Promote and Drive Ongoing, Integrated Training Interdepartmental collaboration is one vital aspect of proper alignment between sales and marketing. For most modern organizations, integrated training on sales and marketing tools is another. It's vital that your sales reps and marketers understand how to use such tools effectively — whether it's a new lead database, a CRM, or an email automation platform. They also need to understand how their activities with these tools play into the bigger picture. For example, when exactly should a marketing-qualified lead (MQL) transition into a sales-qualified lead (SQL)? And what steps need to take place in order to implement and document that transition? In this regard, it may be best to remove training silos within sales and marketing and bring the teams together for integrated learning sessions. 5. Focus on Results and Watch the Numbers As you implement alignment between sales and marketing, you'll be asking team members to track specific KPIs for the sales and marketing processes over which they've taken ownership. When it comes to these numbers, balance will be needed on your part: you'll certainly never want to fall into the trap of micromanagement, which is both inefficient and counterproductive. At the same time, as a leader it's your responsibility to regularly and methodically review these KPIs within the context of the company's larger goals. By keeping an eye on key metrics, you'll be able to spot any bottlenecks (or potential bottlenecks) in your sales and marketing strategy. You'll also gain insight into which team members could benefit most from constructive feedback. At the end of the day, it's important for sales and marketing leaders to remember that they're working toward an overarching objective, and are getting consistent support and direction from proactive leadership. 6. Celebrate Wins... and Have Fun! In many ways, sales and marketing teams can be compared to sports teams. For instance, both work toward common goals. In order to be effective, both require hard work from individual members, along with a clear understanding of their specific roles. And both can achieve visible, measurable success ("points scored," if you will). There are many ways to "score points" in sales and marketing. No matter how you keep track of those points, it's important to occasionally step back and celebrate the wins — all the times your company has experienced some type of success from the efforts of your team members. Take advantage of these opportunities to acknowledge the work of your team, and express your appreciation for them. There will always be room for improvement; but taking a moment to look at what you are doing right is great for team morale, and a driver for future success. When it's all said and done, sales and marketing performance has a direct relation to qualities that any leader can develop: understanding, respect, empathy, consistency, and trust. By holding the vision of sales and marketing alignment, seeking feedback, and demonstrating your respect and appreciation for the efforts of each team member, you'll undoubtedly see improvement in each department's performance. Momentum will gradually build, and your company will be set up for sustainable success for years to come. 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.  If you've read our previous posts on this subject, then you know why sales and marketing alignment is such an important component of sustainable business success. Perhaps the main question you're wondering now is: To what extent are my sales and marketing teams aligned right now?
It's important to understand how your business is currently doing in this regard. After all, if you don't know where you are, then you'll never get to where you're going! With that in mind, here's a checklist to determine just how aligned your two departments really are, and how far they may have to go: The Sales and Marketing Alignment Checklist Company Leadership
How Is Your Company Doing With Sales and Marketing Alignment and Integration? After reviewing the checklist above, do you see specific areas in which your company could improve? Perhaps top-level leadership could take a more proactive approach to the alignment and integration process; or maybe team managers need some more encouragement to schedule collaboration time with their counterparts in the other department. Whatever the case may be, this checklist can be a great starting point to figure out which areas deserve the most attention. It's really hard to overstate how important alignment and integration are to your organization's long-term success. These are key drivers for growth and productivity across the board, for both your sales and marketing teams. When your teams are well-integrated, and in alignment, they'll communicate and collaborate effectively, come up with innovative solutions together, and ultimately engage with customers in the most effective way, at the right time, and with the perfect message. Alignment Creates Momentum Simply put: sales & marketing alignment creates momentum. That's why all the major stakeholders within your organization need to work towards this goal. From your executive suite down, every member of your team must rally around this concept that sales and marketing are not separate entities, but two halves of the same whole. While internal conflict can kill momentum and stifle performance, the momentum generated by sales and marketing alignment will continue to build with each passing day, and add exceptional value for your company. At the end of the day, sales and marketing alignment and integration are huge factors in improving your business' overall sales performance. So review this checklist, compare the items with what your company is currently doing, and look for ways to bridge any gaps. You and your team members will be happy you did so! 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.  Leadership sets the tone for sales and marketing. Buy-in from leadership is an absolute must if sales and marketing alignment is going to be achieved. Unfortunately, many executives unknowingly sabotage their teams. For example, this can happen either by focusing on pathways to growth that end up as illusions or by giving too much emphasis to one department over the other.
If you identify with any of the scenarios discussed below, it may be time to shift your company's (and maybe even your personal) mindset. The good news is if you're willing to do so, you can become a change agent within your organization and help get the ship back on course. Leadership Perceptions Derail Sales and Marketing Integration C-suite leadership is primarily concerned with promoting growth and increasing profitability. However, there may be a wide variety of opinions among company executives regarding the right direction for their organization. Here are just a few examples of how leaders can unwittingly undercut their own potential for growth:
Cutting Costs vs. Promoting Growth What's the common thread that runs through each one of these viewpoints? It's an emphasis on cutting costs rather than promoting growth. Saving on expenses and streamlining sales and marketing processes is great. However, inaccurate perceptions from an organization's leadership can potentially drive a company into the ground. The fact is that both sales reps and marketers have to work hard to get their jobs done properly. Salespeople must be determined, great at communication, and able to relate to and truly connect with prospects. Marketers must ensure that consumers have a favorable first impression of the brand. Their goal is to keep your brand top of mind when consumers make purchase decisions. Sales and marketing roles both require highly specific skill sets. And when your sales and marketing teams align with one another, those skill sets blend and help your company perform at its very best. Is Leadership Inadvertently Hindering Sales and Marketing Synergy? Is senior management accidentally smothering opportunities for growth among your sales and marketing teams? Here are a few key questions you can ask to find out:
In many cases, the root of the issue comes down to trust. Many managers struggle with trusting their sales and marketing teams. They want to see results without considering the processes ultimately responsible for those results. They may believe their job is to micromanage every aspect of sales and marketing — instead of setting clear guidelines and letting team members develop creative solutions within those guidelines. Interestingly, both leaders with a strong background in sales and marketing and leaders without that background can fall into a pattern of undervaluing those two departments. For example, a leader who made a name as a star salesperson may not be skilled at managing a sales pipeline from end to end. Or that leader may not appreciate the critical role that marketing plays in feeding that pipeline. On the other hand, leaders without strong sales/marketing backgrounds may subscribe to the notion that their products can "sell themselves." They may be more interested in cutting costs than understanding how highly skilled and trained sales reps can contribute to sustainable growth. 5 Signs That Leadership is Killing Sales What are some common symptoms that indicate your company's leadership is actually killing sales and marketing alignment? Here are five indications that should be red flags: Leaders build or reinforce a culture that undervalues sales and marketing efforts. This may be subtly indicated by internal messaging that focuses almost exclusively on product features, instead of acknowledging individual efforts by marketers and sales reps. Leaders don't see the point of spending money on sales and marketing initiatives. If senior management is more inclined to cut budgets and personnel for your sales and marketing departments as opposed to giving them the resources to succeed, that's a major indication that a mindset shift is needed — and soon! Leaders choose quick fixes instead of long-term solutions. Sure, the outsourced sales company may be 60% cheaper than your current payroll. But will those workers effectively explain your brand's unique value proposition (UVP)? How many potential customers will your company lose? And how many current customers will stop doing business with you? Leaders argue against investment in integrated technology solutions. Here again, the emphasis is on keeping costs low instead of actively investing in assets that can contribute to sustainable growth for your sales and marketing teams. Leaders perceive individual team members as interchangeable commodities. The simple fact is that not all salespeople are created equal. Leaders must realize that it may be difficult — even impossible — to replace one sales superstar's output with that of five new hires. Such skilled employees should be celebrated and nurtured, rather than treated like another number on the payroll. If you've observed these kinds of actions or attitudes coming from your leadership team, or even from yourself, don't despair! Becoming aware of the problem is the first step toward overcoming it. If you can successfully initiate a mindset shift in your organization, you'll be that much closer to aligning and supercharging your sales and marketing teams. 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 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.  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.  Your Sales Foundations define the core elements of your business. As their name suggests, they're the fundamental structure on which your sales and marketing efforts are built. Without strong foundational messaging in place, it will be extremely difficult to maintain a coherent narrative with your prospects, leads, and clients - and that inconsistency could cost you their business.
Of course, even if your Sales Foundations are already well-established, it's important to make sure that your team members understand and are in agreement with them. If you're a sales manager, you play a crucial role in promoting this type of alignment. One practical step that you can take in that direction is to host a 30-minute workshop during your next sales meeting. The ultimate objective of the workshop is to make sure everyone is aligned with your company's foundational messaging, and has at least a high-level grasp of how to use it when interacting with leads and clients. How To Lead the Workshop In simple terms, establishing your foundational messaging is all about asking and answering the right questions. With that in mind, have your sales team come into the meeting with their individual answers to these key questions:
As the sales manager, your job is to facilitate discussion, and promote alignment and agreement with your entire team. Get out the whiteboard. Go down the list of questions. Point out commonalities and differences with each answer that's given. By the end of the discussion, your team should have a consensus on these vital questions (e.g., whether your company creates value through its competitive pricing or its high quality of service, and so forth). In addition, invite marketing to the meeting as observers. This helps them understand where sales is coming from. In turn, they can take that knowledge back to their department. When marketing and sales are aligned towards the same basic messaging, it makes the entire customer's journey much more seamless, especially during transitions from one stage of the sales/marketing funnel to the next. What if there isn't alignment at the start of the workshop? Well, this is a golden opportunity to jump-start the alignment process. In fact, you may even uncover valuable insights about your company as team members share differing viewpoints. The Goal: Focused and Clear Messaging In the final analysis, focused and clear messaging ultimately serves the customer by taking friction out of the sales funnel. How? It keeps your team on the same page and presents a consistent narrative to your consumer base. Ultimately, it all starts with the establishment of your foundational messaging. Take 30 minutes out of your day to make sure everyone is in agreement with that messaging. It’s worth it! 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. |
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We are headquartered in Colorado with domestic and international teammates and clients. Please use the contact form on this page to inquire about any of our books, podcasts appearances, speaking engagements and workshops, any of our offerings, or simply to connect.
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