In this blog, we share some tips to help facilitate the relationship between these two important teams so there are more shared lunches and toasts celebrating success.

A sales person’s ability to close leads is only as good as the leads that come through. And if those leads aren’t interested in what’s being sold, well, then even the savviest salesperson will struggle to convert.

That’s why sales so often complain about marketing’s efforts not aligning with reality and that they don’t have the right content to convince leads to buy.

Luckily this problem is relatively easy to fix. With the help of a solid sales enablement strategy, you can align your marketing and sales departments, boost productivity and start getting the results you want from your sales team. Follow these four simple steps to get started.

1. Implement an effective sales enablement strategy

The first thing you need to do is get marketing and sales to work on the same wavelength by implementing a sales enablement strategy. Start by:

Creating shared goals and KPI's

If your sales and marketing teams aren’t gunning for the same goals reaching them will be a challenge. Align expectations by creating a service level agreement (SLA) that clearly outlines a shared set of goals and KPIs for each department - being as specific as possible. Review the SLA every quarter and adjust it so that it’s always effective.

Opening communication channels:

Communication is the key to any solid partnership - sales and marketing included. Set up monthly meetings between the two departments, as well as quarterly SLA reviews. Try an instant messenger like Slack for daily communication - it’s informal and chatty which helps build relationships and encourages regular communication.

2. Utilise a smart inbound marketing strategy

Inbound marketing uses relevant content and communications to help attract leads that could be interested in your products or services and build trust in your business. The content should be genuinely useful, helping leads to solve a problem or answer a question that will nudge them towards a purchase or enquiry. In a nutshell, good inbound marketing runs through these steps:

  • Attract visitors to your content using social media, blogging and paid channels.
  • Convert visitors into leads by solving their problems with compelling content (which they’ll happily exchange their email for).
  • Close by nurturing leads with relevant content that removes barriers to purchase, then close when they’re ready.
  • Delight by providing relevant and helpful content throughout the sales and onboarding process.

Inbound marketing can help remove the friction between sales and marketing because when it’s done right, leads are automatically pre-qualified and therefore more likely to purchase.

3. Create relevant content

To start creating effective content, define a set of personas that represent each of your major market segments. Personas are the semi-fictional representations of your ideal customers, created using real market research. This way, you can always communicate with them in mind.

Doing this allows you to speak effectively to prospects in your marketing content, solving their problems, answering their questions and forming a genuine connection. Ultimately, this strategy transforms your blogs and social posts from empty words into an effective means of generating leads.

4. Assess and adjust your tech stack

Your tech stack is the software that you use to capture prospects, qualify leads, communicate with customers and deliver your products. Many businesses make the mistake of using several platforms, including separate software for marketing and sales, which wastes time and money, making it difficult to deliver a cohesive customer experience.

To solve that problem, you need to consider using one centralised customer relationship management (CRM) system that enables the automation of repetitive communication and collaboration between sales and marketing. When switching to a new CRM it may be necessary to integrate with existing systems so make sure you have the right integration partner to deliver the right business outcomes and switch without a hitch.

By implementing a sales enablement strategy, crafting an inbound marketing approach, creating quality content and assessing your tech stack you should be able to start delivering the leads your sales team wants - fast.