Three Benefits of Aligning Sales and Marketing Teams

Keeping sales and marketing teams separate may be a big disservice to your company. Learn why alignment can bring out the best of both.

Despite the fact that marketing and sales teams may be working toward the same goal, they are often siloed. This separation of teams may have made sense in the past, but these days there are very good arguments for them to collaborate, as collaboration can strengthen efforts and create efficiencies in the work that is being done. Here we discuss three possible benefits of ensuring your sales and marketing teams are aligned.

Benefit 1: Develop A Greater Understanding Of What Leads And Clients Want And Need

When it comes to customers, marketing teams tend to focus on collecting data and doing research through surveys. Meanwhile, sales teams speak directly with leads all day and learn the little details of what is important to them. In other words, data may be able to provide an overall picture, but the nuance that gives meaning to these learnings can be gained from what the sales team discovers in day-to-day encounters. These combined insights can provide a better picture of what the customer journey might look like. With this greater understanding, you can create more accurate buyer personas. The combination of this information will help you more easily identify who your ideal customer is, which can potentially lead to increased revenues and more loyal customers.

Benefit 2: Ensure A Leads And Clients Receive A Cohesive Message

The key to effective communications is a focused message. This means at every level—from signage and emails to sales pitches and data reports. For sales and marketing teams to align in communication, it requires sharing ideas and an end goal of consistency. For example, any marketing materials that are created could then be reviewed by someone representative of the sales team and vice versa. Having a way to liaise between the teams builds trust in the process. In the end, everyone is on the same page about the message that is being conveyed so that it remains consistent in the eyes of potential and current customers.

Benefit 3: Resolve Problems And Identify Opportunities

When problems arise, identifying and figuring out how to fix the issues quickly is key. Additionally, when an opportunity is found, being able to capitalize on it is a major strength. An aligned set of teams can do both. For example, when there is a downturn in revenue, if the teams are working in a way that is aligned, it is less likely for blame to be placed on either of the teams. Rather, they can open up discussions on how to identify areas for improvement since both teams had a stake in the original strategy chosen from the outset.
In the case of opportunistic alignment, the two teams can help each see the challenge through their own unique perspective of the process and share insights that may pose new opportunities for the company. For example, if sales recognizes that a certain product or service is being used by clients in a way that wasn’t previously considered, it may warrant new messaging in the marketing to showcase that benefit to others.

Get In Alignment

As seen above there are plenty of good reasons to prioritize the alignment of your sales and marketing teams. Alignment can lead to more in-depth and meaningful customer insights, amplified messaging, and greater problem-solving abilities. Rather than competing with each other and placing responsibility or blame on the other for certain outcomes, alignment can allow both the sales and marketing teams to come together and support each other for the greater good of the company. In this way, everyone—especially the client—wins.
If you need help aligning your sales and marketing teams, contact us here.