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BtoB marketing professionals answer the question, "What is your biggest challenge in connecting with the IT buyer?"
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June 2008, Issue 52 |
Sales Engagement
Got Marketing? Align for Enhanced Results
An Excerpt from the Executive Summary of the 2008 Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study
Make Friends with Marketing (It's Worth It, We Promise)
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The 2008 Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study revealed only 31 percent of respondents felt there was alignment in their organizations between Sales and Marketing on what their customers want and need. Consider your marketing department as a contributing partner rather than a separate entity to forge a valuable alliance that will provide you with added insight and visibility into the client's buying process.
Are You Aligned?
As the sales cycle grows more complex, the responsibility of understanding customers becomes a collective effort of all involved departments. As many elements of the buying process have moved online in recent years, Marketing has become more engaged in the sales cycle.
Responsibility for the corporate Web site typically falls to your marketing department, and as more customers look online for product information, testimonials and competitor comparisons, Marketing has a better view of this buying behavior and activity.
As close as you are to the client in a buying process, you're not the only one reaching out to them, or the only one who has visibility to what they are doing. Communicating regularly with your marketing department will keep you informed and allow you to reflect consistent messages in client conversations.
- Ask which articles or white papers are being downloaded by your clients and prospects.
- Find out which articles are most popular in general among Web visitors so you can offer them to your customers and prospects.
- Maximize current marketing programs. Marketing may have resources that are targeted at large groups of leads that may be available for you to repurpose and use on an individual basis.
- Relay information to Marketing about the challenges your customers are experiencing that make your organization a good fit.
To collect all parts of the puzzle, focus on building strong collaboration between your position at the front line of sales efforts and the position of client visibility available to Marketing. Ultimately, a healthy relationship between you and Marketing will better serve your efforts on the front line. The more knowledge you equip them with, the better quality of content and lead generation you can look forward to.
Putting together the puzzle can be a lot easier once you team up with Marketing for the best possible understanding of the client's picture.
To learn additional best practices that differentiate top-performing sales organizations, download the Executive Summary of the 2008 Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study.
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About Miller Heiman: The Sales Performance Company
For 30 years, Miller Heiman has brought precision to the art of selling through simple, yet powerful processes and tools to help drive performance, especially in complex selling environments. Miller Heiman publishes the award-winning Sales Performance Journal and conducts the world's largest annual research project on sales effectiveness, the Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study. This study reveals best practices, trends, issues, and opportunities in today's selling environment. As the thought leader in sales performance, Miller Heiman provides organizational sales process implementations that result in revenue predictability, clearer sales management communication, and best practice selling activities that can be replicated. Headquartered in Reno, Nevada, Miller Heiman has offices around the world and partners in over 20 countries. For more information, please call 877.552.1747.
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Marketing Watchdog Journal is a monthly newsletter from Bulldog Solutions, a lead optimization and lead management company dedicated to helping our clients generate more, better leads and turn them into revenue. We welcome your feedback on this newsletter's content and design, and encourage you to share your ideas for topics you would like us to cover in future issues. Please send your comments or questions about Bulldog Solutions to Amy Bills, senior manager of Field Marketing.
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