Scenario One: Mrs. Smith stops by the showroom and says “I saw your ad
in XYZ magazine…” The salesperson says, “Oh, our new campaign – let me
show you the product we were talking about.”
Scenario Two: Mrs. Smith stops by the showroom and says “I saw your ad
in XYZ magazine…” She’s met with a blank stare.
How can you make sure your clients’ marketing and sales departments are
working together – and avoid scenario two?
Marketing can’t survive without sales and sales can’t sell without
marketing. Unfortunately, many businesses view them as two different
departments.
The sales department is the frontline to the market and each individual
consumer. The marketing department’s value is in its ability to take
what’s happening on the sales front and turn it into brand image boosters
and revenue generators. Marketing sells a company’s image, and sales reps
must leverage that image to sell the products/services.
When sales and marketing work in partnership, it makes producing key
initiatives like corporate branding and segment marketing easier. In turn,
companies can:
Increase brand awareness
Develop new markets
Research and produce innovative services and products
Improve customer satisfaction and retention rates
Boost bottom line profitability
So, what can you do to help your clients bring sales and marketing
together on the same team? Here are several proven methods to bridge the
departmental gap:
Gain mutual ownership when developing sales promotions and
marketing programs. Have the marketing team talk with sales to
ensure what is created will generate qualified leads, open new doors for
business opportunities, and ultimately shorten the sales cycle. Focus on
developing sales- specific materials that convey benefits and values –
not just features or company propaganda. Ask sales what the top
objections are to closing a deal and how they handle them – then work
information right into the marketing materials. Make sure that both
departments have vested ownership, accountability, and excitement to
support the success of each new program.
Cross-team on department meetings. Invite key sales reps into
marketing brainstorming sessions and/or department meetings. Ask them
what’s going on up on the frontline, and what they need from marketing
to help develop, maintain, and close business opportunities. Let the
marketing department show current project ideas, and get direct
feedback. In return, the sales department should open its meetings to
marketing so that this group hears about the day-to-day experiences,
what customers expect, and how the products and services are performing.
This information will be used to develop campaign concepts and messages,
as well as call-to-action strategies. It can also ensure that all
potential markets are being reached and addressed with appropriate
messages.
Assign a sales and marketing liaison. Either hire or assign
someone to oversee (or at least support) each department. This person
must understand both departments’ needs, similarities, and differences –
but be objective enough to see what needs to be done, and do it!
Ultimately, this role ensures that each department listens to the other
and works together for the common good of the company.
Develop shared compensation programs. A department’s
compensation is naturally tied to its specific goals – but for true
success, compensation should also be tied to how it works with other
departments and teams within the company. “Silo compensation programs”
only consider one department, while comprehensive programs view the role
as an integrated part of the whole picture. Companies don’t have to
completely revamp the current compensation plan – they can simply add
monthly incentive programs that reward multiple departments/teams for
working together. When developing the program, all department leaders
and team managers should agree on key performance indicators. This will
help ensure ownership, involvement, and accountability – and minimize
the questions during the program’s launch. Companies may want to conduct
a test pilot between two departments/teams first, and gather information
to fine-tune the program before going corporate-wide.
New Product and Service Development. What happens when R&D
and marketing think they know what the market wants based on business
intelligence information and general customer feedback? They miss
valuable insights from the sales reps, who are the company’s eyes and
ears when it comes to actual customers! Successful companies constantly
ask sales for feedback on frontline customer issues when creating new
products and services. They create detailed lists of questions related
to objectives and goals, and have each team outline what the market
needs. And then they see then if sales and customer service reps concur,
based on their discussions with customers each day. If they can’t reach
a consensus, companies can develop an action plan to reach out to those
key audiences directly – in the form of surveys, outbound call
campaigns, sales calls, etc.
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