The Relationship Between Sales and Marketing in 2015

Marketing and sales teams need to work hand in hand to guide customers through the buying process. But, that collaboration isn’t always seamless.

This week I’ve been reading about the working relationship between marketing and sales and how teams can create processes to work together more effectively. Keep reading for good tips on collaborating.

The CMO’s Guide to Crushing Sales Kickoff. VentureBeat: “While that might sound like one big party, the truth is that sales kickoffs can actually be highly effective team-building, expectation-setting events. Done right, these forums offer reps, managers, and senior executives the opportunity to step away from the daily grind, learn from peers and experts, establish actionable goals, and create a plan for more effective execution. And all of that is true for chief marketing officers and their marketing organizations, as well. Yes, sales kickoffs aren’t just for sales teams. In fact, these events often provide a critical opportunity for CMOs and their teams to build better relationships with individual sales reps, illustrate the impact marketing can have (and is having) on the bottom line, and ultimately, to advance the CMO’s key strategic themes for the year.”

The Year B2B Marketing Stops Playing Second Fiddle to Sales. CMS Wire: “Marketing should never be treated as a silo and therefore must seek ways to partner with sales and client services to aid in the onboarding, trust building and upselling of existing business. Simple tactics such as client gifting and welcome support to thought leadership, webinars, case studies, playbooks, best practices and benchmarks are always helpful in constantly nurturing client relationships. But your best bet is always to dig out your true client champions — the ones that really love your company and product — and will shout it from the rooftops, whether at a conference, for a reporter or to other would-be clients.”

2015: The Year Marketing Personalization Comes to Sales. Business 2 Community: “When you collect the information everyone needs in one place, it’s much easier to analyze important data. You can integrate your information streams by using a service to pull data from various apps you’re already using and keep it all in one place. Choose data software or services designed to provide quick, easy access to all relevant data sets at once. This way, you can get everything from big-picture to very detailed views of your sales and marketing initiatives….By bringing all the data together, salespeople can learn much more about a lead and marketing people can spot trends and gauge exactly what’s working and with whom. Pulling all your data into one visual report simplifies troubleshooting for everyone and informs future campaigns.”

Sales Alignment: Put Theory Into Practice. Act-On: “Theory: Measure what matters and use meaningful stats to educate both Sales and Marketing. Practice: With intelligence and analytics becoming more complicated by the day, a simple start here is to ask key stakeholders which key KPIs they need or want to track. From there identify the most useful ones and build them out in your CRM, if you have one. If you don’t have one, it’s time to get one, as without it this whole process won’t work. Don’t measure a rash of KPIs. The smaller the number of them, the better. And measure results if possible – rather than activity.”

What is Wrong With Marketing’s Sales Leads? Marketing Magazine: “Just as the Millennial hates to search for long for the information they need, reps are more likely to be effective, knowledgeable sellers if they’re given relevant content when they need it. Aberdeen reports that companies that were superior in aligning Marketing and Sales experienced an average of 32% growth in annual revenue, compared to a 7% decline in organizations lacking this alignment. Given this direct impact marketing can make to alignment – and in turn corporate sales – it’s clear that it’s time we begin applying the lessons of personalization and target marketing within our own organizations.”

Read more:

• The Evolving Relationship Between Sales And Marketing