The marriage of sales and marketing

Sales – in addition to – marketing are very frequently seen as two separate departments within an organisation. Although their day-to-day operations are focused on different aspects of the customer relationship, they should function together as a single unit. Their relationship is irrevocably interconnected. Recognising where each team specialises and how they can come together to generate growth is key.

What is the role of marketing?

Marketing encourages leads and forms relationships with potential customers through a number of strategies. Some of these plans include:

• Promotion through flyers
• Emails
• Newsletters
• Trade shows
• Referrals networks
• Digital marketing.

Digital marketing is part of what we recognise as New-Age Marketing. This type of marketing has become a key focus in recent years as the process through which customers research and then buy products and services has drastically changed. Digital marketing techniques are addressing alteration in customer behaviour. In addition, these have positive effects on not only the number of leads but also the quality of these leads. This ultimately generates improved growth.

Getting in touch with customers

Marketing reaches out to these likely customers and gives them knowledge and incentives about their business and their products. This is done through promotions as well as campaigns. They nurture leads through cycles in order to ensure that people keep coming back.

Getting the initial sale is important however a good marketing team keeps people interested in the other value-adds the company has to offer. Marketing establishes a relationship between a large customer base as well as the products and services which the business sells.

Sealing the deal

After marketing has reeled-in the leads, it the job of the sales department to close them.

The connection between sales and marketing has altered drastically in recent years. It is vital that these two groups collaborate effectively. The marketing department is holding onto leads much longer than ever before. Besides this, they are focused on developing and nurturing relationships with leads before handing them off to sales. Also, more and more marketing organisations are in-housing sales (or lead qualifiers) into the marketing organisation. This is a role that used to reside within sales.

By keeping a hold on the leads longer, marketing is making it simpler for the sales team to connect with the customer. The result of this is a reduction in the number of cold leads as well as an increase in the number of warm leads which makes the process of closing deals faster for the sales team.

Having an effective sales team which can effectively close the deals generates revenue and makes sure that the marketing team’s efforts are not wasted. It is incredibly important that your sales and marketing teams value one each other and see the potential that they have when they together. It is all about balance. Marrying the various talents of sales and marketing established an effective partnership for generating growth.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

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