How to create marketing & sales alignment for the perfect B2B win-win

Uhm, you ok? Linda from Sales mutters through her mic.

No, I am not okay…what happened with all our leads lately, why don’t we have more sales!? Sheila frantically snaps back while slugging down her green tea latte.

Well, Sheila, being on the sales side of things – you have to understand buying cycles…

It’s summer, and decisions are on hold. People simply aren’t buying as much, because they’re on holiday. So, while you and your team have given us an influx of leads, the reality is none of them are ready to buy.

Now that they’ve both understood the root of the issue, they begin to brainstorm how they can improve their strategy to anticipate this gap over the next years.

This is the benefit of sales and marketing alignment.

While cat and dog fights may occur between sales and marketing teams — in the end, both should be seeking the same goal: to obtain more revenue.

Today I’ll do a deep dive into crafting an aligned strategy where everybody wins.

Why aren’t marketing and sales BFFs?

While it’s easy for Sheila from Marketing to feel frustrated about leads not converting, it can be equally draining for Linda from Sales to force leads through an untimely, and many times unpleasant, buying process.

Sales and marketing can and will become snippy if clear communication and empathy are lacking.

Other factors that add fuel to the flame are:

• Different KPIs: Marketing may be focused on brand awareness while sales is looking at quarterly targets.
• Misaligned incentives: Sales may be focused on commission while marketing is looking at long-term customer retention.
• Different definitions of success: Marketing may see a successful campaign as one that generates a lot of leads, while sales see it as one that closes a high percentage of those leads.

And when all these moving parts are misaligned, it can lead to more problems such as:

• Missed opportunities: If sales and marketing are not aligned, it’s possible that leads will fall through the cracks because they hear scattered messaging.
• Inefficient use of resources: If sales and marketing are not working together, they may end up duplicating efforts or working on entirely different purposes.
• Decreased morale: When sales and marketing are not aligned, it can lead to frustration and decreased morale among team members because neither party is meeting their goals.

Both teams must work together to create messaging that has the company’s growth and success in mind, not siloed, short-term metrics.

How to create marketing & sales alignment

Let’s take Linda from Sales and Sheila from Marketing through this step-by-step process of creating alignment and ending the chaos once and for all.

1. Define common KPIs & lead scoring

Linda from Sales and Sheila from Marketing are getting set up for an initial KPI alignment meeting. Here they’ll discuss revenue-oriented KPIs, so that it’s clear what the goals are and it’s easier for everyone to be on the same page. Think about it like their north star. Before the meeting, they both come up with a list of KPIs that matter to them.

Then during the meeting, both teams come up with a common definition of a “successful campaign” as well as the KPIs attributed to that.

2. Create alignment incentives

When Sheila and Linda work together for the common good of the business, it makes it even sweeter, because the company earns more money.

If you’re a leader and would like to improve sales and marketing alignment in your business, create “alignment incentives.” This could be things like:

• When shared KPIs are met, both sales and marketing teams get commission
• When shared KPIs are met, both sales and marketing teams get a holiday paid for by the company
• When shared KPIs are met, both sales and marketing teams get a free smartphone upgrade

3. Be intentional with content creation

Creating content for the sake of creating content benefits absolutely no one. That’s why every resource spent in content creation should go towards using that content for a specific purpose.

4. Cross-train departments

When each department is provided the time to learn about what the other team does and needs to function successfully, this creates empathy - and empathy is at the heart of any successful business.

5. Function as one department

Stop working in silos and functioning as two separate departments. When our mindset isn’t divided because we’re working to achieve the same goal, we can truly create a bigger impact.

6. Adopt social selling

Encourage both sales and marketing to create content and be active online. Let your people create the demand for your products and build affinity for your company.

Marketing & Sales Alignment Creates the Perfect B2B Win-Win

By creating an environment where Linda from Sales and Sheila from Marketing are as close as Monica and Rachel from Friends, you’ll quickly see more efficient use of resources, increased morale, and improved results.

The B2B landscape is changing, so you can either come together to work toward a common goal and create true long-term success, or you can run around haphazardly while the problems persist.