Aligning Marketing and Sales Departments in Lead Generation Strategies
Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2024 8:32 am
Aligning a company's departments is one of the most difficult tasks an organization faces, but it is essential for the company's objective to be successfully achieved. Success depends on how internalized the message is and on everyone pushing in the same direction. Traditionally, two of the departments that have the hardest time seeing objectives in a common way are the Sales and Marketing departments. It is essential in today's Marketing, in content strategies, Lead Generation, Demand Generation and Inbound Marketing that they are aligned, not only in the objectives, but also in the definitions and processes that classify the opportunities and Leads for those objectives.
Both departments must establish a common definition of what a Lead is and ivory coast phone number list the different stages of this lead until it becomes a client. These stages determine the follow-up and management flow of the Lead depending on the source from which they are obtained (social networks, web, mailing, etc.). Finally, and taking into account this scale of values, they must determine when a Lead stops being from Marketing and becomes from Sales.
The only way to achieve success is for both departments to understand the objectives in a common way and to know each other's work under the same line of action and discourse throughout the stages of the purchasing process in which a Prospect or Lead interacts, from the moment they become aware of our brand until they discover or decide that we are the solution to their needs or problems. This knowledge or empathy between departments makes the purchasing cycles or processes shorter, which means that the Results, ROI, and achievement of objectives are faster, as well as the analysis and changes in strategy.
Traditionally, friction between departments occurs, on the one hand, in the economic aspect and budgets, since while marketing allocates its budget to promotion, sales thinks that this money would be better spent on increasing the sales force and, on the other hand, in the cultural aspect, because they are two different profiles: marketing is an analytical profile, oriented towards data and projects, while sales is a more dynamic profile, oriented towards relationships, contact with clients and more accustomed to rejection. This gives rise to different ways of thinking and facing day-to-day life.
It is for this reason that we obtain four types of basic relationships between Marketing and Sales:
Indefinite : This occurs when the two departments are independent. Neither knows much about the other and they only cross paths when conflicts arise. There is no proactive cooperation.
Defined : Processes are established and an unwritten non-aggression pact is signed, limits are known and disputes are avoided. Collaboration is achieved externally and towards the client through image and good practices.
Aligned: In this case, the roles of each are well defined but flexible. They are able to jointly address planning and training processes, and there is communication and sharing to achieve objectives.
Integrated: Departments are integrated, they think and act together. Objectives and plans are developed jointly under a single action plan, for example in major accounts or market studies.
In our case, we believe that the best relationship is one that is aligned, that of working together, knowing the key and most important aspects of each of the parties in order to strengthen them in both directions. It is important to call things by their names and to be clear that achieving the common objective is achieved by achieving more specific and specific objectives, but always through collaboration.
Both departments must establish a common definition of what a Lead is and ivory coast phone number list the different stages of this lead until it becomes a client. These stages determine the follow-up and management flow of the Lead depending on the source from which they are obtained (social networks, web, mailing, etc.). Finally, and taking into account this scale of values, they must determine when a Lead stops being from Marketing and becomes from Sales.
The only way to achieve success is for both departments to understand the objectives in a common way and to know each other's work under the same line of action and discourse throughout the stages of the purchasing process in which a Prospect or Lead interacts, from the moment they become aware of our brand until they discover or decide that we are the solution to their needs or problems. This knowledge or empathy between departments makes the purchasing cycles or processes shorter, which means that the Results, ROI, and achievement of objectives are faster, as well as the analysis and changes in strategy.
Traditionally, friction between departments occurs, on the one hand, in the economic aspect and budgets, since while marketing allocates its budget to promotion, sales thinks that this money would be better spent on increasing the sales force and, on the other hand, in the cultural aspect, because they are two different profiles: marketing is an analytical profile, oriented towards data and projects, while sales is a more dynamic profile, oriented towards relationships, contact with clients and more accustomed to rejection. This gives rise to different ways of thinking and facing day-to-day life.
It is for this reason that we obtain four types of basic relationships between Marketing and Sales:
Indefinite : This occurs when the two departments are independent. Neither knows much about the other and they only cross paths when conflicts arise. There is no proactive cooperation.
Defined : Processes are established and an unwritten non-aggression pact is signed, limits are known and disputes are avoided. Collaboration is achieved externally and towards the client through image and good practices.
Aligned: In this case, the roles of each are well defined but flexible. They are able to jointly address planning and training processes, and there is communication and sharing to achieve objectives.
Integrated: Departments are integrated, they think and act together. Objectives and plans are developed jointly under a single action plan, for example in major accounts or market studies.
In our case, we believe that the best relationship is one that is aligned, that of working together, knowing the key and most important aspects of each of the parties in order to strengthen them in both directions. It is important to call things by their names and to be clear that achieving the common objective is achieved by achieving more specific and specific objectives, but always through collaboration.