We finally understood that the sales teams and the marketing department are not competitors. On the contrary, by working together, they can even work miracles! This is how marketing takes off to obtain ultra-qualified leads and, above all, to generate more sales. Awesome, no? Want to learn more about marketing? Let’s go, and we’ll tell you everything!
Smarketing Or Sales Marketing: Definition
In small structures, it is often the same person who manages the sales and communication parts. But when the company grows, the two services are distinct and sometimes contradictory. So when it came to working together, we talked about decompartmentalizing services or breaking down silos. Now, we are discussing marketing: sales (sales department or sales team) + marketing.
In short, everyone brings their expertise to perform on sales by creating marketing as close as possible to the end consumer, thanks to the salespeople’s knowledge of the field. We unite in a common goal of commercial success. It becomes a strategy in its own right. What is marketing? It combines sales and marketing teams to generate a unique and effective sales force. The ultimate goal? Sell more and better!
Smarketing: What Interests Your Company?
As we have just specified, the main objective of marketing is to develop the business of a company by best qualifying its leads (its contacts). Let us now detail this without forgetting the difficulties this sales marketing marriage can cause.
Why Would Your Sales And Marketing Teams Benefit From Working Hand In Hand?
When the sales teams criticize the marketing department for not knowing enough about the field, those in the marketing department blame them for their lack of rigor in implementing their proposed actions. So why not merge the brains of all these collaborators to get more out of it? Easy to say! But not so hard to do after all. You must give meaning to the action and contribute to a common goal: increasing sales.
Salespeople master the customer relationship at their fingertips. As for marketing, it has all the methods to target the prospect. Fantastic! All you have to do is mix it all up and get an optimized and tailor-made business strategy . Why do it? By marrying sales and communication employees, a company can attract exemplary visitors and convert them into end customers (and loyal ones, why not?).
Difficulties That Can Arise In Marketing
But all this is not all rosy. Difficulties may arise. Let’s remember that a company is above all human beings with their personality, influences, knowledge, principles, etc. Here are the main difficulties encountered during a marketing strategy :
- Communication issues: communication can be a real obstacle, whether ineffective or absent. Establishing a framework and establishing human and open communication between all is essential. To do this, creating real team cohesion between the two departments is necessary. One for all and all for one!
- Different budgets: it’s well known the marketing department often has less funding than the sales teams. A consensus must be reached that balances each service’s wishes and concrete actions.
- A misunderstanding of everyone’s role: employees must clarify their role from the start. And why not form pairs between the two departments to discuss their tasks and thus get to know each other better to understand each other better?
- Incompatible personalities: this is a lot of any company; sometimes, some characters are not made to get along. Rewarding the achievement of objectives by offering collaboration based solely on the tasks to be performed can be an opportunity to bring differences together. In this case, service managers play a crucial role.
- Poorly targeted objectives: proposing coherent and achievable goals to motivate the troops is essential. Otherwise, you will lose them all along the way!
Four Strategies To Align Your Sales & Marketing Teams! Because at Appvizer, we are friendly, we give you four tips for a successful marketing strategy.
Set SMART Goals
As mentioned earlier, unrealistic goals scare away both sales and marketers. We didn’t invent it, but the famous SMART objective is the best for a successful marketing strategy.
What is a SMART objective again?
- S = Specific
- M = Measurable
- A = Achievable
- R = Realistic
- T = Temporal
This method responds to a need to make the objectives clear, defined, adapted and understandable. They are, in fact, more motivating for the teams keen to achieve them. So think SMART!
MQL, SQL, Lead: Speak The Same Language
Each service has its language. It is essential to understand each other to work better together. So asking for words that will make sense to set up an effective and successful business strategy is fundamental. The marketing department introduces the sales teams to the marketing language to do this. Some examples of applicable terms:
- Lead: this is the critical point of the strategy. The lead is the contact. He is the target to be qualified as best as possible. And to do this, we deploy lead scoring and lead nurturing strategies to identify the targeted prospects, prepare them and monitor the strategy’s progress.
- Inbound marketing strategy consists of attracting the right target so that the future customer comes to the company rather than the other way around.
- MQL, SQL: these are leads qualified by marketing (MQL) and the sales department (SQL). By merging the two, we obtain the qualified information closest to the company’s expectations. The one she is sure will be able to take action almost for sure.
Build Your Buyer Persona Together
There is no better alliance than sales marketing to build a compelling buyer persona. The buyer persona corresponds to the imaginary customer who would buy without hesitation. It goes through three steps:
- Identify segments: age group, gender, CSP, etc. ;
- analyze behaviors;
- Interview real people corresponding to the first analyses.
This marketing study qualifies the leads and encourages them to take action with a limited risk of failure.
Put Glitter In The Purchase Journey
Once the leads have been targeted, you must make their dream to encourage them to buy and retain them. Find THE thing that makes them can’t miss this great opportunity! Customize the buying journey as much as possible according to customer segments. Give the customer the impression that he has the privilege of the offer. Bring it value!
Bonus: Smarketing Tools
CRM (Client Relationship with The executives) and advertising robotization are integral to best prevail at every transformation pipe stage. The first depends on observing the client relationship by gathering and saving client information. It is open to all groups to all the more proficiently deal with the business procedure and proposition a customized client experience.
Promoting mechanization expects to computerize explicit repeating undertakings to improve those crafted by advertising groups. These recoveries take significant time for representatives who can dedicate themselves to additional substantial and commonsense errands like checking and dissecting activities.
Moreover, promoting robotization programming can interface with different apparatuses, like CRM. The association between CRM and promoting mechanization gives total administration of the deals venture. Each step of the change pipe is improved thanks to the consummate focus on and industrialization of showcasing efforts.
For instance, Webmecanik Robotization unites every one of the elements for fruitful Deals and Promoting collusion: the showcasing email stage helps you in dividing and qualifying your leads, making customized correspondences on various channels (messages, SMS, web and versatile warnings, pop-ins, and so on) and the sending of focused on and successful showcasing messages to foster the client relationship. Moreover, to advance your showcasing and deals execution, you can interface the stage to your CRM!
We Summarize
Smarketing is the perfect combination for implementing an effective business strategy and qualifying leads as precisely as possible. Merging the skills of sales and marketing helps to optimize sales. For that, it is necessary :
- set realistic and measurable goals;
- speak the same language of sales marketing;
- create a targeted buyer persona;
- give meaning and personalize each sales process;
- put in place tools to facilitate the work of the marketing teams and develop the business of the sales teams.
Does marketing convince you? All you have to do is convince your marketing and sales teams to achieve the perfect commercial strategy! And what’s more, at Appvizer, we help you find THE marketing automation software that’s right for you.
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