A dysfunctional sales and marketing team alignment will lead to mixed messages, lost opportunities and duplicate effort. All the hard work to generate leads will fall flat when customers are frustrated about their journey with your company. Unifying the teams will lead to a rise in lead conversions and customer understanding and strategy understanding.  

Striving for the same goal

Whilst both the sales and marketing departments involve diverse tasks, methods and tools, their end-goal is the same. Both teams are working to generate and convert higher numbers of leads. To do so, both sides need a robust understanding of exactly who they are targeting, and the role they each play in the process of a new lead becoming a sale. Studies have shown that organisations with an effective sales and marketing alignment achieved 20% annual revenue growth (Aberdeen Group). By joining together, the efforts of each team are amplified. Every morsel of data the collective teams have access to is used. In turn, influencing the content dispensed in email marketing campaigns and responsiveness to market shifts. 

Well-defined strategy

Whilst the overall aim of sales and marketing teams may be the same, the short-term objectives are likely not, requiring different strategies to achieve the desired outcomes. The big picture needs to be emphasised so that the two teams join forces to combine methods for the optimum outcome. Marketing work to generate new leads, and nurture them with company understanding and awareness of available products, whilst sales utilise varied strategies to convert leads to customers. The customer understanding is different, and both views are valuable. Combining the two together and creating a shared understanding can positively influence the overall strategy. Marketing will know who Sales want to target and adjust their marketing content accordingly, whereas Sales will increase their awareness of the methods marketing use to spark interest in leads, and the data they can access to tailor their sales conversations.  

Customer intelligence

Both departments gather relevant information about prospects with every interaction. A shared customer understanding utilised in a cohesive manner will pave the way to a higher conversion rate. With greater customer expansion, comes increased profit, whilst also saving money on lead miscommunication between departments. A shared knowledge base, where all the data is collectively stored, such as an integrated marketing platform, or CRM system, can influence lead direction. 

Prioritisation

Through shared insights, both teams are better positioned to prioritise promising leads. Lead scoring allows the most engaged prospects to be delivered directly to Sales door. Time previously wasted on interacting with cold leads is cut out completely. Sales increase their efficiency, conversion rate, and revenue. All because marketing has implemented a method of identifying promising leads. The level of detail added to a customer record of every interaction with marketing can allow the sales team to route leads, spending less time trying to figure out which should take priority.  

Aligning your sales and marketing teams can ultimately result in a continued communication which will lead to better customer understanding, interaction history utilisation, and resultantly conversion rate. A combination of syndicated systems, with Lead TrackingEmail Marketing and automated marketing can boost the smooth transition of leads to customers.