“All of the leads I receive from Marketing are worthless. I’m not interested in them any longer “The salesperson stated. “We give a lot of high-quality leads to Sales, but those slackers never follow up,” the marketer explained. If you recognize these or similar terms, you are most certainly suffering from a lack of Sales and Marketing Alignment.
Here are some numbers to think about:
Companies who have aligned their sales and marketing teams report a 24 percent increase in revenue and a 27 percent increase in profit.
Only 27% of leads are qualified, according to 61 percent of marketing teams who transfer all leads to sales without further examination.
Sales teams follow up on more than 75% of leads, according to 46% of marketers who understand sales lead qualifying standards.
But why is this important for B2B organizations like manufacturing firms? This essay will demonstrate why, as a manufacturer, you should be concerned about sales and marketing alignment.
Are you ready to align your teams? MMG’s sales productivity services are worth a look.
A corporation can obtain the following results by aligning sales and marketing:
Improved lead quality
Increased client satisfaction
Sales and marketing teams will be more productive and efficient.
Close rates that are higher
Increased revenue and profit
Why is it important to align your sales and marketing teams?
Any organization should be concerned about sales and marketing alignment for the reasons stated above. However, the most significant advantage is that your teams will learn to recognize and respect one other’s duties. Too many of the companies with which I deal have teams who dislike (or even loathe) one another. Teams that respect or even admire one another are happier, more productive, and create a better working environment.
Sales and marketing divisions are two sides of the same coin, even if many firms don’t realize it. At the end of the day, they’re both trying to get consumers to buy the company’s products and boost overall income.
Not having the two teams linked is not only an issue; it’s also a missed opportunity for improved productivity and revenues. Companies with linked teams sell more and earn more than those with teams at odds with one another.
When you see it in this light, it’s easy to see why sales and marketing alignment is so important for all types of firms.
How can you get sales and marketing to work together?
Given that each company’s culture, structure, and leadership are distinct, here are six tips for getting started with alignment that apply to the vast majority of businesses:
A unified CRM serves as the’single source of truth’ for both sales and marketing.
Both departments must be aware of and share information on their common operations, missions, goals, and objectives.
At the leadership level down to the individual contributor level, there must be regular contact between the two teams.
Both departments should be treated equally and given an equal input in major decisions. Alignment is harmed when one team has more clout than the other.
They must collaborate to establish campaigns, messages, definitions, processes, and goals, as well as work in concert once everything is in place.
For both departments to improve, they must provide constructive and responsible criticism to one another. It is critical to communicate in an open and courteous manner.
The steps of the lead funnel and deal pipeline must be clearly defined and written down. Examples include “lead,” “marketing qualified lead,” and “sales accepted lead.” Surprisingly, most of the businesses with whom I work are unable to accurately identify a lead.
It’s not easy to get sales and marketing to work together. Most sales and marketing teams work in silos and hardly communicate to one other on a daily basis, let alone collaborate on goals and criteria. Companies that can achieve alignment reap a slew of advantages.
Developing processes is one of the first steps toward establishing alignment.