When it comes to corporate synergy, there’s perhaps no greater return on your investment than to align your sales and marketing efforts. Though it’s simply common sense to have the two revenue-responsible departments working in sync, it can also mean dollars and cents. One study found that sales and marketing teams, when well-aligned, can wring out 200 percent more revenue as a result of their collaboration.
You may already feel like this cross-pollination is happening at your company: Key personnel are collaborating on projects, keeping each other informed, using a common language, and possibly even delivering cross-functional reports from Salesforce, Tableau, and other analytical tools.
But beneath this veneer of peaceful coexistence, are your sales and marketing teams truly integrating their efforts in a way that will add impact – and revenue – to your bottom line?
Chances are, in your organization, true sales and marketing alignment – a level of connectedness that includes joint planning sessions and common goals – remains elusive. In fact, a recent survey conducted here at Chief Outsiders among mid-market companies found that nearly one-third of C-suite executives noted a misalignment between their sales and marketing teams. Further, only one-third of that group reported that their sales and marketing teams were working toward a common set of goals. The impact this has on many client companies might include finger pointing, recriminations, lost opportunities -- and lower revenue.
Marketing technology provider Hubspot, in its own gauge of the global marketplace, found that only 22 percent of corporate employees would consider their organization’s sales and marketing relationship as “tightly aligned” – though, separately, both cited lead and traffic generation among their most mission-critical current challenges.
With so much riding on executing an effective and efficient go-to-market strategy across all aspects of the organization, making sure sales and marketing are aligned through all stages of the customer’s buying journey is more critical than ever. If your sales and marketing teams are not aligned, it’s time to focus on getting them there.
At Chief Outsiders, we have helped hundreds of companies find their sales/marketing mojo through the use of fractional Chief Marketing Officers and fractional Chief Sales Officers/Chief Revenue Officers. These battle-tested executives bring proven experience to your organization that aligns Sales and Marketing optimally to achieve results. Interested to learn more about how we solve the Sales & Marketing alignment challenge? Contact us at https://www.chiefoutsiders.com/contact-us.