HOW TO: Increase lead conversion by engaging sales

For most marketers the benefits of sales and marketing alignment are pretty clear – but actually making it happen when you’re running a campaign is no easy task. Paul Everett, director of marketing strategy at The Marketing Practice, talks us through six simple steps you can take to ensure everyone’s pushing in the same direction

You often hear marketers complaining that ‘we hand leads over to sales and nothing happens with them’. Assuming that these are good opportunities in the right organisations, the difference can come down to how well engaged sales were with the campaign. Do they know how the leads were generated and qualified? Do they know what content converted these leads? Do they have the relevant materials to help them run meetings or follow up with the leads?

It’s also important from the perspective of your prospects. Does the handover to your sales team feel like a natural continuation of the journey that your marketing campaign took them on? Does the sales meeting or call live up to the promises that your marketing made in terms of the value they would get from taking this next step?