How Sales and Marketing Go Hand-in-Hand

Have you been looking for a simple explanation of how marketing and sales work hand-in-hand to turn a company's offerings into revenue?

If so, you're going to enjoy this crash course post! But first, let me ask you this...

Would you like to lower the cost of acquiring a new customer, bring more prospects into your sales funnel, and create a delightful customer experience?

If so, you need to combine sales and marketing elements.

Marketing and sales share the vision of bringing in new customers or clients. And while most assume they are entirely different and sometimes at odds with each other, a thriving organization knows that marketing and sales are two arms of the same body, serving a single purpose.

So how can we get sales and marketing teams to be more aligned? The process begins with the understanding that silos are the great enemy. You need to abolish them first and foremost.

Once you've broken down the silos, acknowledge the blurred lines between marketing and sales. There's no clear beginning and end to each. In truth, the boundaries are as real as crossing from Menton in France to Ventimiglia in Italy. In case you've never been to that part of the world— there's no actual boundary. You see a sign that says "welcome to Italy," and the telecom networks alert you that you are now in a new region, but there's hardly any real major difference until you get deeper into the country.

That's how we ought to approach sales and marketing.

So, to help you break down your current silos (mental and perhaps physical within your organization), here are four marketing objectives that both teams ought to learn.

The 4 objectives of real marketing you can start focusing on:

1) Research the marketplace to identify prospective buyers for your product, and get as clear as you can about your ideal buyer.

2) Develop a cost-effective strategy that gets the company's message in front of as many prospects as possible.

3) Embed the message with some offer or call-to-action that prompts as many prospects as possible to enter your company's sales funnel.

4) Coordinate with the sales team to ensure a seamless hand-off experience so you can turn prospects into customers.

Remember, sales and marketing teams need to understand the connection between building brand awareness, generating warm leads, and closing business opportunities.

That entire funnel must be run and coordinated by both teams seamlessly to make for an enjoyable buyer's journey.

Wondering how to get your sales and marketing aligned? Here's an excellent first step.

Conduct a workshop with both teams to develop two important tools:

?? Customer personas

?? Sales funnels (marketers like to call this the "buyer's journey" roadmap)

Understanding these two aspects—namely, the details of your ideal buyer and the steps they usually take before making a decision—will help both teams understand why they must collaborate and integrate activities for the biggest impact. It also helps you share resources as prospective customers move through the purchase process.

Want to learn more about how you can implement this? Reply "I'd like to schedule a call" in the comments and one of our experts will reach out with a link that will enable you to schedule a sales and marketing strategy session.