When it comes to your sales and marketing teams, you want them to act as yin and yang, two separate disciplines that complement each other, are interconnected, and give rise to each other. While this certainly sounds nice, it will come as a shock to nobody to realize that this balance is more difficult to attain than it should be.
Many companies see the value and importance of sales and marketing operating together, but actually executing it is another story.
In last week’s post about 2019 sales trends, we briefly highlighted finding this balance. Today, we will go in depth about this important relationship.
If you’ve struggled with nailing down a solid strategy for sales and marketing alignment, here are some of our best tips for finding the balance.
Key Practices for Sales and Marketing Alignment
Marketing and Sales don’t always work hand in hand, and that’s okay, but here are some good approaches to bridge the gap and build a stronger organization.
1. Collect and Review Data (Together)
Numbers don’t lie, and it’s normal for people to be skeptical of processes and initiatives they don’t know much about. If both teams rely on the same data, they’ll be on the same page.
Review data together as a team and open up the floor for discussion to determine if practices are effective, understood, and if there’s room for improvement.
2. Nurture Leads
Content marketing is a relatively new practice, and it has taken on a task that salespeople once performed; creating the right content can actually guide potential customers down the sales funnel to your sales team. Your sales team can dictate the content while your marketing team should execute it.
Consider holding content creation meetings in which your sales team can share their insight and interactions with customers with the marketing team to determine what people want and what they’re responding to.
Also, incorporate a process to nurture all of your sales team’s energy. Aligning your messaging and capturing leads and prospects into the nurture funnel of your marketing are best practices many companies simply miss.
3. Inclusive Communication
Sales teams make calls daily, a lot of them. These are gold mines for your marketing team. Invite members from your marketing team to listen in on sales calls, or at least record them so they can get ideas for future content.
4. Cross-Functional Training
Much like our first point, this is another approach that aims to educate each team on the other’s responsibilities and goals. Train your sales team on marketing concepts and vice versa; this will foster an understanding between the teams and lead to better collaboration.
5. Reward Everyone
When your company has successes, identify what your sales and marketing accomplished together, then reward them jointly. Compensation like a joint happy hour, team retreat, or even gift cards can encourage communication and grow relationships.
6. Utilize Resources
There’s no shame in seeking help when you simply don’t have the time or resources in-house to accomplish the sales-marketing alignment your organization needs. Instead, look for expert guidance elsewhere, like 360 Consulting to help you craft a winning approach.
Driving bottom-line results requires some work, and we can help you bridge the gap between Sales and Marketing for a winning strategy. Learn more about our services and how we can help you achieve your goals, smash sales records, and put your organization on the path to success!
Schedule your FREE sales assessment today!
