"THE GROWTH BLOG" - A RESOURCE FOR B2B LEADERS, MARKETERS, SALES & SERVICE PROFESSIONALS

Whenever we rebuild a B2B go-to-market strategy for a client, or run a course for B2B marketers the one issue that never fails to raise its ugly head, is the misalignment between marketing and sales. Delegates shake their head or shrug their shoulders as if to say “what can we do, it's just the way it is, sales and marketing are like oil and water." But it doesn’t have to be this way. In order to get your marketing and sales aligned, you need to set a common framework that both functions can align around and then set the corresponding KPIs.

But where do you start?

With digital marketing tools. They are making their way from the sidelines into the mainstream marketing toolkit. It’s their ability to measure the success of your marketing and sales tactics across the full buyer’s journey, from initial engagement, to qualified prospect, to new customer and finally, to passionate advocate, that makes them so powerful.

Sure, measuring, analysing and deducing patterns in data can give you great information. But to convert that data from just  information into knowledge you need a clear framework a set of bearings – a beam from a lighthouse perched on a remote rocky outcrop that guides your vessel. Organisations then use this framework to make incremental course changes, to navigate the treacherous waters and steer you to your final destination.

But what do you use for your bearings? There are seven key “must-haves”. In reverse order from the bottom of your funnel to the top:

1. The revenue you need to achieve
2. The deals you need to close
3. The proposals you need to write
4. The meetings you need to have
5. The sales-ready, qualified leads you need to produce
6. The unqualified leads or contacts you need to make
7. The number of site visitors you need to generate

It's only when you know these progressions and the corresponding conversion ratio at each stage that you will have your framework goals. But you aren’t finished there, you also need to know how long it’s going to take for your buyer to pass through each stage, what is the lag between each of the seven stages of your marketing and sales funnel? With your funnel model in place you have a clearly defined goal, for each stage of the buyer's journey for each month. 

 “A clear set of KPIs for marketing and sales tied to the mutually agreed stages of the buyer’s journey provides a clear, strong framework. This is the key to solving the oldest B2B marketing problem in the world.”

Why is sales and marketing alignment so important? 

• grew 5.4% faster
• closed 36% more proposals 
  and
• retained 38% more customers.

Cumulatively, this created a staggering 60% improvement in the effectiveness of their sales and marketing funnel. Now it pays to remember these improvements are between the two ends of the bell curve – the most and least aligned firms – most if you will sit somewhere between these extremes, but nonetheless the results are undeniably powerful. Solving sales and marketing alignment holds the promise of great rewards.

The measurement structures (KPIs) of the well-aligned firms provided some great, if somewhat unexpected, insight. Success was based on building mutual reward.

1. Remuneration had a relatively small influence on creating successful aligned behaviour. Small teams from sales and marketing met quarterly to discuss the success of the measures and continually tweaked KPIs based on data reported. In other words they adjusted the framework continually based on market feedback.
2. Well-aligned firms didn’t measure sales on close rates (their existing commission structure took care of this) but on how well they accepted and worked leads from marketing. Great sales people are working on next quarter’s pipeline not just this month’s deals. 
3. Well-aligned marketing teams were measured on revenue. Whilst they don’t control how well sales close deals, they can control the quality of the leads on which sales work.

So if you want to solve sales and marketing’s oldest challenge, here’s the recipe.

• To improve effectiveness of your sales and marketing function you must set clear targets across the full sales and marketing funnel. Align these targets to the buyer's not the seller's journey.
• Set KPIs for the sales and marketing teams that are mutually dependent. Measure marketing on closed revenue and sales on lead acceptance.
• Build a framework to measure actual results to the set goals, continually adjust those goals based on analysis of data of actual results.
• Use those actual results to drive further investments in sales and marketing tactics to support each stage of the marketing and sales funnel. Understand sales and marketing are part of a mutually dependent ecosystem.

If you'd like to find out more about highly effective methods of revenue generation please download our complementary eBook.