Merging Marketing and Sales to Improve Your Business

Although sales and marketing teams often work side-by-side, that doesn't mean these two departments are not without conflict. Instead of evaluating each other and developing a plan to help the departments become better, both sides typically engage in a battle that goes something like this:

The sales department complains that there aren't enough quality leads available. The marketing department argues that the leads are fine, but the sales team just isn't working the leads hard enough. In the end, no one is happy and nothing productive happens.

What both departments seem to forget is that both departments are needed to complete the cycle. Because one can't exist without the other, working cohesively will ensure better results. Fortunately, there are ways to close this gap and help both teams work in harmony.

IT'S ALL ABOUT COMMUNICATION

Encouraging continuous and open communication between the two departments is the first step in convincing sales and marketing to work together. When these departments collaborate, each department understands what the other department needs to get the job done.

Encourage the sales team to provide an honest evaluation to the marketing team about the quality of the leads they receive each month. How many of the leads did they convert? Once the marketing team understands what type of leads generate the most sales, they can use the information to improve the quality of the leads.

A MEETING OF THE MINDS

If your sales and marketing teams are like most, they probably have their own ideas about what the ideal lead looks like. Unfortunately, what the sales team thinks is a good lead and what the marketing team believes is a good lead may not be close to the same thing.

Sometimes both sides seem to forget that the numbers don't lie. It's really all about setting clear, realistic goals i.e leads, revenue, calls, etc. along with black and white accountability.

Solve this problem by asking both teams to compare their prospective profiles to see where they agree and where they don't. Compare this information to your current numbers and profile data to determine which lead elements actually produce the best quality customers.

SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE

Although both teams now understand their part in the process, they probably don't really have a clue what it's like to work on the other side of the fence. As an example, back in the 90's my company had the opportunity to work with the Atlanta Braves developing their marketing program for the coming season. The General Manager wanted to focus messaging around the players' star factor, so we executed our program in that direction. When the season ticket office opened, we manned the phones for the first day. It gave us an opportunity to hear everything from the good, bad, and the ugly. What we gleaned from the experience was that the consumer really wanted the big ballpark experience, so we made changes to our marketing approach to support this. We really wouldn't have known to do this, however, if we hadn't experienced it for ourselves.

What I'm getting at here is by providing the sales and marketing team an opportunity to see what the other side does, everyone has a chance to see how everything fits together. To do this, the marketing team needs to sit in on sales calls to better understand how the value of a generated lead can help close the deal. Meanwhile, the sales team can get a better idea of the creative process and marketing strategy development by sitting in on marketing meetings. Instead of simply shadowing the other team though, both sides need to participate in the entire work process if they truly want to understand what the bigger picture is really all about.