Two Ideas to Align Marketing and Sales Efforts

What’s the sales goal this year and how many new customers do you need to reach your targets? Pretty simple question right? How will you build awareness and encourage folks who don’t know you yet to engage and become hand raisers? I’m seeing more and more businesses engage in some type of social media and email demand generation campaigns to help drive their business. I’m also seeing a bit of a lag in the alignment of the sales process to take full advantage of the marketing initiatives — there’s still a disconnect. Face it, these are difficult tasks to get right, particularly in today’s environment.

Communication

Connecting the dots between these two efforts is no easy task, but I would start with communication. Simple, yet difficult. I find that the sales leaders could probably do a better job in articulating what they really want out of the marketing effort. And asking for, more leads, the good leads, is not the answer. How will you define success – spell it out and make sure everyone is on board. On the marketing side, click throughs and views are nice, but unless there is a slight overlap between where marketing ends and the sales process begins, there could be opportunities that go unchecked.

A Common Language

A second area that I’d tackle is developing a common language between marketing and sales. I hear the marketers talking about the specifics of the campaign and the deliverables, while the sales team is waiting to hear about those sales ready leads. There’s room for both groups to throttle back a bit and agree on common terminology for the action items, through to the deliverables. Just an idea to bring these two groups closer together.

Make sure that there is a bridge between the marketing and sales initiative so that you capture everything you’ve worked hard for. Don’t be satisfied with average. As a leader, you’ll be looking to anticipate that next big opportunity that comes to you through your efforts and have your team ready to capture the results you deserve. Good luck and keep at it.

Mike Philie can help validate what’s working and what may need to change in your business. Changing the trajectory of a business is difficult to do while simultaneously operating the core competencies. Mike provides strategy and insight to owners and CEOs in the Graphic Communications Industry by providing direct and realistic assessments, not being afraid to voice the unpopular opinion and helping leaders navigate change through a common sense and practical approach. Learn more at www.philiegroup.com, LinkedIn or email at mphilie@philiegroup.com.