Over the years, a growing divide and disconnect has been felt between the sales and marketing functions in many organisations. Neither has taken the time to fully understand the needs and requirements of the other, resulting at best in a breakdown of communication and at worse a complete disregard for each other, impacting results.
First to overcome is the age-old perception of each department as a silo function. In the fast-moving world of business, definitions rarely stay the same yet the traditional definition of marketing is ‘the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably’ (CIM).
Sales is defined as’ the act of meeting prospective buyers and providing them with a product or service in turn of money or other required compensation’ (Wiki). Marketing has always been seen as the first stage of a programme, the ‘fluffy’ part and sales the final ‘gritty’ part.
The reality is very different. In order to maximise ROI for the business, both functions need to work together, as one entity, working towards a common goal – revenue and reputation. Both functions are inter-dependant and need to recognise this before they commence a marketing programme.
But, time and time again, this simply doesn’t happen. By following a few simple steps, marketing can ensure that sales are fully engaged in every programme from the outset, ensuring together they become a formidable powerhouse within your organisation. This in turn will allow marketing to measure the ROI at every stage of the way, from the earliest point of prospect engagement all the way through to sales opportunity and ultimately sales win.
1 – Change
Whether change of perception occurs quickly or over time, it is key to establishing your connected sales and marketing team. This will largely boil down to the attitude of the individuals in each department but if you can take the lead to unite these parties, it will pay great dividends later on. Our own experience has shown that with some gentle persuasion – and some good results – you can win round the most hardened of non-believers!
2 – Communicate
Discuss and agree the key objectives for the marketing campaign with sales from the outset. At this stage, both sales and marketing are buying into the bigger picture which is to create and nurture a prospect community and create qualified sales leads and ultimately new customers. With your sales team out on the ground, talking to the prospects and leads, it is vital that they highlight their priorities to target. Your marketing teams should get guidance from sales as to what sort of market intelligence they would like gathered, what makes these leads bite and what keeps them awake at night.
3 – Agree the ROI
At this point, jointly agree realistic metrics you can measure against to determine the ROI at the end of the programme. This might sound straightforward but we’ve always been amazed how few sales and marketing departments actually jointly agree the objectives and ROI metrics at the start of the campaign. Document these so you have a reference point to look back on at the end of the campaign.
ROI metrics could include a number of measurements at each stage of the buying process, from ‘awareness’ which would record the earliest point of engagement, through to ‘interest’, where a prospect has demonstrated an initial buying signal through to ‘sales exploration or desire’, where a deeper dialogue is taking place, right the way through to qualified lead and registered sales opportunity.
At this point, working together, you can measure the value of the sales pipeline created and the cost to move prospects through each stage of the buying process, measuring the return every step of the way
4 – Agree the focus
Agree at the outset, who the target audience should be – both in terms of decision makers and influencers and build up or enhance the database with these contacts. Get sales to sign-off the database of target contacts BEFORE you commence. This ensures 100% targeting and focus for the programme and ensures that there is no confusion around the relevancy of leads created once the programme has started. Priority accounts should be agreed and selected based on relevancy and referencibility and be the immediate focus.
5 – Track prospects
Tag prospects at the start of the campaign to register where they currently sit in the buying cycle as outlined above. This allows you to benchmark the market penetration you have created as a result of the programme.
A simple way to do this is to agree criteria for when a prospect moves from ‘non aware’ to awareness, such as opening an email communication or engaging in an initial telemarketing call and through to each further stage of the buying process. You can then map and track how prospects respond and where they sit within the broader marketing and sales funnel.
6 – Visibility
Marketing shouldn’t simply hand the baton over at this point. Ensure regular review of marketing activities and results and work in conjunction with sales to understand if a lead has moved through to the next stage of the sales qualification process. This is crucial not only to ensure continued support, but also to highlight any ‘red flags’ or areas of concern, and reassess your plan if necessary. Don’t be surprised if your sales and marketing plan is revised several times before completion – you must adapt to the business world around you, and that never stays the same for long. Decide on a new direction together if necessary. By frequent status meetings, you can ensure there are no surprises.
7 – Convert
The sales team want to see qualified leads. As soon as they begin to see the rewards from working together, you will gain their full attention and support. Remember, results speak volumes. Marketing can continue to support sales through on-going value-added communications to build a ‘wall of noise’ around those prospects in the sales pipeline.
8 – Measure
Ensure a full review at the end of the programme to measure and demonstrate the complete 360° ROI with sales. Focus on the entire sales and marketing funnel which has been created. Don’t just focus on the sales pipeline – show sales the warm community of prospects which marketing will continue to nurture to drive down into the sales pipeline over the coming months. Get them excited about the fact that with continued and sustained marketing activity, prospects can be nurtured through to sales opportunity. This will get their buy-in for on-going ‘connected sales and marketing campaigns’ to create a sustainable lead pipeline, as opposed to ad-hoc, tactical campaigns to create short-term sales spikes.
Let us finish by giving you a real life example. Four years ago, we started a marketing programme for a large technology company. We struggled – not with the results but the initial negativity felt from the client sales team. Within six months of the programme, and some exciting results, this client was on board and warming. One year on, the connection between sales and marketing was complete and four years on, they are now one of our biggest clients and their marketing programme is going from strength to strength, as are the results…
For more information, please go to www.mcdonaldbutler.com or contact Charlotte Holden on 020 8875 2000.
