Sales and Marketing are supposed to be on the same team. But let’s be honest. At most companies, it doesn’t really feel that way. According to a Corporate Executive Board study, 87% of the words Sales and Marketing use to describe each other are negative.

59% of marketers admit that they have no formal agreement with sales to determine both teams’ responsibilities. So it’s no wonder that sales and marketing alignment isn’t happening! 

Typical scenario during a company meeting

Marketing person: “We are meeting our lead generation goals every quarter. The sales team just isn’t closing any of them, or even engaging with them!”

Sales person: “Yeah, you know why we aren’t closing any of them? Because the leads are horrible!”

Marketing person: *awkward silence*

Sales person: *awkward silence*

We’re not pointing the blame at the marketing person or the sales person in this scenario. We’re pointing blame at both of them. We’re not angry, guys. We just expect a little more.

Setting Goals and Celebrating

The Sales Team is driven by quota (yes, other things too) – a numerical goal that ties directly to their compensation and job security. The Marketing Department should not only have a concrete goal in order to drive strategy and reporting, but also make sure they’re setting a concrete, numerical marketing goal that aligns with the Sales Team’s mentality. By having Marketing sign up for a similar, related numerical goal, it shows that Marketing is being held accountable just like Sales, and feels the same pressure to hit that concrete goal.

And, for crying out loud, celebrate together when something good happens! If Sales Guy gives you a pat on the back, then smile and say, “Thanks, Sales Guy. It was a team effort.” Likewise, when something goes wrong, work together to understand why and how you can make it better. In other words, “Let's work together to make sure we don’t run into the problem again” sounds much better than “Way to mess it up, Chris. Also, your tie is terrible.”

Companies that align their sales and marketing see an average 20% annual revenue growth, as opposed to the 4% drop among firms who can’t work together.

Sales and Marketing Service Level Agreement

Ready for some work? Create a Sales and Marketing Service Level Agreement. (Here's a template to get you started.) We won’t lie, it’ll take some effot. It details both the marketing goal (such as number of leads, number of qualified leads, or revenue pipeline) and the sales activity (follow up with leads generated by Marketing) that each team commits to in order to support the other.

59% of marketers admit that they have no formal agreement with sales to determine responsibilities.

- LinkedIn and HubSpot’s Sales & Marketing Love Story Survey

Some other tips for both of you

1. It’s Marketing’s job to arm the sales team with content they can use to nurture and close deals, and provide other updates that can assist them in the process. Don’t assume you know everything. Consult sales and customer service to find out problems and questions you can address.
2. To truly understand what prospects are struggling with, Marketing should shadow members of the Sales team, especially on calls. Doing so will help the Marketing team determine what content to create to better support Sales team members. Sales should trust Marketing in the development of messages and materials. They have this job for a reason.
3. Regular meetings between the two groups foster communication and collaboration, and help Sales and Marketing managers improve their performance.

This post is over.

If Marketing does their job right, the customer should be ready for the nurture and close phase of the sales cycle. Marketing should help reach the customer, help the customer feel that you have the solution they need, and begin to qualify that lead. Sales, follow up promptly. I said PROMPTLY! Don’t drop the ball when you’ve been thrown a perfect pass. Only drop the ball if you’re doing an end zone dance. That’s the only acceptable time. Marketing, make sure you throw a perfect pass. Then join Sales in the end zone for the celebration dance.

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