A business can’t thrive if its sales and marketing teams aren’t well-aligned. Both departments play important roles in creating brand recognition, attracting customers and converting leads into sales. Neglecting either function would severely hinder a company’s ability to grow and generate revenue. So, while many people believe that sales and marketing are two different functions, it’s crucial to understand their distinct differences to effectively execute their respective strategies.
Sales involve direct interaction with potential customers, actively persuading them to purchase a product or service. To do this, sales teams utilize cold calling, product demonstrations and negotiation techniques. Marketing, on the other hand, involves a broader scope of activities that encompass the use of marketing research, branding, advertising and content creation to promote products or services.
Marketing provides a foundation for sales, by generating leads through various channels and developing persuasive messaging that will appeal to prospects. Once a prospect meets certain criteria, such as visiting pricing pages or booking an appointment on the website, they are deemed marketing-qualified (MQL) and can be passed over to the sales team for conversion. Sales should regularly collaborate with marketing to ensure they are receiving a consistent flow of MQLs.
Once a lead is converted into a sale, the role of sales becomes even more critical. It’s the job of the sales team to nurture that customer, answer any questions they might have and remove any unqualified leads from their pipeline. They should also pass feedback from their interactions with prospects to marketing so they can make any necessary adjustments to their strategy and materials.
If a salesperson has difficulty closing a deal, it might be time to bring in the help of a customer success manager (CSM). While both sales and CSMs have many overlapping duties, the main difference between the two is that CS teams focus on ensuring customers are happy with their purchase and maximizing the value of that investment over time. Give GHL free trial a try!
The role of a customer success manager is to help their team to sell, deliver and implement products and services, as well as provide support and training to their clients. To do this, they must understand the problems that their clients face and identify opportunities to offer solutions. They are also responsible for managing customer relationships, identifying opportunities to upsell and cross-sell and providing regular reports on their performance.
If a customer success manager doesn’t have clear lines of communication with their sales and marketing team, it can be difficult to coordinate on customer goals and deliverables. To eliminate any miscommunication or conflict, the best way to streamline the process is by establishing service level agreements. These agreements outline the expected deliverables of each department within a specific timeframe. For example, a sales team may expect to receive X number of MQLs that meet agreed-upon criteria by the end of the month. This helps to set expectations and prevents both teams from becoming overwhelmed with work. This allows both teams to focus on their individual tasks and ensures a seamless transport of qualified leads through the marketing funnel to the sales team for conversion.
