Sales and marketing are two sides of the same coin: Both are trying to get your brand noticed and increase revenue, but they are often not on the same page. When sales and marketing are not aligned, it can feel like a game of tug of war and the two departments feel like they’re at odds with each other. It can cause frustration, and it can cause your company to lose revenue.
Even though companies with aligned sales and marketing increase revenue by more than 28 percent, many companies still struggle with getting these two departments to work together. Here are four common causes of pain between your sales and marketing departments:
- Poor lead generation. 67 percent of companies struggle with lead generation. Sales may feel that marketing is generating too many leads — or maybe not enough. Maybe sales thinks the leads they’re getting aren’t quality leads. Meanwhile, marketing may feel that sales is failing to follow up on all the leads they so diligently attracted.
- Failure to track metrics. It’s hard to know what’s working and what’s broken if you’re not measuring anything. If sales and marketing both track the right metrics, they can discover where the gaps are and how to fill them.
- Culture. An “us vs. them” mentality in your culture can make these two teams feel like they’re in competition with each other, when really marketing and sales should see themselves as being on the same team. Organizational barriers, such as poor processes or “doing things the way we’ve always done them” —e.g., “we’ve never consulted with sales on message before; why do it now?” — can also keep your sales and marketing teams from working together effectively.
- Working in a vacuum. Sales and marketing should work together to set revenue goals, define what a “quality” lead is, and develop marketing messages. Regularly communicating and asking each other for feedback will help each department know what the other’s pains and needs are.
Sales and marketing don’t have to feel like they’re at odds with each other. By regularly communicating, tracking metrics, and breaking down cultural and organizational barriers, sales and marketing can work together effectively and harmoniously to generate revenue for your organization.
