The Unstoppable Duo of Marketing and Sales

In the ever-evolving business landscape, the collaboration between marketing and sales is the secret sauce for success. To embark on this journey—and find better ways of working together—the first step is to align both teams, ensuring everyone is on the same page. At ColinKurtis, it’s our priority to know how we can best assist both teams, to co-create better content and better strategies for the future of your business.  

Now, where does one get started?

 

Kick-Off for Alignment

Hold joint meetings, surveys and even sales calls with the sales and marketing teams to foster a culture of collaboration. Understanding the basics of your core marketing technology components, such as lead databases and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, sets the foundation for seamless coordination.

 

Map Out the Buyer’s Journey

Define the buyer’s journey and identify the ideal target customer (or customers) collaboratively. This knowledge is the first step in guiding both marketing and sales teams, attracting higher-quality prospects.

 

Establish KPIs & Common Goals

Synchronize efforts with clear responsibilities, processes and goals. Establish processes for:

• Generating, qualifying and following up on leads
• Enhancing sales process efficiency
• Improving close rates

 While the sales and marketing teams are different, collaboration as if you’re on one team together will lead to more innovative strategies for your company. Working with an agency can further support team cohesiveness.

 

Every Touchpoint Matters

Marketing creates targeted content that addresses questions and roadblocks at different touchpoints in the sales cycle. This ensures that the sales team is armed with valuable content to nurture leads effectively.

 Marketing is also critical to building brand awareness, helping prospects quickly grasp who you are, what you offer and the benefits of your products or services.

 

Empowering Collateral Is Co-Created

Avoid creating content for content’s sake; that’s A.I.’s job, and it’s not yet capable of truly personalizing your approach with customers. During this process, always keep lines of communication open so that marketing and sales remain in sync, and leave room for adjustments to tactics as necessary.

Additionally, as the marketing team, make sure your sales team is aware of campaigns and promotions as they’re scheduled out. This allows them to align their conversations and communications with leads effectively, keeping them relevant and timely.

Support sales goals by providing salespeople with the collateral and templates they need to succeed—at the right time. Useful content can include, but is not limited to:

• Decks & presentations to share on calls
• Social media posts
• Updates on company capabilities or recent awards
• Blogs
• Emails

 

Make Every Message Count

Great content educates prospects and delivers consistent messaging. By doing so, you can actively decrease the sales cycle duration by offering reasons to purchase throughout the cycle, such as testimonials and case studies.

This includes using storytelling best practices on your website as well as monitoring metrics. Establishing a sales portal on your site filled with market and trend data for sales to share with potential customers can determine how well your content and brand offerings resonate with potential customers.

Remember: you can always pivot from here if the results aren’t what you’re seeking.

 

Track Progress for Informed Decision-Making

With all these team resources and time spent, you want to make sure you’re tracing your progress with shared data and reporting. A marketing software and CRM system can capture and track lead intelligence gathered during the qualification stage; you can effectively establish your competitive differentiation through strategic marketing plans and campaigns.

Additionally, be prepared for sales to give the marketing team feedback with conversations about revenue, customer value and more, allowing marketing to find the right strategy for the most qualified leads.

 

Pick a Strategic Partner

The unstoppable duo of marketing and sales does not stop here. It’s a journey that requires continuous collaboration, evaluation and feedback. But, when two business forces join the journey to find better ways of connecting with new prospects and building long-term partnerships, success is around the corner.

 If you’re looking to add value to your sales enablement process or need creative support when designing or writing content, contact Mitch Robinson at Mitch@colinkurtis.com or call 815-965-6657 EXT. 1 to learn what ColinKurtis Advertising can do for your brand.

 

 

Blog post from:

Matt Hensler
Chief Marketing Officer