When a company has insufficient results, is it the fault of the sales people or rather the marketing department? The answer is not always obvious. But one thing is certain, to achieve your goals, you must, not look for a scapegoat, but rather define a strategy that works better. With Smarketing, your sales and marketing departments will be in close collaboration. You will be able to better manage them for the greater good of your business.
According to a study by the Aberdeen Group, there would be a 20% increase in the turnover of companies that align their marketing and sales strategy. Nevertheless, in the sales process, and especially in the context of digital marketing, these two poles are often in competition. And when one of them is ineffective, the other is accused of not performing well enough. However, we will see in this article that by optimizing your approach using Smarketing, your company will necessarily come out a winner.
What is Smarketing?
The term Smarketing comes from the fusion of the word « sales » and « marketing « . It is a technique that consists of making the marketing department and the sales team work together . The goal? Develop a common strategy to perfect the customer experience, better manage performance indicators and thus achieve the objectives set more easily.
In principle, these two services have the same objective: to maximize profits for the company. Nevertheless, salespeople will rather have a short-term vision since they will be rewarded on each sale. On the other hand, the marketer will aim to generate revenue in the medium to long term through qualified leads.
These two departments are often competitive and their relationship can be strained, especially when results are not there. In fact, marketers sometimes complain that salespeople aren’t converting enough leads into customers. Conversely, salespeople claim that if the objectives are not achieved, it is because the contacts obtained through the marketing department have not been well qualified.
Smarketing goes beyond their difference and focuses instead on their complementarity. By adopting it, you will set up a strategy to perfect communication between the two departments. To do this, your teams will need to communicate with each other more often and opt for the same strategy. Thus, you will have relevant information and reliable performance indicators that are easier to control.
Smarketing, what are the benefits?
Smarketing is essential for a company at all levels. Communication between sales and marketing departments will be beneficial to achieve goals within the company, which will naturally boost your turnover. In addition, your customers’ buying journey will be improved. Finally, it will help you establish a more sophisticated strategy based on transparent performance indicators.
A lever to boost your turnover
To increase your turnover, there is no secret, you need to convert as many prospects as possible into customers. However, by letting the salesperson and the marketer work separately, there can be a mutual misunderstanding. By adopting Smarketing, you will develop a strategy in which data will be used, not for the benefit of a single service, but for the entire company.
To do this, the purchasing process must be at the heart of your concern. The marketing department will provide more qualified leads thanks to the data collected by the sellers. They will use the information at their disposal to convert as many leads as possible. They will then report the analyses collected to perfect the marketing objectives. It is a virtuous circle, which will ultimately boost your turnover.
To avoid friction in the sales process
Selling was often considered the exclusive domain of salespeople. However, marketers also play an important role in this process knowing that it is up to them to generate leads. By using Smarketing, both teams will be jointly responsible for the results, so they will no longer blame each other if they fail to achieve objectives.
Here, communication is the key to success. Both departments must have the same targets and to easily align their results. Each division will then commit to carry out its role so that the conversion from MQL (Marketing Qualified Leads) to SQL (Sales Qualified Leads) is simplified and successful.
This communication will result in a better dynamic within your company. Instead of blaming each other, sales and marketing departments will find areas for improvement as well as strategies that worked.
Marketers will therefore observe consumer behavior and establish an action plan for their marketing campaigns. They will increase the brand’s awareness on all channels so that salespeople can increase their sales force.
Next to it, the sales team will communicate with marketers to enable them to optimize their future decisions. She will also implement an effective go-to-market strategy to improve the company’s return on investment.
A technique to improve the purchasing journey
The traditional marketing strategy is no longer suitable since it is necessary to streamline the purchasing process. With the digital age, when visitors are interested in a product, they will first get information, make a comparison and consult the opinions of other Internet users before contacting salespeople. They therefore tend to be more and more autonomous in their customer journey.
However, for a prospect to become a customer, there is a whole journey to accomplish that is the domain of both departments. If they agree on the line to follow, thanks to Smarketing, it will facilitate the support of each prospect.
Thus, the marketing team takes care of the sales process first. It will turn identified visitors into Leads. It will encourage each person to express their interest in the offer in order to qualify them in MQL. Then, the seller will relay it. He will conclude the sales by converting these MQLs to SQL, that is to say into a real commercial contact.
A key element in the inbound marketing strategy
The inbound marketing strategy makes it possible to conquer prospects by focusing on the brand image and positioning of the website. The difference with outbound or traditional marketing is that here, the targeting is well determined. The goal is to attract strangers, convert visitors into leads, and finally retain customers without necessarily going to them.
Thanks to the exchange between the two departments, you will be able to identify weaknesses and predict areas for improvement in your current management. This will give you an effective marketing strategy, which will allow you to reach your targets. This being done, your conversion rate will increase since you will have managed to reach your potential customers more easily.
The pillars of this technique are therefore based on the dynamics of lead generation and the conversion of simple intention into purchase action. However, if your salespeople and marketers do not align their methods, some leads may not be successful. That’s why Smarketing is essential for your strategy.
Smarketing is a real marketing strategy that offers both a better vision of risks and an opportunity to better manage KPIs. In addition, the rapprochement between the two departments is beneficial both internally and for the relationship between the company and the customer. The information thus obtained, added to a good management of performance indicators can help the company boost its turnover. So, why not opt for Smarketing in your company today?
