This document discusses best practices for aligning sales and marketing in B2B organizations. It begins with an overview of SiriusDecisions and describes the usual scenario of misalignment between sales and marketing versus the best-in-class scenario of strong alignment. The key aspects of achieving alignment are discussed as creating a common buyer's journey model, identifying aligned activities, establishing a common campaign structure, and implementing integrated planning and measurement. High-performing companies market across all stages of the buyer's journey to improve conversion rates at each stage.
Sales & Marketing alignment: Happy marriage or forced coexistence?
1. Best Practice in B2B Marketing
Sales and Marketing Alignment: Happy
Marriage or Forced Coexistence?
Meta Karagianni
Research Director, Executive Edge CMO
SiriusDecisions, Inc.
2. 14 March 2013
B-to-B Sales and Marketing Alignment:
Happy Marriage or Forced Coexistence?
Meta Karagianni
Research Director, Executive Edge CMO
What are best practice companies doing differently? There are four key attributes of high performing companies in demand generation SiriusDecisions has observed: 1. Sales Pipeline: Organizations focus on the impact demand generation can have on the sales pipeline, NOT the number of leads generated. In many ways, the focus on lead quantity created a false sense of security for b-to-b companies. Best practice companies focus on the impact to the sales pipeline from what they term “influence” and “source.” Source means uniquely created leads which have become opportunities -- where there was previously not an opportunity from this buying center. Influence means marketing is actively touching prospect buying centers that sales is working. 2. Sales Alignment: Marketing programs are designed in a flexible manner, providing sales with options on how they’re implemented with strong service level agreements on lead definition, while also providing plays for all areas of the selling process. 3. Program Mix: The program mix for these companies are weighted more online (see Chart 1 Appendix) and create a nurturing model around the customer buying cycle. As a result, the marketing is integrated, multi-channel and encourages prospects to self-select or demonstrate activity to suggest where they are in their buying journey. 4. Integration: Instead of having multiple independent marketing “programs” or plays, they create an integrated journey around the customer buying journey. They understand this by having a data-centric view of their marketing and delivering most of the marketing in a digital form.
One of our customers has studied their targeted audience at the C level – comes in early and late; disappear in the middle but their team is deep in evaluation. They now have on their website – “what your team needs to see.”