Sales + Marketing = Smarketing.
This equation is the future of business. It drives virtually every activity of a business today, from sales calls and prospect emails to social media posts and eBooks.
The Smarketing relationship is complicated, however. Lack of communication between these two teams is what drives the wedge between them. To combat that challenge, both sides must establish communication guidelines for each interaction. Here’s how they can do it.
Sales and Marketing share the same goal: drive revenue. But they have to take different paths to get there. In the modern sales process, these paths have to intersect at some point.
B2B organizations where Sales and Marketing operations are tightly aligned achieve three-year revenue growth 24% faster than those that do not have a strong Smarketing operation. The strong alignment between Sales and Marketing requires excellent lines of communication between both teams.
Here are the 4 essential communication guidelines that enable Smarketing:
1. Use the same language
Without clear definitions of what qualifies as a lead, Sales and Marketing will not be able to effectively work together. Both sides must sit down and agree upon definitions for Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) and Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs). These are crucial, because they guide the hand-off point between Sales and Marketing. If the definition for a MQL is clearly defined by both teams, the number of qualified leads that Marketing hands off to Sales will be greater. This gives Sales a better chance of converting those SQLs into opportunities.
2. Determine goals and accountability
Each team must lay out their revenue goals and their measures of success. They must agree on these terms as well as their Service Level Agreements (SLAs). SLAs are specific and measurable goals, so they work to ensure both sides are holding up their end of the agreement. For example, Marketing agrees to provide a certain number of leads to Sales per campaign. On the flip side, Sales agrees to a speedy follow-up with leads.
3. Collaborate through marketing and sales automation software
Because the Smarketing process requires a steady stream of data about leads, the only way to understand a prospect’s entire journey through the sales process is with marketing automation software that coordinates with your CRM. This technology allows companies to follow a prospect’s journey from becoming a lead, converting to an opportunity, and eventually becoming a deal. There are a number of options out there, it just depends on what works best for the size of the organization.
4. Hold weekly Smarketing meetings
Weekly meetings between Sales and Marketing work to ensure both teams are holding up their side of the agreement and are on track to meet their goals. Revenue goals cannot be hit unless both teams are held accountable. Weekly Smarketing meetings enforce accountability and also give Sales and Marketing time to hammer out strategies, ask each other questions, and provide feedback. Feedback between Sales and Marketing is essential. If something isn’t working, address it immediately and come up with solutions to fix it. Designate one person from Sales and one person from Marketing to each give a brief report about what’s going on in their department for the week and any upcoming campaigns or product updates or changes.
To enable Smarketing, a culture of communication between Sales and Marketing must be created within your company. If Sales and Marketing are not encouraged to communicate with each other on a regular basis, there is a good chance they will both fail to meet their revenue goals. If Sales + Marketing = Smarketing, Smarketing + Communication = Revenue Growth. Pretty simple, right?
Delve a little deeper: Learn how Smarketing enables growth by downloading the eBook below!
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