How to Ensure Sales and Marketing Alignment—and Why It Matters

There shouldn’t be a disconnect between your sales and marketing departments. These teams are closely intertwined, and when they work together, you’ll achieve the results you’re looking for.

Of course, you want to achieve efficiency in your sales and marketing processes. Here’s how to ensure these teams align and why it’s important.

Clearly Communicate with Each Other

Alignment matters because it gives teams that opportunity to find out exactly what’s going on in each department. Both groups can benefit from feedback given by each other’s departments, whether it’s input on marketing emails or sales presentations. Use this knowledge to reform and reinforce each other’s messages.

To some degree, both teams are charged with attracting, nurturing, and closing deals. Accomplishing these tasks is easier to do when the departments regularly work as one team. What do you do if your email marketing isn’t working? Talk to the sales team. Your reps might have valuable insights into customer pain points you’re missing in your emails. What do you do if sales can’t close deals? Send them back to marketing for nurturing.

Sales should be aware of marketing’s content and campaigns to know what potential offers are currently available to customers. Marketing can promote the sales reps as thought leaders—valuable, trusted sources of information. They spend their time selling, so showcase them as knowing exactly what they’re talking about.

Develop a schedule that allows both departments to meet and openly discuss questions, provide feedback, and share relevant information useful to both departments. Implement a shared calendar that keeps both departments in the loop with one another’s activities. An open discussion between teams can initiate a collaborative effort to solve challenges and close more deals.

Coordinate Together

Aligning sales and marketing is easier said than done. After all, they’ve worked in silos for so long. Mending differences between marketing and sales is important.

What can you do? Encourage both teams to attend events as a group. Step out of the office into a casual setting that allows people to connect outside work and foster a healthier relationship at the office.

Use the Right Technology

All content should be shared. All lead intelligence should be shared. This is easier to do with the right technology that enables communication, collaboration, and sharing.

Using all-in-one CRM and marketing automation software is key. This will ensure all team members have access to the same information.

Strengthen Your Understanding of the Customer

Each team is responsible for gathering relevant knowledge about leads and prospects. When both sides understand the buyer, they can increase the overall customer experience. Ensure sales and marketing share insights, behaviour patterns, and pain points with each other to identify and engage leads with the highest potential.

Achieve Company Goals and Grow Revenue Together

Sales and marketing alignment is so important because it helps achieve goals and drive revenue. Both teams ultimately have the same goal: bring in more customers and generate revenue. Although both departments work on separate projects and won’t always see eye to eye on how tasks are completed, they need each other to achieve results.

Think strategically and keep the big picture in mind. Planning, promoting, and enabling alignment has long-term value that impacts sales, marketing, and the bottom line.