Your organization has grown beyond your wildest expectations. You’re at a stage where resources allow you to bring on both sales and marketing specialists. Now you’re prepping for even more growth and really give your competition a run for their money. But there’s a problem.
• Your marketing team is cranking out stellar ideas to keep your brand in the public conversation.
• Your sales team is working harder than ever cultivating new leads.
But the payoff is nowhere close to your target. What could be wrong?
ARE THEY TALKING THE SAME LANGUAGE?
“Sales and marketing alignment” has become a popular catchphrase in recent years, but it’s more than just a buzzword. In a 2017 report, LinkedIn noted businesses in the United States are losing a whopping $1 trillion annually because of sales and marketing misalignment. That’s a lot of money left on the table, and it is a good indicator that there is still a lot of work to do.
The question is no longer “why” sales and marketing need to align. For a host of reasons, today’s consumers avoid engaging with sales until they are well down the buying path. Consequently, marketing strategies are no longer effective when siloed from sales processes. Sales and marketing teams must work from a combined vision that complements one another’s initiatives and upholds the overall mission or the organization.
Content marketing and social media strategist Kirsten Lyons recommends three essential characteristics of successful sales and marketing alignment.
DEVELOP INTER-TEAM CONNECTIONS
Look for opportunities for information exchange between sales and marketing teams. Rather than contriving this kind of relationship, it can be achieved naturally by initiating partnership programs that bring sales and marketing representatives together.
Lyons also suggests the office environment is key to developing these connections by placing sales and marketing teams close to one another.
CREATE NEW PROCESSES
Consider your current methods of developing initiatives. Do they hinder the ability for sales and marketing teams to trust one another? Consider setting time aside for sales and marketing to connect with other to share current developments in their respective areas and how these experiences can influence each other.
ASSESS YOUR TECHNOLOGY
There are myriad marketing and sales technologies available to cultivate, track, and close leads. Make sure you’re using the right technology that not only addresses your goals as an organization, but does so in a way that leads sales and marketing to engage with one another.
WMV Productions cares about helping your business grow by providing engaging and compelling videos to sell, market, train, and explain your brand. We know the value of sales and marketing alignment which is why we want to do all we can to facilitate the best relationships not only between your team and us but also to ensure the best decision makers from your sales and marketing teams are part of the process.
When you’re ready to achieve your sales, marketing, and promotional goals by having your product and its message perfectly presented with a compelling video and present your product as the best version of itself, give us a call at 615-852-5869.
