Why Synchronizing Sales with Marketing Efforts is Your Secret Weapon

SALES FUNDAMENTALS

Kimberly Cockrell Corley

9/30/20244 min read

And, speaking of Trailblazers, I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Sarah Barnes-Humphrey, an entrepreneur and influencer, with 20+ years of experience in supply chain to talk sales and marketing best practices. You'll have to tune into Let's Talk Supply Chain's Secret Society of Supply Chain for all the tips and tricks, but here are the CliffsNotes!

Imagine a world where your sales and marketing teams are perfectly aligned, working together seamlessly to drive customer acquisition and revenue. It hardly feels like a secret that those two functions can complement one another, right? But only 8% of companies get this right today, costing those who don't 10% of their revenue annually!1, 2 I have personally witnessed the incredible power and momentum that comes from sales and marketing working in lockstep, and in today’s competitive landscape, this alignment is absolutely imperative!

Here’s why synchronizing these efforts is your secret weapon.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Let’s kick things off with some jaw-dropping statistics:

  • 19% Faster Revenue Growth and 15% Higher Profitability: Aligned sales and marketing teams achieve these impressive results.3

  • 36% Higher Customer Retention Rates and 38% Higher Sales Win Rates: Companies with aligned sales and marketing functions report these benefits.4

  • Marketing Rule of 7: A prospect needs to hear the advertiser’s message at least 7 times before taking action to buy. That's a lot of sales power needed without marketing support!

  • 73% of B2B Buyers Engage with Marketing Materials: They view an average of 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a salesperson.5

  • 6-10 Decision-Makers Involved in B2B Buying: Each individual consumes 4-5 pieces of content before making a purchase decision.6


Despite these compelling numbers, most companies still operate sales and marketing in separate silos, missing out on huge opportunities:

Why the Disconnect?

  • Different Goals: Marketing focuses on long-term brand building and lead generation, while sales concentrates on short-term revenue and closing deals.

  • Communication Gaps: Lack of regular communication leads to misunderstandings and misaligned strategies.

  • Fragmented Tools: Sales and marketing often use different tools and platforms, resulting in fragmented data and processes.



Success Stories: When Marketing and Sales Join Forces

Let’s talk about real-world examples where integrating marketing with sales worked wonders:

Tech Startup Triumph: One of my clients faced the challenge of breaking into a traditional industry with next-generation technology. Cold calls and emails weren’t cutting it. We needed an epic inbound marketing strategy to educate the market and create awareness. In this snippet of the discussion with The Secret Society of Supply Chain, I share two success stories of sales and marketing complementing one another:

By integrating targeted marketing campaigns with our sales outreach, we created awareness, warmed up prospects, and perfectly timed our sales engagements. Simultaneously, sales teams fed objections and other blockers back to marketing which inspired the creation of high-conversion content. This approach led to faster adoption and decreased sales cycles. 

In many of the discussions I’m having with companies today, executives believe they need more salespeople. However, in reality, their current sales teams are not fully utilized. What they really need are winning tactics for each stage of the buyer's journey and to increase their touchpoints with the right messaging.

Pro Tips for Integrating Marketing and Sales

Want your sales working smarter versus harder to convert customers? Here's how:

  1. Think About Your Buyer's Journey: Each potential customer will go through Awareness, Consideration, and Decision. Marketing plays a crucial role in cementing the first two stages, but it can also really move the needle in the third. Know what needs to happen at each stage and by whom to convert leads.

  2. Leverage Omnichannel Touchpoints: In tandem with marketing efforts to drive awareness of both the problem and your solution, statistics show that leveraging multiple channels for sales outreach — including phone, email, and social media — significantly increases conversion rates. (Check out the Agoge Sequence as one example of a leading outbound sales motion.)

  3. Deploy Sales Automation Tools: Tools like Outplay and Gong can help your teams automate and streamline many of the necessary touchpoints, making it easier to manage and track interactions. Set up workflows in your Content Management System to notify sales when a target is engaging with your marketing content. What content/messaging is resonating with that target? Sales should double down on it.

  4. Foster Collaboration and Communication: Ensure that sales and marketing teams are aligned on goals, messaging, and strategies through regular check-ins and collaborative planning sessions. Encourage them to share success stories, insights, and learning opportunities to continuously improve and support each other's efforts.

By following these steps, you can become part of the savvy 8% of companies who are harnessing the momentum of synchronized sales and marketing to drive greater revenue growth.

So, let’s break down those silos, align our teams, and watch the magic happen!

Need some help?  Schedule your 30-minute consultation today!

Sources:
1. Forrester Research
2. Hubspot
3. SiriusDecisions
4. MarketingProfs
5. DemandGen
6. Gartner

It's been a busy couple of months at Upward Bound Ventures, but oh so rewarding! The customers with whom I'm speaking and the problems we're solving... well, it is invigorating!

Another exciting milestone achieved: I was incredibly honored and humbled to have been recognized by Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive for Outstanding Achievement as a Trailblazer—"a female leader who continues to pave the way for future females in logistics." This recognition means so much to me, especially knowing how many brilliant women are driving innovation and growth in our industry!