Sales leaders complain loudly about marketing’s contribution.  Amazingly, SBI discovered that 39% of sales leaders have no sales strategy. Without a sales strategy, aligning with the marketing strategy is impossible and minimizes marketing impact. This strategic alignment is critical to hitting your number.

 

If you would like help, bring your executive team to visit The Studio, SBI’s multimillion dollar, one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art executive briefing center. A visit to The Studio increases the probability of making your number because the sessions are built on the proven strength and stability of SBI, the industry leader in B2B sales and marketing.

 

The Studio

 

All of the connections in the revenue growth chain are important. This includes the bond between sales and marketing. The sales team needs leads from marketing to be successful. And the marketing team needs feedback on those leads to improve quality going forward. The two strategies are perpetually connected.

 

What Marketing Brings to the Sales Table

 

The sales team relies on Marketing to provide valuable leads. They also rely on Marketing to provide effective tools. These tools help sales reps communicate the unique value proposition of their product.

 

From content strategy to sales enablement material, Marketing provides a lot of value. But communication between the two teams is critical to bringing this value about. Creating harmony between the sales and marketing plans is a smart move.

 

Why Marketing Needs Sales

Besides the obvious, Sales is responsible for revenue, Marketing needs the sales team. When you share your sales strategy with Marketing, they understand better how to help.

 

Communication between sales reps and the marketing team is powerful, too. From customer-facing sales reps, Marketing learns which campaigns are working and which aren’t. They learn what content customers need to feel confident about making a purchase. They learn what sales reps need to convince customers to make that purchase.

 

More information gives campaigns a better chance at success. It also makes the campaign more likely to be embraced by other company leaders. “Working with our merchandising team and our sales team, we will try to identify what appear to be the best opportunities,” said Richard Doggett, the Executive Vice President of Marketing at Sysco.

How to Work Together With Sales to Execute a Winning Strategy

Schedule weekly alignment calls between Marketing and Sales. Review both strategies and keep an eye out for where there may be misalignment. Also, conduct quarterly strategy reviews and determine if last quarter’s assumptions were validated.

 

Find out how Joel Trammell, CEO of Khorus, keeps Marketing and Sales aligned. Check out this podcast with the fascinating case study.

 

Aligning Sales and Marketing is an ongoing process. If you would like help with alignment, bring your marketing leader and come see me in Dallas at The Studio, SBI’s multimillion dollar, one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art executive briefing center. A visit to The Studio typically results in getting 3 months of work done in 3 days. You can depart from the visit aligned between sales and marketing to hit the number in 2017.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aaron Bartels

Helps clients solve the most difficult challenges standing in the way of making their number.
BIO
ALL PEOPLE

He founded Sales Benchmark Index (SBI) with Greg Alexander and Mike Drapeau to help business to business (B2B) leaders make the number. The world’s most respected companies have put their trust in and hired SBI. SBI uses the benchmarking method to accelerate their rate of revenue growth. As an execution based firm, SBI drives field adoption and business results.

His clients describe him as a consultant who:

 

“Makes transformational impacts on me, my people and my business”

 

“Solves my most difficult problems that to date we have been unable to solve ourselves”

 

“Brings clarity to an environment of chaos”

 

“Has real world sales operations experience making him qualified to advise us on a variety of sales and marketing challenges”

 

“Is able to spot proven best practices that once implemented will make a material impact on my business”

 

“Constantly challenges status quo and compels us to act”

 

“Focuses on execution and driving change to stick in our environment”

 

“Makes good on his promises while enabling our business to realize his projected results”

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