The smarketing communication gap isn’t simply a “big-business” problem. Many organizations lack the framework necessary to ensure campaign alignment across the two — often at-odds — departments. It’s usually the case that marketers neglect to attribute their efforts in the context of their sales reps’ needs. Likewise, sales reps often neglect to utilize the enablement tools from their friends across the room. The ugly result is a mutual resentment based on a perceived lack of understanding of each department’s role.
Truth be told, we’re all on the same team.
Building a communication strategy isn’t easy, but the time spent will introduce to your company a channel for continued success. If you can honestly say that your organization answers ‘yes’ to each of the following 4 questions, then the company is in a good place.
Do you….
- Clearly understand the marketing department’s functional role at your organization?
- Align your marketing campaign goals with realistic expectations set by both the marketing and sales teams?
- Agree upon the success metrics needed to gauge good campaign performance prior to launch?
- Regularly meet to review new prospecting opportunities and to learn from past successes and failures?
To the dismay of marketers and salespeople everywhere, there are some things you cannot automate. Manually building and executing a strong communication strategy will mean the difference between knowing what the left hand is doing, versus cutting it off completely.
Does this mean you should schedule a time on everyone’s calendar to regularly review the sales + marketing roadmap? Yes.
Does this mean scheduling consistent, cross-team check-ins for review of campaign performance and new closed business? Yes.
Does this mean ensuring that each department understand and educate each other on their job functions and expectations at the company? Yes.
The silver lining.
Regular communication between your marketing and sales teams will mitigate the risks associated with unaligned campaigns — which for most organizations is lost business. Continued involvement by both departments at the early onset will reduce those pesky last-minute changes that could unravel the harmonious balance between your marketing and sales teams, because after all, communication is key. If nothing else, remember this quote…
“Watch the little things for a small leak will sink a great ship.”
— Benjamin Franklin
