In this post we will focus on explaining what Smarketing means, what are the benefits of this team alignment for a company and how the integration of this culture in an organization should be done.
What is Smarketing?
Marketing and sales are relatively opposite teams and may have some misunderstandings in case one of the parties is not aligned. According to Hubspot data, 87% of the members of these teams describe themselves negatively when they are questioned about each other.
Sales (sales) + Marketing = Smarketing
In the end, both departments play on the same team. Both are responsible for the growth and income of any company.
As for the marketing team , it focuses on:
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- Attract visitors
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- Convert those visitors into leads (prospects)
- Nurture leads with relevant content.
Now, the sales team deals with those leads in individual conversations so that the latter manages to close a sales agreement during a specific period of time.
Understanding and working positively to develop Smarketing in your company is very important. According to Hubspot, organizations that maintain well-aligned marketing and sales teams achieve an average of 20% annual growth.
How to align Sales and Marketing teams?
It may seem difficult to get these teams to work in tune. But when they are aligned the efforts are worth it. Here are the first steps to get that tune:
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- Marketing and sales must have the same or similar objectives.
- Communication between teams must be transparent about the progress of tasks and objectives
Does Smarketing work for any company?
Yes, any company can benefit from this alignment. It does not matter if you are the CMO of a multinational company or the sales manager of an SME. Any type or size of company can achieve incredible results when sales and marketing teams work together.
Learn how to integrate the culture of Smarketing in your company
Sales and marketing must speak the same language
Teams have a big difference:
The sales team is extremely focused on numbers and marketing is not.
To get started, the best way to align is to have the goals of the marketing team shared with the sales team and vice versa.
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- Speak the same language: The marketing team’s monthly or annual goal should be based on income, as well as that of the sales team.
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- Alignment of stages according to the funil: Understand the similarity between the buyer’s day and the average life cycle of the client: marketing and sales must understand that there is only one funnel for both.
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- Define what a sales-ready lead is: the literal translation of this term is the customer who is ready to close a deal. This fits perfectly into what the company expects from a customer and, marketing and sales, they must together determine what this means.
- Sharing and understanding of buyer personas : knowing people is essential for a good alignment. As for marketing, it needs to know them to create content that is relevant and that manages to make leads progress in the funil. Sales also needs to know each of the people so that their calls and follow-ups make sense for this lead.
Create a communication network between the teams
If your sales team says that the leads are not good, the leads that the marketing team sends to the sales team, means that they do not have basic information such as interaction history. If the marketing team is generating a lot of leads but the sales team is not taking advantage of them or if you are unable to measure what were the income results of the last marketing activities, you urgently need to create this communication network.
The Closed-Loop Reporting means that the sales team will report to the marketing team track that gave the leads that have been received and what the marketing team did with them. This helps the marketing team understand which are the best sources of leads. In the future, these exchanges of information will give the marketing team the possibility to focus on the best sources of leads.
It is a complete way for marketing and sales teams to give and receive feedback on their actions. This information improves contact with leads, increases ROI, among other benefits.
Implementation of SLA (Service Level Agreement)
This concept refers to the agreements made between marketing and sales teams. An agreement defined by marketing can be to deliver five thousand leads in two months. As for an SLA, from the sales team, you can be in contact with each new SQL (Sales Qualified Lead) in one hour.
Open a communication channel between the teams
Marketing and sales must be aligned not only with the objectives and goals. Communication between team members is another crucial point for a good Smarketing operation.
Do not confuse the communication of emails, messages or phones. Despite being essential for routine equipment operation, these are not enough. Teams need to meet frequently with all members.
- Weekly meeting: Basic alignments between the two teams on points such as the alignment of people (updates and corrections) and other points that interfere with the proper functioning of Smarketing.
- Monthly meeting: Deeper points are discussed in these meetings. Issues that cannot be resolved despite weekly meetings.
Marketing and sales must be aligned in relation to marketing campaigns and projects, as well as the sales team must update their colleagues on any changes in processes or news.
Trust the power of numbers
To know if Smarketing is obtaining the expected results, it is necessary to see the performance of the SLAs. Data such as lead numbers, SQLs and other information that verify the success of the alignments between sales and marketing. Review the campaign process. Create monthly reports with comprehensive analysis on metrics used by teams and continue to measure consistently.
As you may already realize, Smarketing is a concept that takes into account the growth of both teams. With this alignment and communication approach, marketing and sales are able to guarantee the growth of any company.
In the comments, tell us if you have already implemented Smarketing in your company and what your experience has been like. If you haven’t, what are you waiting for? We await your questions and comments, we are here to help you.
