8 min read
The Marketing and Sales departments should preferably work toward the same objective: to ensure the company has scalable, healthy growth and generates more and more value for the public and customers.
However, the way each of these areas generally works is significantly uneven. Different technologies are used, individual processes are adopted, and results are measured with separate metrics. In short, they interpret the company's reality from two different perspectives.
The truth is that these two departments, when they need to work together, don't always get along. When sales are lower than expected, the Marketing department often blames the sales team for poor execution of the sales process and poor utilization of Inbound-generated Leads. The Sales team, on the other hand, claims that Marketing is generating low-quality leads and that they are not aware of how to attract the ideal customer profile.
Another scenario is when the Sales department blames the Marketing team for losing interest when the lead is generated. At the same time, Marketing often claims that the Sales department does not provide enough feedback on customer engagement to help develop more content. In short, one department often underestimates the other's contributions.
This lack of alignment can significantly delay your company's results and undermine your customers' perception of the value your service or product delivers.
According to LSA Insider, 50% of sales time is wasted on unqualified leads. According to Blue Atlas, 95% of consumers close with companies that have offered them content at every stage of the purchase journey. According to Inside View, 43% of Marketing staff said the lack of accurate, shared data on key accounts and potential customers was the biggest challenge in aligning departments.
Well, with this data, we cannot deny it; we must act to unify these departments as soon as possible.
Read in this article how to generate the integration of these two important areas to ensure high performance and, of course, a corporate environment with more growth potential.
Why integrate Sales and Marketing?
In addition to the scenarios we’ve already covered, there are several reasons to integrate these two processes.
1. Best definition of MQL (Marketing Qualified Leads):
The definition of “Qualified Lead” is the moment when Marketing determines that a lead is ready to be delivered to the Sales department (if your company works only with Inbound. If there is also an internal Outbound process, MQL will have more than one meaning; you can read more about it here). The first and most important action is to work closely with the Marketing and Sales teams to determine what a good lead looks like. Without a unified definition, the two teams will work from different points of view, which will generate a lot of wasted effort (which leads to wasted money).
Unless there is a clear definition and mutual acceptance, the MQL stage won't do much for your company.
It is important that Marketing sits side by side with the Salespeople and regularly asks questions, such as: "What is a qualified Lead for you?" "Which type of Lead is the fastest to close a deal?" This does not mean that the Marketing sector should provide only these types of Leads (this information should be developed together with CRM data and market research), but it is essential to get as close as possible to a definition that Salespeople will be willing to work with.
2. Sales Cycle Reduction
Reducing the sales cycle length is vital to positively impact the company's ROI (Return on Investment).
Marketing professionals should always create content that generates more qualified leads to shorten the sales cycle.
However, with a longer decision-making process, the challenges are bigger. Yes, products and services that take longer sales cycles generally cost more and generate more revenue. But marketers need to make sure they're not spending more of their budget to get the sale than the sale itself actually costs.
With the collaboration of the Sales team, it is possible to better understand when customers are gained, and which type of Lead is best to focus on, so that there is a higher conversion rate in less time.
3. More organized sales funnel
There are 3 types of Sales Funnels: Outbound, Inbound, or Hybrid.
Generally, managers prefer to separate the Funnels into the Outbound Sales Funnel and the Inbound Sales Funnel, thereby making the Marketing and Sales teams work separately.
The truth is that a Hybrid Funnel (which includes Outbound and Inbound) is the best option to avoid duplicate contacts and ensure that the prospecting team can better organize who they will contact (a Lead contacted twice is certainly not a good idea).
Also, the Hybrid Sales Funnel stages are the same as Outbound, except for Inbound leads, which will fall directly into the Demo stage if qualified. If they are not sufficiently qualified, they will go straight to the Connected Leads stage for qualification by the Sales team.
The advantage of this is that the Marketing and Sales teams will have access to the same CRM and Sales Funnel, ensuring there is no disorganization of contacts and greater knowledge on both sides of the ideal customer profile for the company.
4. Time savings and fewer platforms
The fewer platforms your teams need to fill out and check, the better it will be for both teams' productivity (and the less money your company will spend).
The managers should look at the scenario "from above" and carefully study all available platforms. Many tools already include several features in the same system, such as HubSpot or Zendesk, which will ensure not only a lower investment but also more unified communication between Marketing and Sales, since both will need to check the same dashboards daily.
Best practices to integrate Marketing and Sales
Well, we have already proved, through A+B, the importance of this team's alignment, but how can we successfully follow this path? Below are some important practices!
1. Improve team communication
As in any relationship, good communication is the foundation of success. When teams make decisions based on their own assumptions, they end up wasting good assets, and that includes understanding how the other team is working. This alignment of information must start with the Marketing and Sales managers, who are usually the ones who start the internal "wars".
Therefore, encourage ongoing communication between Sales and Marketing, and document the progress of both against the set KPIs, providing qualitative feedback on this evolution.
2. Create smart and realistic goals
This alignment of teams is useless if both have poorly formulated goals that are impossible to achieve. The board, along with the managers, needs to assess the company's maturity, sales cycle, and available budget to determine whether the set goals are realistic. Then, if possible, integrate Marketing and Sales metrics. Once this is done, it will certainly be easier for them to have more desire to connect and achieve their goals.
3. Audit the contents
Basically, the Sales team needs good educational content not only for individual learning but also to share with Leads. In this way, it is important that Marketing always check with the Sales team which topics generate the most value, and which subjects the Leads present as doubts during calls. Certainly, the calendar of new materials will be even richer, thus generating more results for everyone involved.
4. Create tasks together
As the two roles become increasingly aligned, it is important to create opportunities for Marketing and Sales professionals to work together, as this will make them even more familiar with each other's ways of thinking and acting.
Ensure that the Marketing team listens to sales calls, and that salespeople, in turn, help develop content planning (as mentioned above), especially regarding customers' buying habits (types of interest, media they consume, etc.).
5. Set up similar reward systems
Well, we clearly see that the Sales team has an advantage in this case in most companies. If your Marketing team has reward systems similar to Sales, this is likely to increase the team's self-esteem and interest in understanding the sales process more deeply. In this case, revising the general compensation policy might be an option worth considering.
Can Marketing and Sales Teams Work Together?
The role of Marketing has radically evolved in recent years, consistently helping to increase sales, working with what we now call Sales Enablement.
Therefore, cultivating a strong relationship between Sales and Marketing has never been more critical.
To promote better communication and more collaboration, leaders must strive not only to foster a single focus of interest but also to cultivate empathy at all times.
It is essential that both sectors stay up to date and informed about all scenarios, and a good start is to understand what is actually being worked on in the company's Funnel.
The Insight Sales dashboard has a visually simplified report that will guarantee for both teams a quick read of the indicators in real time, and, in this way, generate more engagement of Marketing and Sales employees with the numbers and growth of your company!
