It’s nothing new to say that the marketing and sales sectors are always in friction. However, with technological changes in recent years and new strategies, this is no longer the reality in many companies: integrating the two sectors has been a widely used solution to seek synergy.
Miscommunication, metrics or false promises, and misguided blame happen if teams aren’t in sync. For a company, this means loss of money and increasing difficulties in achieving goals. It’s a challenge, but teams must be fully integrated if your business wants to stay ahead of the curve.
To help you in this process, we will discuss some strategies to promote this integration and what benefits can be achieved. Follow up!
How Does The Integration Of Marketing And Sales Impact Business Results?
The integration between the marketing and sales sectors brings many benefits to companies. One of them is the considerable increase in the number of people interested in the product or service offered by companies and the reduction in efforts to prospect customers. In addition, managers can have a broader view of the target audience.
Data from both sectors are cross-referenced so that professionals get to know their clients better and create more effective strategies. Integration eliminates wasted time sharing information and qualifies the lead by putting an end to complaints. The common goals of the marketing and sales teams are achieved due to synergy.
The chances of succeeding with the business increase as the two industries can leverage each other ‘s data management. The teams work together and in harmony, facilitating customer acquisition and loyalty. On the other hand, the rivalry between employees ends due to investments in integration and the perception that one depends on the other.
What Strategies Can Be Used To Integrate The Two Sectors?
Until recently, managers were looking for ways to integrate marketing and sales. After all, marketing would be useless without the sales team, and the sale wouldn’t happen without the marketing collaborators. Departments are interconnected and must work with common goals or objectives to generate revenue and profits. See how to do that below!
Promote Constant Communication Between Teams
Make it clear what the roles of each team and employee are. That way, it’s easier to assign — and charge for tasks. In addition, hold meetings and committees constantly for the discussion and action of project progress.
Create An SLA Between Marketing And Sales
The SLA — Service Level Agreement or Service Level Agreement is a way to help with this integration. For this, create a detailed SLA with the definition of the company’s goals and the techniques and systems used for the metrics, which must be frequently adjusted and determined within specified periods.
Align Goals Across Industries
When teams work together, sales goals become the same for both teams. Without this alignment, teams have disjointed goals, and so marketing can struggle to provide the leads that sales need simply because they don’t have the correct information!
Adobe Marketing Cloud
Cloud marketing is the combination of traditional marketing combined with SaaS — Software as a Service. It is a cloud-based digital marketing platform that offers different types of services, such as:
- email marketing;
- lead management;
- cross-channel;
- social media management.
This allows marketers to fulfill a broad scope of tasks within all stages of the customer journey. And the best: sharing the results with the teams in a single source of information is possible.
Develop An Inclusive Strategy
After building a bridge between the two sectors, share the business strategy so that all employees involved are guided by it. Both teams need to know the company’s goals, so allow them to provide their opinions on the matter. Check with teams to see how they fit into plans and can collaborate on goals.
Allow employees from both sectors to create tactics to achieve the desired results. They will have to talk about their role in the company to realize that collaboration is indispensable for the business’s survival and for everyone to succeed. Please encourage them to cooperate.
Leave The Lines Of Communication Open
Communication is essential between the sales and marketing groups. Collaborators will work better if they can exchange information and eliminate inconsistencies when sending messages. With this, the volumes of incorrect information and data will be eliminated, and the dialogues will help protect your brand. Therefore, promote meetings regularly and, if possible, once a week.
Have An Incentive System
The incentive system must be balanced and shared between sales and marketing employees to increase integration. Offer a shared commission for sales and let them know that it will be distributed equally to the teams according to the activities of each quarter. In this way, they will join efforts so that everyone wins.
What Are The Benefits Of This Integration?
Efficient Communication
When running an integrated campaign, teams must come together, share talent, and keep track of communications to ensure consistency. This boosts internal morale and gives you the experience of how multiple channels can complement each other. In addition, it helps to generate strong trust to promote upcoming campaigns better.
Time And Money Saving
In the integration between the sectors, the need for duplication of information and tasks is eliminated. Thus, the organizational process saves time and money. Not to mention that you don’t invest in a single medium or unbalance your ROI expectation.
Proper Use Of Customer Feedback
Both marketing and sales gather relevant knowledge about potential customers by interacting with them and observing them on their buying journey. By sharing these insights into behaviors, preferences, interests, pains, and even opinions, the two teams are equipped to identify and engage the most promising customers.
Also Read: Ten Marketing Tips For Successful Startups
