For most companies, marketing and sales work in parallel towards a common goal. Achieving a seamless work environment can be challenging but well worth the effort. Here are some steps to achieve harmony by aligning sales and marketing, along with the benefits of a united team.

Messaging From The Top Down

A directive from the CEO and other leadership that outlines a joint strategy and assigns roles is a necessary first step in aligning marketing and sales. Leadership should explain how two teams working towards the same goal with separate strategies is inefficient and results in lost leads. This will help get everyone on board. Next, sales need to understand the role that marketing plays in the sales funnel and what key metrics are used to measure success. Marketing should know the definition of a qualified lead and treat sales KPI’s as their own. Collaborating on campaigns together yields higher productivity as each department is personally invested in the project.

Working Together Improves ROI

When teams work together to close deals (the ultimate goal), they are able to share effective tips and reach their goals faster than they could as individual departments. Alignment of marketing and sales directly correlates to the productivity and efficiency of a sale, which is demonstrated by the stats below:
“B2B companies’ inability to align sales and marketing teams around the right processes and technologies costs 10% or more of revenue per year” (source: IDC). “65% of sales reps say they can’t find content to send to prospects” (source: Kapost). “60-70% of B2B content created is never used. In many cases, this is because the topic is irrelevant to the buyer audience.” (source: Content Marketing Institute).
Prioritizing marketing and sales as one unit who sits together, collaborates together, and creates campaigns together will yield a positive ROI. When teams are connected, they don’t want to let each other down.
“B2B organizations with tightly aligned Sales and Marketing operations achieved 24% faster three-year revenue growth and 27% faster three-year profit growth.” (source: SiriusDecisions). “Aligning sales and marketing also leads to 38% higher sales win rates” (source: MarketingProfs). “47% larger purchases result from nurtured leads than non-nurtured leads” (source: The Annuitas Group).

Better Leads And Conversions

When teams aren’t focused on the same goals, Sales doesn’t trust Marketing to properly qualify leads. Separate goals can be everything from different KPI’s and strategy on deliverables to different overarching definitions of success. A significant number of marketing leads go to waste when there’s a lack of trust between teams.
“61% of B2B marketers send all leads directly to sales, but only 27% of those leads will be qualified” (source: MarketingSherpa).
When marketing doesn’t qualify leads (based on the definition of a qualified lead from sales), sales loses trust in marketing.
“Sales reps ignore 50% of marketing leads” (source: ReachForce).
Connected departments communicate their process, understand roles, and verbalize expectations. The result? Marketing delivers only qualified leads and sales acts on the 50% of leads that they traditionally ignore.

Enhanced Customer Experience

A customer’s experience has a direct impact on whether or not a lead will convert or be lost; contributing to the lack of ROI companies see from misaligned departments. A proper foundation to nurture a lead directly affects the chance that the lead will convert.
“Organizations with tightly aligned sales and marketing functions enjoy 36% higher customer retention rates” (source: MarketingProfs).
When your company’s sales and marketing goals actually align, the teams become one, sharing insight into what works. Marketing research and advertising know-how will drive qualified leads, thanks to customer profiles and history from sales. Increased efficiency, conversions, and customer experience drive the ROI, something you may have been overlooking this whole time. Contact us today for more information on how to achieve your revenue goals with an integrated marketing and sales strategy.  Read more: Outbound Sales: Sell Less, Connect More