Why sales teams need to understand marketing

 

This is indeed a complicated relationship and since the dawn of modern business it has been so.  However, the positive impact of sales and marketing coming together ought not be underestimated as the results of a perfect synergy between these two departments can completely turn a business into something bigger by securing their business and growing the company.  

Sales teams and marketing need to work together – it’s that simple.  

These two departments within a company need to work together towards a shared goals for the overall benefit of the company.  Besides, there’s nothing quite as inspiring as working towards a common goal.

Nowadays, it’s important that sales and marketing teams fully understand all aspects of digital marketing, so it’s a great idea that employees from both departments complete a digital marketing course in order to stay ahead of the many new digital marketing trends, tips and techniques.

 

Understanding marketing from a sales perspective

It’s clear that both sales and marketing have to deliver on their objectives.  Therefore, working together is paramount to the company’s success. Although historically these departments have pretty much run on their own steam it’s time for sales to understand marketing strategies.

Oftentimes the result of sales and marketing working independently results in a breakdown of communication which must be avoided at all costs, especially where digital marketing is involved every department has to be on the same ‘communication’ page.

Sales teams, who are target driven, often misunderstand marketing’s objectives, which are often long-term.  To avoid any misunderstandings, it’s vital that both parties take the time to collaborate wherever possible.

 

Worlds apart

Although sales and marketing may seem worlds apart, there are proven ways of improving their relationship and there can be no doubt that both parties want and need their organisation to succeed in every way. 

So, despite their differences fortunately there are ways that a sales team can learn to better understand the ways of marketing and therefore build a solid relationship.  

Here are a few tips to keep improve rapport between sales and marketing:

  • Lead criteria – To ensure there are less misunderstandings between sales and marketing, it’s crucial to set the criteria for lead generation.  
  • Don’t over-promise – Sales teams need to learn how to refrain from over-promising to their clients as this often causes friction between sales and marketing.  If a product or service falls short of the customer’s expectation, it’s can often be as result of an over-promise from sales.
  • Improve collaboration – Once a relationship building plan is established it’s important to work on the collaboration of the two departments.  Get involved with each department’s objectives and hold regular meetings to discuss collaboration to achieve better results.
  • Increase communication – Try to communicate more often as this builds sound relationships even if the communication isn’t always on point.  The key is to communicate more.
  • SLA – To ensure that sales is on the same page as marketing it’s important to have a high level service level agreement (SLA) in place to avoid misunderstandings.

 

Explain the customer’s purchasing journey

Oftentimes, marketing personnel fail to understand the customer’s purchasing journey which can lead to sales becoming frustrated.  It’s a good idea that the sales team explains their customer’s full purchasing journey to the marketing team so they can fully understand the process.  Map out this journey and detail typical questions that your customers ask. This will help marketing to get a bird’s eye view of how sales deal with their client’s queries.

 

Prove what your customers value most

Selling does not only involve the sales team, as marketing and almost every other department within a company is also involved along the process.  This is why it’s important that sales teams need to help marketing specially to understand what their customers value the most.  When a marketing team fully understands this, they are able to add value.

 

The importance of aligning goals 

Aligning common goals throughout an organisation is one of the most effective ways of getting sales teams to understand marketing.  This can take a while to get everyone on the same page as most sales teams have strict individual sales targets that must be met, which may get in the way of aligning overall company goals.

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