can t live without them The ongoing disconnect between sales and marketing continues WHITEPAPER
There are many ways in which a different approach creates positive connections between these two functions. The relationship between Sales and Marketing has been contentious for decades. Marketing has long felt the frustration of immense efforts and budgets being expended into marketing programs and lead generation campaigns, only to have Sales fail to follow up on marketing-generated leads in a timely, efficient manner or provide critical closed loop feedback to clearly demonstrate Return on Marketing Investment (RoMI). Likewise, Sales feel like they are wasting their valuable selling time by following up on poor quality marketing leads. They perceive Marketing to be spending large amounts of budget with little business impact, while they bring in the real revenue; and that, hey, anyone can do marketing! This may sound harsh, but this is still reality for a large number of organisations today. So how can this fundamental disconnect be addressed? There are a number of ways in which a different approach could create positive connections between these two functions. 1) Respect each other s Profession Sales and Marketing often come from different stand points that can be confrontational and mistrusting. In reality, each side of the partnership does not truly appreciate what each other brings to the table. There is a need to understand and respect each other s contribution to the business in order to build and sustain a level of trust and credibility. Marketing creates brand awareness & brand response regarding the company s portfolio. It is this end user brand recognition that underpins any sales-led initiatives. Marketing equips Sales with the right information/materials to enhance their selling techniques. Through integrated lead generation campaigns with distinct calls to action and/or commercial offers, alongside invitations to seminars/events organised by Marketing, Sales are given reasons to call their prospects and clients in order to open up new conversations to qualify new opportunities to convert to sales. The generation of marketing -qualified leads helps to fill the sales pipeline, alongside the very targeted sales-led activities. Sales, when equipped with the right marketing information, becomes the face and ambassador of the brand in front of prospects and clients. Due to the volume of direct prospect and customer engagements, Sales can share a wealth of critical market, competitor and customer insights. This intelligence is a vital asset in the development of all aspects of lead generation campaigns, such as attractive commercial offers, compelling calls to action, impactful value propositions, and a great sounding board too. Sales are, of course, the qualification engine for marketing-generated leads, which helps to demonstrate the bottom line impact of marketing programs. 2
Marketing needs to stand up, become more visible and accountable at the most senior levels. 2) Earn Marketing s seat at the Board room table For Marketing to have the biggest impact in terms of aligning Sales and Marketing, it needs to begin at the highest level in the organization the Board Room! Marketing Strategy should be a major contributor, if not leader, in the Company Strategy & Vision. However, many corporate strategies are more heavily influenced by Sales and/or Product leaders. Marketing needs to stand up & become more visible and accountable at the most senior levels. Marketing directors need to proactively seek Board level presentation opportunities to highlight new marketing initiatives and commercial results. With a proactive, internal influencer program, Marketing can target key individuals across different business functions to ensure that they understand the marketing strategy/plan, priority programs, budget split and forecasted results, all strictly linked to business priorities. At regular points in time, marketing scorecards, external endorsements, and comparative benchmark studies of your marketing results vs. the Industry, all help to continue to position Marketing as a major contributor in the business. As well as focusing on external communications, Marketing should always execute ongoing internal programs to create broader visibility across the corporate community through e.g. intranets, message boards, internal posters, pop-ups, collateral stands in reception areas, PR summary boards etc. On a quarterly basis, the Executive team should each receive a hard copy summary marketing pack on their desks to emphasize Marketing s progress to date. Although this may sound like overkill, if Marketing does not have the internal buy-in of its key influencers, inclusive of Sales, it will never achieve the success it is expected to deliver. With this type of approach, Sales and Marketing will start to calibrate their thinking from the highest level. 3) Speak the same commercial language! Often, Marketing and Sales use language that is alien to both parties. Marketing talks about multi-channel campaigns, creatives & copy, value propositions, calls to action/assets, microsites, opens, click throughs, downloads, form conversions etc. Sales talk of time equals money, reasons to call or a foot-in-the-door, monthly/quarterly sales targets, bonus/kickers, profit margins, sales pipeline/forecasts, probabilities to close, sales stages, ROI etc. We are simply talking on different levels. Marketing needs to be mindful to communicate with sales in a commercially minded fashion, so Sales can appreciate that marketing is very much focused on the bottom line revenue impact as well. In terms of lead generation, you may wish to articulate that the next quarter s campaign will target XXX prospects/customers to promote product/service A, with a marketing budget investment of B, forecasting to deliver C number of marketing qualified leads & a forecasted pipeline of D, based on an average deal value of E. The anticipated Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) will be $1: $F. You can start to see how much more engaging this type of conversation will be. Helping Sales to achieve target as well as their sales commissions into their back pocket, will turn Marketing into heroes! 3
In order to manage expectations and to be realistic, it is critical that Sales and Marketing agree what a lead is from the outset. 4) End to end engagement of Sales in Lead Generation campaigns If Marketing develops any lead generation campaigns in isolation, it is doomed to fail! Sales should be involved right at the beginning of the campaign planning stage via a workshop with key, vocal sales individuals. Sales can share valuable input re market dynamics, competitor tactics, product/service SWOT, customer business and purchasing drivers, validation of key messages, target audiences, geographies, as well as ROI modeling in terms of the average deal values and typical sales cycles. At key stages of the development of the campaign, communicate again with Sales to keep the campaign visible and their involvement active. Before launch, provide the sales teams with a campaign briefing & sales readiness pack (i.e. briefings at sales team meetings, sales presentation, quick reference guide to the campaign, end user collateral etc). Marketing should continue to seek feedback from Sales as it is an iterative process of improvement in campaigns. Allow Sales to have a voice, but be mindful of the fact that you are the experienced marketer. Only take on board appropriate input, but be prepared to say no when you know that is not best practice. 5) Mutually agree the definition of a Lead If you asked a number of different sales people what is a lead? you would hear a number of different answers! In order to manage expectations and to be realistic, it is critical that Sales and Marketing agree what a lead is from the outset. Leads can and should be categorized on a number of levels, namely: Demographic: in the target business title, key influencer in the Decision Maker Unit, company size, vertical, turnover, etc Behavioral: B.A.N.T. (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline) i.e. marketing-qualified lead, that is sales ready: Budget visible or planned Authority to purchase or influence the purchase Need there is a distinct requirement, that the company can fulfill Timescale there is an identified project within the next 12 months (3 months = hot; 3-6 months = viable; >6 months future lead) A lead is NOT: a response to a campaign or request for further info a project with neither budget nor time scale an expressed interest I believe that it is even more important to understand what the overall success factors are for the business, so all of the sales and marketing activities can be put into context. Business success can be measured in a number of different ways, such as profitable revenue closed & growing; strong order momentum or acquiring more opportunities to bid; greater customer acquisition; lower churn rates; rising customer satisfaction; higher Customer Lifetime Value; greater share of wallet etc. 4
Marketing must ensure that ONLY Sales ready leads are passed to Sales. 6) Mutually agree on the Lead Management process Without a defined lead management process, the whole customer acquisition process is at risk. There are numerous points to be agreed up front, namely: which leads will be assigned to which sales individuals (direct or indirect)? What are the distinct stages of qualification? What are the SLAs on lead follow up times? How will Sales feedback on leads? Sales should agree to follow up within 24-48 hours; otherwise the lead will become cold. Are there times when a lead should be protected from Marketing so conversations with the sales person are not disrupted? What are the criteria for Sales returning a lead to Marketing for further nurturing? How long is it acceptable for a lead to sit dormant before further nurturing and qualification is required? At what point does Marketing stop nurturing and Sales pick it up? In all cases, the whole process needs to be thoroughly defined, seamless, and dynamic, with no gaps. Marketing must ensure that ONLY sales ready leads are passed to sales. This can be established through multi-touch campaign responses and telemarketing. If these quality leads convert to more sales, then Sales will be bought in to supporting more lead generation campaigns. The Demand Metrics Waterfall system for creation of demand Inquiries Keep new leads engaged by sending them relevant, educational materials. Large volumes of inquiries are NOT leads Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) Once Marketing has made contact, you nurture and score leads for sales. Sales Accepted Leads Bridge the gap between Marketing and Sales by adding prospect data to your CRM. Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) Closed/won businessi When leads enter your pipeline, keep your message in front of them. When you know your best prospect profile, you find more like them. Fewer leads, higher quality, greater chance to convert to sales = SUCCESS Source: Sirius Decisions 5
If Marketing can provide Sales with information that helps them to sell, then the relationship will prosper. 7) Technology as an enabler to alignment With the advent of new technologies, such as Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms like Salesforce.com and marketing automation, the process of integrated multi-channel marketing campaigns, through lead generation, hand off to Sales, lead qualification, lead nurturing and revenue reporting has become more connected, transparent, efficient productive and effectively closing the Marketing-to-Sales loop. It has forced the two departments to come together to define holistic processes to support the customer buying journey. Marketing automation also delivers end to end capabilities to track real time end user behaviour and to share this with Sales in their own sales systems, e.g. by individual the number of website visits, time spent online, what they have viewed, items downloaded, campaigns they have responded to etc. This real time intelligence assists Sales with real insights prior to sales calls, assisting to support conversions in a timely manner. 8) Equipping the Sales force to be efficient & effective If Marketing can provide Sales with information that helps them to sell, then the relationship will prosper. For Sales, it is all about getting in front of the right customers, for the right amount of time, at a minimum cost in terms of both time and effort. The following list provides examples of what these materials could be: Business/Market/Competitive Intelligence in quick reference guides Customer presentations & collaterals Sales Guides how to position; how to handle objections; silver bullets Customer Quotes/Case Studies/Videos/Testimonials Sales Training: online & face to face Simple packaged campaigns e.g. solo broadcast email, telephone prompts, commercial offer/call to action and an e-fulfillment piece. 6
This exciting new world is all about conversations, value exchange and relationships. 9) Marketing dashboard metrics & scorecards keep it visible, keep it commercial Real-time dashboards can now track the best response driven campaigns, ROMI i.e. marketing spend vs. revenue closed and potential revenue pipeline by campaign, number of marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) by campaign, top sales persons or regions in terms of closed marketing opportunities, and other factors. The Marketing performance dashboard should look and feel the same as Sales dashboards that are viewed by the Board as business barometers, in order to present the same credibility/gravitas of Marketing s business impact. Remember, however, that it is also important to measure percentage of MQLs not actioned or rejected by Sales, age of MQLs in the opportunity pipeline stages, and the percentage of MQLs turned into opportunities by Sales. This may highlight Sales discipline issues, lead management process gaps or poor quality leads being passed to Sales. It is a joint responsibility to make this work. 10) It is not just about Sales anymore! Remember for the ultimate success of a business, aligning Marketing and Sales is only one element. There needs to be alignment at the top of the business as well as across the business i.e. the alignment of the Business, Sales and Marketing strategies and plans. Sales, Marketing, Products, Operations, Finance and IT all need to be in sync for business success. In Conclusion According to the latest B2B Barometer report (February 2010), Sales and Marketing are becoming more closely aligned. Although 50% of Client and Agency marketers believe Marketing still plays a secondary role to Sales in B2B organisations, 70% of clients report that the two functions are actually effectively aligned. This momentum needs to be maintained and strengthened, as we move forward into the brave new world of marketing. This exciting new world is all about conversations, value exchange and relationships; listening, learning and testing; personal, relevant and real-time communications in order to prosper. This is equally applicable to Sales and Marketing working together! Success can not be achieved alone. Together we can genuinely achieve great things! 7
About emedia twitter: @emediausa inquiries@emedia.com About the Author Debbie Williams F IDM, B2B Consultant With over 10 years international experience in all aspects of B2B Marketing from strategy through execution to measurement, Debbie has a wealth of expertise. She is a B2B Marketing Consultant, currently working with mardevdm2 to develop their global lead generation strategy, service packages, GTM model & pricing structures, as well as implementing marketing process transformations. A primarily Client side marketer, her areas of expertise include delivering personalized, relevant & timely multi-channel campaigns, via behavioral targeting underpinned by marketing automation, to deliver optimum incremental business results. Whether direct to Clients or via channel partner networks, Debbie s experience spans International marketing strategy & planning; data driven marketing & customer insight; effective demand creation; social & digital marketing; lead acquisition, management, nurture & conversion; SME marketing; plus measuring marketing effectiveness. She is passionate about challenging the norm to effect positive change. As Chair of the IDM B2B Council, Debbie advises on industry best practices in B2B marketing. She is a seasoned conference speaker, tutor & trainer, specifically in Sales & Marketing Alignment, as well as measuring marketing effectiveness & ROI. About emedia Pioneers in Business-to-Business Lead Generation since 1999, emedia executes guaranteed CPL (Cost-per-Lead) and traffic generation campaigns for marketers across the B2B spectrum.we produce quality leads from your quality offers, using your white papers, webinars, product trials, etc. With over 7000 online campaigns and a reach in the millions, emedia sets the standard for B2B lead generation. If quality leads are your goal, and ROI is your mandate, make emedia your lead generation vendor. emedia North America 333 E Butterfield Rd, Suite 700 Lombard IL 60148 USA TF. 1-800-782-6167 T. 630-288-8480 E. inquiries@emedia.com emedia Netherlands Radarweg 29 1043 NX Amsterdam, Netherlands T. 31-0-20-515-9385 E. sales.emedia@reedbusiness.nl emedia Italy viale Richard 1/a 20143 Milano, Italy T. 39-02-81830-222 E. giulio.giovine@emediainternational.it emedia UK 3rd Floor, 30 Farringdon Street London, EC4A 4EA, United Kingdom T. 44-0-207-098-2200 E. sales@emedia.co.uk emedia France 52 rue Camille Desmoulins 92448 Issy les Moulineaux Cedex, France T. 33-01-46-29-46-29 E. enquiries@emediainternational.fr emedia Spain Calle Albarracín 34 28037 Madrid, Spain T. 34-913-755-800 E. sales@emediainternational.es emedia Australia 475 Victoria Avenue Tower 2, Chatswood NSW 2067, Australia T. 61-2-9422-2939 E. sales@emediainternational.com.au 8