Sales and Marketing Management Business
Let's mention
a sales and marketing problem most companies have struggled with for
years. I'm not talking about lead generation, market share, or customer
retention, although it does impact each of these things then far more . I'm talking about the chasm that separates Sales and Marketing.
Take a glance at a typical day within the lifetime of both Sales and Marketing to ascertain if you'll relate...
A Day within the lifetime of a Marketer
A marketer works hard to get leads for her sales team. She optimizes conversion opportunities across her company's website, delivers email campaigns, builds landing pages and delivers valuable gated content. Her work generates a gentle stream of leads, which she immediately passes along to the sales team. Because, after all, more leads is best , right?
Our marketer toils away every day to make valuable marketing content and sales support materials. She sends emails to the sales team to notify them each new piece of content because it is finalized. She even uploads each new item to the company's Dropbox account so everyone can access it.
Ah, sweet success!
But not for long...
Her blood boils when she learns her sales reps haven't however very much like checked out the leads she has been generating. She shivers with frustration when she finds out most of the sales team is somehow unaware of most of the content she has created. How can this be possible?
Marketing feels undervalued and ignored.
A Day within the lifetime of a Sales Rep
On the opposite side of the Grand Sales and Marketing Canyon, a sales rep spends her day responding to urgent prospect requests, traveling from meeting to meeting, communicating with customers, reacting to unexpected changes with buyers - hers may be a lifetime of constant chaos and alter .
She often needs content so as to reply to immediate needs of her prospects. However, this results in frustration because the materials she has access to aren't the materials she needs. they're outdated or - worse yet - they do not even seem to exist. This often means she finishes up creating content on the spot. this needs time she simply doesn't have. She can't understand why Marketing doesn't produce the content she needs.
To top it off she receives endless notifications from Marketing about new leads she to follow up with, adding pressure to her already stress-filled day. She doesn't have time to remain on top of communication together with her own prospects, including an inventory of latest leads from Marketing. Besides, Marketing leads never seem to be qualified and following up with them always seems to be a waste of her time.
Sales feels misunderstood and unsupported by Marketing.
Sound familiar? Yeah, i assumed so.
Unfortunately, this example is incredibly common. Marketers aren't alone in their feelings of being undervalued and ignored. In fact, the maximum amount as 80% of selling leads will never be acted upon by Sales. And consistent with the American Marketing Association, a whopping 90% of selling content isn't actually utilized in selling.
Sales reps, too, are justified in their frustration. The CMO council found that rather than selling, sales people spend upwards of 40% of their time creating their own messaging and tools. Also, consistent with HubSpot, only 27% of leads sent to sales by marketing are qualified first.
Pretty sad statistics, right? So why is it happening? It's that chasm i discussed earlier between Sales and Marketing. These two teams are disconnected during a big way and it's taking a toll on the businesses they work for.
It's time to shut the gap and align Sales and Marketing once and for all. While you'd probably agree, you'll not fully understand why it is so important or what you'll do about it.
Why Sales and Marketing MUST Align
Reason #1: Your Customers See It
According to the IDC, the maximum amount as 57% of consumers feel that salespeople are poorly preparedor not prepared in the least for initial meetings.
Could it's that these sales reps did not have the resources they needed to properly steel oneself against these initial meetings? in any case , these meetings with prospective customers are pretty important to sales reps - they're key milestones within the sales process! The overwhelming majority of sales reps would definitely want to be prepared for them in order that they might be as successful as possible. they only did not have the content they needed to adequately prepare.
Sales reps need content to effectively engage prospects and shut sales. But not just any content will do. they have content that speaks on to the requirements , challenges and preferences of prospects. and that they got to be ready to access the foremost current versions of it whenever they have it.
What To Do
Take the primary step toward Sales and Marketing alignment and ask the sales reps directly. Work to obviously understand the challenges they face throughout the sales process. Ask them about the gaps they see in your marketing content. attempt to understand how they have to access content and when and where they have it most. plan to learn what marketing support has worked and what has not - and why. hear their feedback and list the ways you'll better serve your sales reps.
One strategy i prefer to use is asking sales reps to write down down questions they often receive from prospects. Then, use this list of FAQs as an inventory of content you'll create to directly support the sales reps subsequent time they encounter such inquiries.
The important takeaway here is that marketers can take the primary step toward Sales and Marketing alignment by starting an easy conversation with sales reps. Just ask them what they have and compute how to deliver it.
Reason #2: Lead Overload
When Sales and Marketing aren't aligned, inefficiencies are sure to happen. just like the examples given above, likelihood is that pretty good that Marketing is delivering leads that Sales will never touch. With increasing adoption of selling automation platforms and their ability to assist marketers do quite ever before, marketers are capable of generating tons of leads. That's great. What's not so great is once they just pass all of them along to sales.
Why is that this such a problem? When sales reps are given more leads than they're physically ready to follow up with, they become saturated... and people leads get neglected Here's an example:
Let's say you have been striving to succeed in a lead generation goal of 30 leads per rep per week. That sounds great! that's , until you learn that every rep typically has about two hours per week to follow up with leads and every lead typically requires about 20 minutes of follow up time. You now realize that every rep has the capacity to follow up with just six leads hebdomadally . you've got been working hard to send them 30.
See the matter here? during this scenario, you'd be sending them 24 more leads than they will physically handle. Every. Single. Week.
What you thought was great marketing success was actually overloading sales. And it had been resulting in neglected leads.
What To Do
As the previous example briefly mentioned, one among the primary steps in solving this problem is by lecture your sales reps and Sales leadership on to understand the realistic number of leads each rep can follow up with hebdomadally . Then adjust the amount of leads you deliver accordingly.
This doesn't mean you aim attempt to generate fewer leads. Not in the least . Instead, it means you would possibly got to nurture them and better qualify them before handing them off to Sales.
More work for marketing? Perhaps. But wouldn't it's worthwhile if your work was actually used? By nurturing leads before handing them off to Sales, you increase the probabilities of the leads you deliver actually becoming customers.
On average, consistent with a requirement Gen Report nurtured leads produce a 20% increase in sales opportunities versus non-nurtured leads. What's more, companies that shine at lead nurturing generate 50% more leads that are truly sales-ready. Even better - they produce these leads a 3rd of the value of companies that are not so great at lead nurturing.
Invest a while in better understanding Sales and every rep's capacity for following up with leads. Then refine your lead nurturing process to enhance the standard and rethink the number of leads you deliver to sales.
Reason #3: Revenue Gone to Waste
When sales reps spend time checking out or creating content, this not only duplicates the efforts of selling , it also pulls them faraway from important sales opportunities. and people wasted opportunities add up to wasted revenue - many it.
Consider this: A study by IDC found that by saving one sales rep just hour of prep time hebdomadally , a corporation could realize additional revenue generation $300,000 or more per rep! during a company with just 10 reps, that's $3 million annually . If you've 100 reps, that's a staggering $300MM per annum .
If just hour of prep time can translate into $300,000 in revenue, just imagine what proportion potential revenue is wasted in your organization as sales reps struggle to seek out the content they have .
What To Do
Clear out the clutter. As you're employed to create a far better relationship together with your sales reps and establish more frequent, meaningful communication, search for ways you'll reduce the clutter - in both of your lives.
Quite often, technology can help here. There are apps available today to assist manage content. Anything from Google Drive to Basecamp, Dropbox to Salesforce - any number of tools can function a virtual marketing library for your content. all is out there anywhere and on any device with an online connection so sales reps should haven't any problem getting the content they have whenever they have it.
If you'll plan to making only the foremost current versions of content available during this marketing library, ask your sales reps to also make a commitment. Ask them to retrieve these up-to-date versions of content whenever they have to use it - rather than using outdated content stored elsewhere or creating their own.
Close the gap between Sales and Marketing. Reach bent Sales to raised understand their challenges and wishes . Work together to raised serve your customers. Sure, it'll improve your business and doubtless increase revenue, but it'll also improve your workplace happiness, and may you actually put a price on that?
Take a glance at a typical day within the lifetime of both Sales and Marketing to ascertain if you'll relate...
A Day within the lifetime of a Marketer
A marketer works hard to get leads for her sales team. She optimizes conversion opportunities across her company's website, delivers email campaigns, builds landing pages and delivers valuable gated content. Her work generates a gentle stream of leads, which she immediately passes along to the sales team. Because, after all, more leads is best , right?
Our marketer toils away every day to make valuable marketing content and sales support materials. She sends emails to the sales team to notify them each new piece of content because it is finalized. She even uploads each new item to the company's Dropbox account so everyone can access it.
Ah, sweet success!
But not for long...
Her blood boils when she learns her sales reps haven't however very much like checked out the leads she has been generating. She shivers with frustration when she finds out most of the sales team is somehow unaware of most of the content she has created. How can this be possible?
Marketing feels undervalued and ignored.
A Day within the lifetime of a Sales Rep
On the opposite side of the Grand Sales and Marketing Canyon, a sales rep spends her day responding to urgent prospect requests, traveling from meeting to meeting, communicating with customers, reacting to unexpected changes with buyers - hers may be a lifetime of constant chaos and alter .
She often needs content so as to reply to immediate needs of her prospects. However, this results in frustration because the materials she has access to aren't the materials she needs. they're outdated or - worse yet - they do not even seem to exist. This often means she finishes up creating content on the spot. this needs time she simply doesn't have. She can't understand why Marketing doesn't produce the content she needs.
To top it off she receives endless notifications from Marketing about new leads she to follow up with, adding pressure to her already stress-filled day. She doesn't have time to remain on top of communication together with her own prospects, including an inventory of latest leads from Marketing. Besides, Marketing leads never seem to be qualified and following up with them always seems to be a waste of her time.
Sales feels misunderstood and unsupported by Marketing.
Sound familiar? Yeah, i assumed so.
Unfortunately, this example is incredibly common. Marketers aren't alone in their feelings of being undervalued and ignored. In fact, the maximum amount as 80% of selling leads will never be acted upon by Sales. And consistent with the American Marketing Association, a whopping 90% of selling content isn't actually utilized in selling.
Sales reps, too, are justified in their frustration. The CMO council found that rather than selling, sales people spend upwards of 40% of their time creating their own messaging and tools. Also, consistent with HubSpot, only 27% of leads sent to sales by marketing are qualified first.
Pretty sad statistics, right? So why is it happening? It's that chasm i discussed earlier between Sales and Marketing. These two teams are disconnected during a big way and it's taking a toll on the businesses they work for.
It's time to shut the gap and align Sales and Marketing once and for all. While you'd probably agree, you'll not fully understand why it is so important or what you'll do about it.
Why Sales and Marketing MUST Align
Reason #1: Your Customers See It
According to the IDC, the maximum amount as 57% of consumers feel that salespeople are poorly preparedor not prepared in the least for initial meetings.
Could it's that these sales reps did not have the resources they needed to properly steel oneself against these initial meetings? in any case , these meetings with prospective customers are pretty important to sales reps - they're key milestones within the sales process! The overwhelming majority of sales reps would definitely want to be prepared for them in order that they might be as successful as possible. they only did not have the content they needed to adequately prepare.
Sales reps need content to effectively engage prospects and shut sales. But not just any content will do. they have content that speaks on to the requirements , challenges and preferences of prospects. and that they got to be ready to access the foremost current versions of it whenever they have it.
What To Do
Take the primary step toward Sales and Marketing alignment and ask the sales reps directly. Work to obviously understand the challenges they face throughout the sales process. Ask them about the gaps they see in your marketing content. attempt to understand how they have to access content and when and where they have it most. plan to learn what marketing support has worked and what has not - and why. hear their feedback and list the ways you'll better serve your sales reps.
One strategy i prefer to use is asking sales reps to write down down questions they often receive from prospects. Then, use this list of FAQs as an inventory of content you'll create to directly support the sales reps subsequent time they encounter such inquiries.
The important takeaway here is that marketers can take the primary step toward Sales and Marketing alignment by starting an easy conversation with sales reps. Just ask them what they have and compute how to deliver it.
Reason #2: Lead Overload
When Sales and Marketing aren't aligned, inefficiencies are sure to happen. just like the examples given above, likelihood is that pretty good that Marketing is delivering leads that Sales will never touch. With increasing adoption of selling automation platforms and their ability to assist marketers do quite ever before, marketers are capable of generating tons of leads. That's great. What's not so great is once they just pass all of them along to sales.
Why is that this such a problem? When sales reps are given more leads than they're physically ready to follow up with, they become saturated... and people leads get neglected Here's an example:
Let's say you have been striving to succeed in a lead generation goal of 30 leads per rep per week. That sounds great! that's , until you learn that every rep typically has about two hours per week to follow up with leads and every lead typically requires about 20 minutes of follow up time. You now realize that every rep has the capacity to follow up with just six leads hebdomadally . you've got been working hard to send them 30.
See the matter here? during this scenario, you'd be sending them 24 more leads than they will physically handle. Every. Single. Week.
What you thought was great marketing success was actually overloading sales. And it had been resulting in neglected leads.
What To Do
As the previous example briefly mentioned, one among the primary steps in solving this problem is by lecture your sales reps and Sales leadership on to understand the realistic number of leads each rep can follow up with hebdomadally . Then adjust the amount of leads you deliver accordingly.
This doesn't mean you aim attempt to generate fewer leads. Not in the least . Instead, it means you would possibly got to nurture them and better qualify them before handing them off to Sales.
More work for marketing? Perhaps. But wouldn't it's worthwhile if your work was actually used? By nurturing leads before handing them off to Sales, you increase the probabilities of the leads you deliver actually becoming customers.
On average, consistent with a requirement Gen Report nurtured leads produce a 20% increase in sales opportunities versus non-nurtured leads. What's more, companies that shine at lead nurturing generate 50% more leads that are truly sales-ready. Even better - they produce these leads a 3rd of the value of companies that are not so great at lead nurturing.
Invest a while in better understanding Sales and every rep's capacity for following up with leads. Then refine your lead nurturing process to enhance the standard and rethink the number of leads you deliver to sales.
Reason #3: Revenue Gone to Waste
When sales reps spend time checking out or creating content, this not only duplicates the efforts of selling , it also pulls them faraway from important sales opportunities. and people wasted opportunities add up to wasted revenue - many it.
Consider this: A study by IDC found that by saving one sales rep just hour of prep time hebdomadally , a corporation could realize additional revenue generation $300,000 or more per rep! during a company with just 10 reps, that's $3 million annually . If you've 100 reps, that's a staggering $300MM per annum .
If just hour of prep time can translate into $300,000 in revenue, just imagine what proportion potential revenue is wasted in your organization as sales reps struggle to seek out the content they have .
What To Do
Clear out the clutter. As you're employed to create a far better relationship together with your sales reps and establish more frequent, meaningful communication, search for ways you'll reduce the clutter - in both of your lives.
Quite often, technology can help here. There are apps available today to assist manage content. Anything from Google Drive to Basecamp, Dropbox to Salesforce - any number of tools can function a virtual marketing library for your content. all is out there anywhere and on any device with an online connection so sales reps should haven't any problem getting the content they have whenever they have it.
If you'll plan to making only the foremost current versions of content available during this marketing library, ask your sales reps to also make a commitment. Ask them to retrieve these up-to-date versions of content whenever they have to use it - rather than using outdated content stored elsewhere or creating their own.
Close the gap between Sales and Marketing. Reach bent Sales to raised understand their challenges and wishes . Work together to raised serve your customers. Sure, it'll improve your business and doubtless increase revenue, but it'll also improve your workplace happiness, and may you actually put a price on that?
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