Hitting Targets Through Marketing and Sales Alignment

Hitting Targets Through Marketing and Sales Alignment

‍

A unified framework of objectives and tactics for the marketing and sales departments is known as "smarketing," or sales and marketing alignment. Continuous communication and a cooperative effort to work toward common goals and support one another are characteristics of alignment between the two departments. Their common objectives of drawing in clients, making money, and turning a profit serve as the main foundation for sales and marketing alignment.

‍

How to encourage sales and marketing alignment

• Agree on shared goals, terms and metrics

          Try to come to some common objectives. Make these goals as precise as you can and make sure they are quantifiable. Additionally, there should be certain           common criteria agreed upon by marketing and sales, and lead scoring should be harmonized between the two departments with consensus reached on lead           scoring guidelines. Try to come to consensus on areas that need work and collaborate to address them. This could be through generating more qualified leads or           closing more deals. Both departments have a role to play in accomplishing these goals. According to research from Adobe, the majority of companies do not have a           defined definition of a quality lead that is agreed upon by sales and marketing. You should define terminology like marketing qualified lead, sales qualified lead, and           so on for complete alignment.

‍

•  Define the roles of sales and marketing

           It's important to specify exactly what sales and marketing do. While some overlap is unavoidable, marketing should generally focus on actions associated with the            top of the sales funnel, while sales should focus on activities associated with the bottom of the funnel. Certain activities will require more precise definitions. Who            is in charge of lead scoring, for example? To what extent does sales bear accountability for content creation?
          Tension and uncertainty can be decreased by being clear about each department's particular responsibilities. It can also reduce the amount of time lost on tasks           that have already been completed by another person.

‍

• Collaborate on marketing content creation

          Usually, the marketing team is in charge of producing sales and marketing content. Working closely with the sales team makes sense, though, as some of this           information should benefit the sales staff. Marketing teams must be aware of the messages that are most effective for sales representatives as well as the ones           that are less effective. It's also critical for sales to share with marketing the frequently asked questions by prospects, as marketing content may be able to address           these early in the process. Developing a cohesive story is crucial. Regarding what is being sold, what the product or service is meant to accomplish, who can           benefit from it, and the overall brand narrative to convey to potential and current clients, both departments should be in agreement.

‍

• Make use of cross-departmental shadowing

          Using cross-departmental shadowing is another excellent strategy to make sure your marketing and sales teams are on the same page. According to the Harvard           Business Review, marketing team members can benefit from routinely shadowing sales calls and even attending some sales meetings in order to gain a better           understanding of the issues faced by prospects. Teams can better understand the obstacles they encounter by observing the other department. Marketing           departments can create more effective sales content if they have a solid understanding of the sales process and the current state of sales activities. Additionally, it           is a chance for marketing to offer helpful details on the kind of messaging sales representatives can utilize to increase success rates.

‍

•  Commit to sharing progress at meetings

           Sharing updates, insights, and analysis on a regular basis is essential to aligning marketing and sales. Even though alignment necessitates common goals and            objectives, each department is still in charge of producing its own reports, conducting its own analysis, and producing outcomes that it can discuss with the other            team. It is difficult to overestimate the significance of ongoing communication in achieving true alignment, and setting up frequent meetings between top            representatives from marketing and sales is a wonderful method to help with this. In these sessions, the two departments ought to emphasize their           accomplishments and advancements, exchange any insightful information and analysis, and be transparent about any issues they may be having. Additionally, it's           critical that marketing and sales are clear about what they need from