The importance of aligned sales and marketing teams has never been more apparent for business success. The market is highly saturated, and businesses like yours are facing massive competitive pressures across the board. However, when sales and marketing work in sync, the results are clear; a seamless customer journey, a steady stream of qualified leads, and ultimately, significant revenue growth.
HubSpot’s 2024 State of Marketing & Trends Report further proves this, as sales professionals who report a strong alignment with marketing are 106% more likely to surpass their sales goals. If sales and marketing collaboration was not a core concern for you, it’s time to take it up the priority list.
You shouldn’t forget technology in your endeavour to align these teams. Sales and marketing automation technologies can make this process significantly easier by streamlining communication, automating workflows, and fostering a data-driven approach. These technologies can bridge the gap between sales and marketing, paving the way for stellar interdepartmental success.
This blog post will give you valuable insights into how automation tools and technologies can be used to align these two crucial business functions. Let’s dive in.
What are the challenges faced by misaligned sales and marketing teams?
When there are no clear lines of communication between sales and marketing and they operate in silos, both functions suffer. You will see issues with inconsistent lead qualification, misaligned messaging that does not speak to or resonate with your target audiences, and the lack of a handoff process for leads, significantly impacting conversion rates.
The consequences of this misalignment can be quite serious, affecting your sales and marketing KPIs and the business bottom line by extension. How exactly can this happen?
For one, when sales and marketing aren’t aligned, your targeting will suffer, especially for paid advertising. According to Nielsen, 41% of online ads reach the wrong audience. This ineffective targeting leads to wasted resources and missed opportunities.
Another impact of this misalignment is the improper usage of marketing collateral, whether they are addressed to the wrong audiences or placed in incorrect channels. SiriusDecisions reported that 70% of marketing content goes unread by the target customers. This may be a result of disconnected messaging failing to resonate.
Conversion rates will also be seriously affected by the misalignment of sales and marketing. A Baylor University study revealed that 72% of cold calls result in outright rejections. This means that 72% of leads generated go unqualified, which can be a massive drain on sales resources.
The importance of aligning these two critical functions is clear—and sales and marketing automation provides substantial solutions.
How can automation be used to align sales and marketing departments?
According to Forrester, organisations that align their sales and marketing departments grow 19% faster and are 15% more profitable. Sales and marketing automation offers various tools and techniques to help align these functions. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular and effective options open to you so that you can benefit from the faster growth and enhanced profitability it facilitates.
CRM systems
While CRM software is primarily concerned with the sales aspect of a business, you can make use of its extensive features and capabilities to improve cross-functional collaboration.
One way of doing so is using the CRM software to define and communicate your sales objectives, targets, and metrics, and align them with the overall business goals and KPIs. This helps ensure that everyone, whether sales or marketing, is aware of what the overall objectives of the business are.
CRM software can also be used to establish a single source of truth as it enables the storage of all your customer and prospect data, such as contact details, preferences, needs, feedback, and history. They can also be used to generate reports and analytics so that both teams are aware of current performance.
CRM software can also be used to integrate your sales activities with marketing functions like email nurturing, social media management, and lead scoring. This reduces delays and errors across both functions, and improves productivity and customer satisfaction.
MAPs
Marketing automation platforms (MAPs) can also be used to generate higher-quality leads for sales teams by enabling targeted campaigns and streamlined lead nurturing.
MAPs are used by marketing teams to segment and personalise content offers to specific audiences based on demographics, interests, behaviour, and other relevant criteria. This ultimately results in higher quality leads that the sales teams can approach and direct towards conversions.
MAPs also facilitate automated email workflows where nurturing sequences triggered by specific user actions can be used to lead them through the funnel. Delivering personalised emails at predefined intervals significantly improves the likelihood of a lead converting, which is a success metric for both sales and marketing functions.
MAPs can also be used to automate lead scoring, where the platform itself assigns scores based on the lead’s engagement with your marketing content and website activity. This frees up marketing teams for more strategic tasks, and sales teams can prioritise their outreach efforts toward high-potential leads.
Using tools like CRMs and MAPs alongside their capabilities for integrations and lead scoring can significantly speed up and enhance your alignment efforts—which means you are that much closer to improving your bottom line.
How can an aligned strategy be implemented with sales and marketing automation initiatives?
96% of companies that report being well-aligned organisationally are also aligned on sales and marketing technology. Here’s how you can implement automation technologies to align your sales and marketing teams:
Define goals and responsibilities
As the first step, you should set SMART objectives that you wish to achieve through automation, for both sales and marketing functions.
Developing a joint workflow to map out the ideal customer journey and define clear lead handoff points is also important at this stage.
Establish KPIs
Clear KPIs are the key to sustained success. For marketing, this can be metrics like open rates and click-through rates, and for sales, it can be lead conversion rates and sales cycle length. You should also establish collaboration KPIs like time taken to qualify leads and customer satisfaction rates with the overall sales and marketing experience.
Automation software can be utilised here to visualise key metrics in real time—allowing both teams to monitor progress, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions.
Ensure continuous improvement
Making sure the automated processes are working as intended requires continuous optimisation and refinement.
Gathering feedback from both marketing and sales teams as well as customers will help you improve the effectiveness of automated workflows and messaging.
Create a smooth customer journey, generate higher-quality leads, and drive significant revenue growth with aligned sales and marketing teams
Sales and marketing functions are not just about maximising efficiency anymore; to drive the best outcomes, you have to foster a collaborative environment that fuels growth. With aligned teams making use of powerful tools and actionable data, you will be well on your way to achieving all your goals and more.
Take the next step towards success today. Schedule a consultation with an automation expert and explore solutions tailored to your specific needs. Unveil the full potential of sales and marketing automation—experience exponential success.
FAQs
What are the benefits of automating sales and marketing processes?
It can improve lead generation, lead nurturing, communication, and collaboration between sales and marketing teams. Automation also leads to increased efficiency, higher conversion rates, and improved customer experiences.
Is sales and marketing automation right for my business?
Automation can benefit businesses of all sizes. Consider your current workload, marketing budget, and the complexity of your sales cycle to determine if it’s a good fit.
How do I get started with sales and marketing automation?
Start by defining your goals for your sales and marketing teams. Then, research and choose the automation tools that best suit your needs. Finally, develop a plan for implementation and ongoing optimisation. An automation consultant can help you through this process for the best outcomes.