14 May Marketing for Business Development

Neither sales nor marketing work in isolation – to get the best returns for any business, they need to be closely aligned. Often there is friction between sales and marketing, because they’re such different specialities, with differing short-term goals.

Effective alignment between sales and marketing is a huge opportunity to amplify key messages, gain a following, generate leads and increase revenue.

How can you align sales and marketing for the best returns? As this blog is about marketing, we need to understand what it is!

So what is marketing? Marketing can take place in many different shapes and sizes. There are many definitions from classical schools of thought to modern. But my favourite definition goes something like this:

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.

→ You go up to her and say: “I am very rich. Marry me!” That’s Direct Marketing

→ You are at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says: “He’s very rich. Marry him.” That’s Advertising

→ She walks up to you and says “You are very rich! Can you marry me?” That’s Brand Recognition

→ You go up to her and say: “I am very rich. Marry me!” She gives you a hard slap on your face. That’s Customer Feedback

→ You go up to her and say: “I am very rich. Marry me!” And she introduces you to her husband. That’s demand and supply gap

→ You go up to her and before you say: “I am rich, Marry me!” your wife arrives. That’s restriction for entering new markets

For success we want sales and marketing to become a 360 relationship-building processes that turns leads into customers and customers into advocates. That means both sales and marketing agreeing to:

• Define the target audience
  • Create an audience profile
  • Narrow it down – be specific!
  • Understand problems
  • Define solutions

• Generate the right leads
  • Marketing is supposed to generate leads
  • Marketing needs to be aimed at the defined audience
  • Nurture the potential customer with clear and effective marketing communications
  • When ripe – sales close the lead!

• Respond to the leads in the right way
  • What – when – where?
  • 33% of leads are lost because questions aren’t answered effectively
  • Do you have SLAs?
  • Follow up within 5 minutes and conversion increases by 9%
  • Are leads qualified correctly?
  • It is all about maintaining consistency, brand identity and credibility

So can we align sales and marketing? Absolutely – with communication. The important thing is that the ultimate goal – increased revenue – is the same for both teams.

Maximise success by working together.

Thanks to our guest blogger Sofia Dahlqvist – Managing Director of 55 Connect Ltd