Every business relies on its sales team to close deals and generate revenue. This is true even if the business in question is small and that “team” is a single individual. Along the same end, every business needs some sort of marketing structure to generate quality leads.
When they work well together, these two departments can be a powerhouse for a business’s inbound sales engine. When they drift apart, leads can slip through the cracks and it can be difficult to determine who is accountable.
Businesses that align sales and marketing teams focus on three key elements to make lead generation and lead nurturing run smoothly:
Enabling sales and marketing teams to communicate properly is perhaps the most important part of aligning them. Harboring more communication can be as simple of putting both teams in the same space or giving them a chance to get to know each other better. Scheduling shared meetings, allowing marketers to sit in on sales calls, and other useful ideas can help foster more collaboration.
Getting sales and marketing teams to communicate using a project management tool is another step a business can take. This is also an essential step for businesses that outsource their marketing effort. When a marketing qualified lead becomes a sales qualified lead, this allows the marketing team to hand them over to the sales team seamlessly so they can continue down the buyer’s journey.
When sales and marketing teams communicate effectively, issues are resolved quickly so the marketing and sales engine continues to function.