If your sales and marketing teams were puzzle pieces, would they fit together seamlessly to complete the bigger picture? Or would they be mismatched, leaving frustrating gaps that prevent your business from seeing the full image?
When your sales and marketing teams aren’t aligned, the impact ripples outward: wasted opportunities, missed potential leads, recurring disappointments in campaign after campaign, and, of course, mediocre revenue. If these pain points sound familiar, you’re not alone. According to Outfunnel, more than 50% of businesses describe their sales and marketing teams as misaligned.
The main reasons sales and marketing alignment isn’t happening tend to fall under a few general categories:
Teams sometimes suffer from tunnel vision, where each side sees only what’s right in front of them, and they don’t see themselves as part of a bigger picture. When this happens, each team often has conflicting objectives, rather than a common goal. Marketers may focus on generating leads and brand awareness, for example, while sales teams prioritize closing deals.
Poor communication leads to frustration and inefficiency. Even when your marketing and sales teams have common goals, conflicts can arise due to a breakdown in communication. Even when each side is taking action to further the company as a whole, results can be disjointed if everyone isn’t on the same page.
Does your company use separate tools for sales and marketing? If so, your teams are likely seeing different parts of the same picture. If each side is working with incomplete information, they’re more likely to make misinformed or reactionary decisions.
Do your sales and marketing executives work closely together? If your executives work independently, you can’t expect your sales and marketing teams to prioritize cross-functional team collaboration. Whatever tone your leadership sets is what your departments will follow.
Even when teams are working in the same general direction, even a small misalignment can significantly impact business growth. This disjointed action can result in:
Now that we’ve established the problems that can arise from misaligned teams, let’s take a look at what can happen when cross-functional team collaboration kicks in to accomplish team goals.
Aligned sales and marketing teams provide:
If aligning your sales and marketing teams sounds like a good move for your company, you can get the ball rolling by taking on the following objectives:
Start thinking of your marketing and sales teams as one two halves of a single unit. Clearly define metrics that help build success for both teams, such as lead-to-customer conversion rates. Be transparent about what you define as success and set clear expectations for both teams throughout the sales enablement process.
Have weekly or monthly meetings to ensure both teams are on the same page regarding sales enablement strategies, messaging, and campaign results. Have marketing share campaign performance data and sales provide insights on lead quality. Use helpful collaboration tools, such as Slack, Trello, and Asana, to keep everyone on the same page.
Develop a value proposition that reflects your overall business goals, and use it to ensure brand consistency across messaging. Have your marketing team collaborate with sales to provide case studies, whitepapers, and email templates that would be useful for closing deals.
Want better insights? Improve sales and marketing communication, and keep your data where you access it the most. Save time and prevent lost information by connecting your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform with marketing tools for real-time data sharing. Use data to track lead progress, making sure that marketing can see lead engagement levels and sales can track interactions.
Create a common definition of what constitutes a qualified lead to avoid wasting time and energy. Establish a defined lead handoff process so both teams understand when and how leads should pass from marketing to sales.
Sales leaders bring valuable, boots-on-the-ground insights into customer pain points and preferences, which are important considerations when creating sales enablement strategies.
If these steps sound a bit daunting to you, you’re not alone. The leadership teams at most mid-sized companies are spread too thin to implement sales enablement strategies like this one — even though the incentive for aligning your sales and marketing teams would be well worth the effort.
Fortunately, you can hire a fractional Chief Marketing Officer to align your sales and marketing teams for you.
A fractional CMO acts as a bridge between your sales and marketing teams, providing leadership to unify your sales enablement strategies. Fractional CMOs have the deep expertise needed to align teams, improve communication, and drive performance.
fCMOs are an excellent resource for mid-market companies that may lack the resources for a full-time CMO but still need high-level strategic leadership. A fractional CMO delivers the experience you need at a fraction of the cost of a full-time executive.
The expert team at VantagePoint Marketing has been providing success-driven marketing guidance to B2B clients for more than 30 years. We partner with you to analyze, strategize, and execute comprehensive marketing plans that align your sales and marketing teams, work toward your goals, and maximize your ROI.
Want help aligning the sales and marketing collaboration in your company? Contact us today and find out how fractional CMO services can help.
