The close link between Sales and Marketing

Web and digital marketing, like all marketing strategies, are closely connected to the results to be achieved. The objective of the companies is therefore linked to the increase in turnover and margins, without neglecting the motivational aspect of the employees and the optimization of company times and procedures. With a view to results, therefore, it goes without saying that the Sales and Marketing departments must be increasingly linked to coordinate, assisting each other, the actions to be carried out. A historic “rivalry” between the two sectors There has always been a sort of rivalry between Marketing and Sales: the former identifies markets, products, strategies and provides the sales network with the means and strategies to win over customers. For its part, however, the commercial department has always made the company’s efforts concrete, by completing (or trying to do so) the contracts. Where does the conflict come from? mainly in case of negative results: salespeople often accuse the Marketing department of having incorrectly evaluated the products, prices or positioning. On the other hand, Marketing is used to pouring the lack of results on sales, citing the fault of not knowing how to interpret product/service packages or not using convincing sales tools or techniques. Screenshot 2018-05-28 at 12.08.54 Evaluate the results of digital campaigns and communications; we offer you a free ROI calculator! SMART to unite the two sectors according to achievable results smart to combine the two sectors according to achievable results These conflicts, in the face of business failures, can be avoided upstream, in the planning phase, when objectives are established. The two internal functions must necessarily have converging objectives , proceeding on roads that lead to a single agreed direction. It therefore becomes necessary to link these departments and the people who work there. Goals, to be such, must have certain characteristics , as the famous acronym SMART states , namely: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-based. From traditional commercial logic to lead management The Internet and digital processes have literally revolutionized the way companies and customers interact. Here then is that strategy and operations are closely connected, so much so that we need to talk about lead management, the basis of lead generation processes. The search for qualified leads and their conversion is closely linked to the marketing and communication actions implemented, while all initiatives are quantified and analyzed to constantly improve ROI. Marketing itself becomes an essential tool in the early stages of the sales process. This through the principle of direct response which allows you to collect information to be used in the subsequent phases to encourage targeted opportunities. Encouraging potential target customers to profile themselves, releasing information on identity, purchasing habits and interests, provides the commercial area with further means by which to concentrate efforts. The new Marketing and Sales roles in the lead generation process the new marketing and sales roles in the lead generation process We will not go into the generation, qualification and nurturing phases of composing the sales funnel in this article, but it is good to have a clear understanding of the exchange of information, in addition to the basic differences that still remain, between Marketing and Sales. READ ALSO: ” Brand Identity: the union (between marketing and sales) is strength! ” Target profiling It will be from the historical results of the sales force that the target to address for web and digital marketing campaigns can be defined (or redefined). Only in this way will it be possible to relate to an audience capable of transforming itself first into a lead and then into a real customer. Results tracking Sales is now oriented towards measuring lead generation activity in terms of turnover obtained. Marketing personnel, on the other hand, will have to focus on the result of the CTAs, visits to the site, the degree of engagement with users, based on the tools adopted. Timing Faced with the various phases of a correct marketing strategy, it must be kept in mind that an increase in turnover can only arrive at the end of the phases of generating and nurturing contacts. So it is good that salespeople know how to take action only in the final part of the sales funnel, that is when the lead will be “hot”, in concert with what has been planned by marketing.