There is often a struggle between sales teams and marketing teams to prove who is most valuable. However, when marketing and sales combine their efforts, that is when they can be the most effective and powerful.
Recent research has found that nearly 60% of the sales cycle completed before prospects even speaking to a salesperson. That means, now more than ever, marketing has become an even more integral part of the sales process.
Below are some tips to help sales and marketing teams collaborate in a meaningful way that meets both business objectives and marketing KPIs.
#1 – Communicate Well & Often
One of the biggest causes of misalignment between departments is infrequent communication. Some simple ways to begin collaborating more frequently include:
- Meet monthly to review lead quality.
- Encourage the sales team to share questions, feedback, requests that they receive from prospects and utilize that information for marketing intiatives.
- Have the marketing team participate (silently) in a few sales calls. It may spark something they didn’t consider previously.
#2 – Set & Align Goals & Objectives
Teams that operate independently are far less likely to be successful. Instead work together to align business objectives with marketing goals and determine a set set of metrics and criteria that will be used for reporting.
#4 – Optimize For the Customer Sales Cycle
Digital marketing can be an incredibly useful tool in helping to move prospects through the sales cycle. Today’s buyers are savvy and spend time self-educating on the web. In order to best meet their needs, marketers need to create integrated digital strategies that account for the following phases:
- Attract: These tactics and topics will draw the prospect in.
- Engage: Here you will begin to build credibility and loyalty.
- Convert: When the need is present, you will be top of mind.
While you do want to create a strategy that is well optimized for search engines, your first priority should always be to optimize for customers.
#4 – Collect, Analyze & Act on Data
The truth is, data doesn’t lie. It can be easy for sales and marketing teams alike to have a bias for a particular process, topic or initiative. If both teams are relying on the same set of data then it will remove barriers that may cause tension.
Review the data as a team and determine:
- Did the marketing initiatives create a conversion?
- What path are prospects taking to contact?
- Which tactics and strategies are performing well and which ones need to be altered?
#5 – Create Mutual Accountability
Sales teams are often given sales metrics for success, as well as benchmarks that need to be achieved each month. Similarly, the marketing team should have a certain standard that is maintained and goals for growth.
When the two teams work together, both will be better informed and have an increased chance of success.
#6 – Nurture Leads
The amount of effort that goes into marketing and sales departments generating leads is no small task. However, what are you doing to nurture these leads once they’ve converted in some way (newsletter subscription, asset download, contact form, etc.)?
Always know what you hope to achieve before embarking on any digital marketing initiative. This will help all parties understand what is expected as well as the business goals that these campaigns help support.
#7 – Bring In Reinforcements
Sometimes you may not have the manpower or expertise in-house to accomplish complete sales and marketing alignment. When that happens, consider engaging a company like TopRank Marketing to help develop an integrated digital marketing strategy that aligns with business objectives and marketing KPI’s.
While this post may only scratch the surface for some, hopefully it helps you understand the necessity for alignment between sales and marketing, and how it ultimately impacts business objectives. As a sales or marketing person, what have you found to be the biggest benefit to aligning with your counterparts?
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