Sales And Marketing Alignment: Breakdown Silos In Your B2B Tech Organization
When was the last time your sales and marketing teams met for a meeting?
More specifically, when did the two teams last work together on the same project?
Does this sound like the relationship between the sales and marketing departments at your B2B tech or SaaS organization?
If your sales and marketing teams have little to no communication, separate projects, and misalignment on how to achieve shared goals, they are working in silos.
Did you know that businesses with aligned sales and marketing teams are:
- 67% more effective at closing deals?
- 58% better at retaining customers?
- Drive 208% more revenue as a result of their marketing efforts?
As your organization becomes larger and more departmentalized, it can be challenging to align the two teams. Oftentimes, sales and marketing are working separately towards the same goal. While the intentions of both teams are great, these messages can confuse your target audience.
How exactly do you set your sales and marketing teams up for success?
Laying the Foundation For Sales And Marketing Alignment
Combine different workflows and processes with leadership that doesn’t communicate efficiently and you have a recipe for misalignment.
Both the Head of Marketing and the Head of Sales have the livelihood of their organization in mind. Without intentional communication, they will direct their teams separately on the following:
- The specific buyer persona they are targeting
- How to communicate with the ideal customer
- What marketing and sales collateral to use when communicating with customers
Misalignment on the above items leads to slow growth and even worse, it sends confusing or conflicting messages to potential customers.
Here are three best practices to keep both teams on the same page, according to the Digital Marketing Institute:
1. Share information
Communication in any relationship is key. The same goes for your marketing and sales teams. Share information about campaigns and goals, such as:
- How are leads measured?
- How many leads should a specific piece of content bring in for the organization?
- What are the key differences between a cold and a warm lead?
- Who are you specifically targeting with each piece of gated or ungated content?
- What type of customer are we aiming to help with each campaign?
Place the latest reporting and campaign messaging information on a platform that can be accessed by all team members. Discuss these goals, messages, and responsibilities with both teams regularly in meetings.
2. Designate time together
Whether it’s a meeting between the Head of Marketing and the Head of Sales or a meeting between both departments, get the key stakeholders from sales and marketing together regularly. Discuss how each department can assist the other in a common goal.
Perhaps the sales team has identified a new target market and wants to foster 50 new leads from that target market. How can marketing create content to attract those new customers?
Setting aside time to discuss how each department can fold into the other department goals is vital to scaling your organization.
3. Create goals
You want both teams to share the same goals, so you can help each other reach them. Since marketing and sales both aim to attract and gain loyal customers, creating specific goals with input from both teams can help your organization achieve those goals more efficiently.
At the end of the day, the marketing and sales departments both want to better your B2B tech or SaaS organization. By creating an environment for discussion through regular sales and marketing meetings, both teams can lean on each other to reach your shared goals more quickly- all while connecting with your customers more deeply.
Laying The Foundation For Sales And Marketing Communication
We discussed earlier how marketing and sales should communicate regularly. Think about getting the following meetings on your calendar sooner rather than later:
- Yearly – Set aside time on the Head of Marketing and Head of Sales’ calendars to:
- Share revenue targets
- Share goals
- Discuss buyer personas
- Discuss industries to target
- Quarterly – With your goals, buyer personas, and industry targets in mind, bring together a larger subset of your sales and marketing teams (and perhaps your demand generation agency) to discuss:
- Campaign messaging and strategy
- The sales funnel and how your content marketing team can fold into it
- Action items
- Specific KPIs for each sales and marketing activity
- Weekly – Bring together your account managers on both the sales and marketing teams weekly to
- Look at lead volume on campaigns in motion
- Discuss any changes needed to upcoming content
Keeping both your sales and marketing departments in the loop through regular meetings provides your organization with the ability to pivot when needed and to reach your goals more quickly.
Collaboration + Action = Sales And Marketing Alignment
Collaboration without action does not serve your organization, but through regular meetings with clear agendas, your sales and marketing departments can walk away with clear alignment and goals to work towards.
Scaling Starts With Sales And Marketing Alignment
It’s the time your sales and marketing say yes to alignment, so your B2B tech or SaaS organization can grow. Even though the two teams do different tasks, they rely on each other to capture leads and gain loyal customers.
Need help aligning your marketing and sales teams?
Reach out to Leadit Marketing for a free 30-minute consultation to learn how we can facilitate sales and marketing alignment at your B2B tech or SaaS organization.
