Why Marketing and Sales Teams Should Act as One
Ever wondered why organizations often have separate sales and marketing departments? While there are distinct differences in their job functions, ranging from creating content campaigns to engaging with prospects through various channels, their ultimate goal remains the same: to close new customers and provide exceptional service that delights them.
Unifying Marketing and Sales Teams
Marketing plays a crucial role in generating high-quality leads that are ready to make a purchasing decision. Through their expertise in inbound and digital marketing, they can attract and engage potential customers.
On the other hand, the sales team can strategically target qualified leads and utilize valuable insights gained from prospect interactions to enhance their sales calls. By aligning their efforts, marketing, and sales can collaborate effectively to drive better results and provide a seamless customer experience.
So why is there oftentimes friction between the two? Here are three key reasons why marketing and sales departments should act as one team, even if they are segmented into two departments.
Prospect Pain Points
Numerous tools provide data on keyword research, competitor research, and search engine rankings to help marketers develop a strategy to reach their target audience. This research should be done to reveal potential opportunities, and a meeting with a sales manager or top-performing members of the sales team is just as critical. They are in the line of fire, hearing pain points and items of pushback directly from the prospects themselves!
Both blog topics and rich content pieces can be created based on common objections and can generate stronger leads for the sales team.
Qualify & Disqualify Leads
A common complaint from sales teams is that the leads passed over from marketing aren’t truly qualified. This issue typically occurs when there is a lack of communication between the two departments. Determinants of whether a lead is sales-ready or not can differ based on product, target personas, or specific areas of focus. Sales and marketing teams should constantly collaborate on the criteria to determine a sales-qualified lead. Agreed-upon qualifications should be documented so both teams can have it on hand for reference.
Open communication will help the marketing team to think like a salesperson, and ultimately help better qualify and disqualify leads.
Provide Quality Leads
Both teams want to know that they’re doing a good job generating results, as well as that their efforts aren’t simply being pushed to the wayside once completed. It’s imperative that both teams develop metrics and benchmarks to track current efforts, which can be turned into either weekly or monthly reporting.
Analytics and reporting play a crucial role in identifying successful strategies and areas for improvement. This allows both teams to optimize their efforts without duplicating work or reinventing the wheel. By regularly analyzing data, both sales and marketing can work together to refine their approaches and achieve greater success.
It is essential for companies to have separate sales and marketing departments, but these teams should always work together as one cohesive unit. Failing to do so can result in a misalignment of lead qualifications, miscommunication regarding customer pain points, and missed opportunities to close new deals.
Whether you are a member of the sales team or the marketing team, it is crucial to close your email and connect with your colleagues in the other department. By collaborating and supporting one another, you can make both of your lives easier and more successful.
