Navigating the complex and digital-heavy B2B sales landscape requires more than sheer luck; it demands alignment between your sales and marketing teams. If you've been in a meeting where the marketing team blames sales for faulting leads or sales faults marketing for providing junk leads, you know the frustration. This blog sheds light on aligning sales and marketing for business success. Ready to dive in? Skip to the action items at the end.
Why Alignment Matters
The B2B buyer's journey has drastically changed—it’s more digital, filled with independent research, and involves multiple decision-makers. To close deals, sales and marketing can’t afford to be disjointed. The two teams need to work together harmoniously to convert leads into customers effectively.
Your Action Plan for B2B Sales and Marketing Alignment
1. Start Regular Meetings:
Sales and marketing leaders, if you're not meeting regularly, start now. These sessions should focus on strategies and feedback on what's been working, not finger-pointing. Start your second half of the year with monthly feedback sessions. Highlight successes and discuss how to replicate them.
2. Understand Objections:
Marketing needs to understand the objections sales faces during the process. Sales, come prepared with a list of common objections and stalled deals. This way, marketing can tailor content to address these concerns, aligning with buyer expectations more closely.
3. Repurpose Winning Content:
If a piece of content worked well, get creative and repurpose it. Strong LinkedIn posts can become blogs, popular blogs can be converted into eBooks, and well-liked articles can inspire new video content. This approach maximizes the impact of successful content without starting from scratch.
4. Nurture Mid-Funnel Deals:
Focus on the big deals in your pipeline. Is there any content or marketing strategy that can push them closer to closing? Personalized posts, videos, or tailored emails addressing their specific concerns can make all the difference. Sales and marketing should collaborate to nurture these mid-funnel deals intensively.
5. Generate Top-of-Funnel Interest:
It’s essential to keep your pipeline filled with fresh, qualified leads. Develop new lead magnets, webinars, or update existing content with new insights to attract prospects. Sales should share real-time market feedback to help marketing tailor demand generation initiatives effectively.
6. Celebrate Wins Together:
Collaboration and mutual appreciation are crucial. Even if a deal came through a referral, acknowledge marketing’s contribution. Whether it was a visually appealing website or a helpful piece of content, recognize the collective effort. Celebrate these wins as a team to foster a culture of collaboration.
Real-World B2B Sales Wins
I recall working with a client who implemented these strategies. Initially nervous about their smaller pipeline post-cleanup, they saw their number of demos decrease but exceeded sales targets. The next year, they doubled sales with the same team size! The alignment between sales and marketing was key.
Need a Helping Hand?
These alignment steps might seem simple, but executing them can be challenging. Need some personalized advice? Book a quick 15-minute chat with me, and let's work together to streamline your efforts and drive results.
What's Next
Stay tuned for for tips and tricks you can use during the summer season when everyone (including you) is busy with family adventures. Subscribe now to ensure you don’t miss a thing. And don't forget to share this blog with anyone you know dealing with B2B sales—every bit of help counts!
AI Disclosure: I wrote the script for the podcast 100% independent of any AI. The podcast feeds to CastMagic, an AI model that helps repurpose the content by creating social media posts and this blog.
About Rise of Us
Rise of Us, founded by Summer Poletti, specializes in revenue growth through sales, strategic partnerships, customer success, and marketing alignment. We typically work with financial services and SaaS companies ranging from $2MM to $20MM ARR, assisting them in planning and executing their next stage of revenue growth. Our focus areas include strategy, coaching, and organizational alignment.
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