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Marketing and sales teams are two important parts of a well-oiled machinery. While each has their own unique skills, their main objective is the same: increase business and ROI and establish strong bonds with the clients. To avoid any issues of miscommunication or working in cross purposes, Account-based marketing (or known by its acronym ABM) is ideal as it takes a holistic approach to prospect management, account selection, and client delight, and performs best when marketing and sales departments are unified, so to say. Let's read in brief how to achieve the same.
Here are some suggestions on aligning the two departments:
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Nurture the ABM strategy. This is a new strategy being adopted by companies in the b2b space. ABM strategies links data management with marketing automation to build curated campaigns for leading prospects. It removes barriers between marketing and sales by unifying the buyer journey from prospect generation along the sales funnel/journey. In this strategy, the two departments synergise on account selection and are responsible for sharing insights and information to assist each other in engaging with all leads. For example, B2B marketing team can talk to their sales colleague to get to know better their issues and help find great solutions, to the betterment of the company. Once there is a unified visibility into leads/accounts, then both teams can get to know these accounts as well as the content that attracts them and the channels of preference.
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Connect marketing automation and CRM. As marketing automation tools gain currency over time (such as Salesforce's Pardot tool), it is time you linked it with your existing CRM like Salesforce. With these two tools connected, it will only benefit both sales and marketing teams. Both teams can perform better and provide a connected client experience. This joint approach to marketing technology helps to improve processes and data sharing for both the teams concerned. Marketing automation tools aid businesses in identifying strong leads and supply relevant, curated content to the delight of all. These tools are becoming very popular with time and many marketing teams are adopting them wholesale. Aren't you?
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Regular communication is essential. Both the departments (and why limit to only these two departments) should be in constant communication and collaboration for success for all. Ensure that there are no silos. Everyone needs to work together and be on the same page. If there is lack of communication, time to revisit the drawing board. Two-way and open communication between both teams are important for consolidated buyer engagement and for improving the potential of each account. It lays the base for a healthy relationship between all teams that in turn benefits your clients and the company.
Marketing and Sales departments need each other, they feed off each other. So, it's important for the company leadership to ensure that both remain on the same page. CRMs are great for this purpose especially the world's number 1 CRM - Salesforce. If you wish to onboard the same and transform your company, come give us a call. Let your company see the magic unfold.