With so many moving pieces and parts in a B2B company, sales and marketing shouldn’t be a headache. And yet, for many businesses, there are common aches and pains that many simply don’t know how to deal with.
Frustration 1: Sales and Marketing Don’t Work in Harmony
While you would think that sales and marketing would jibe like peanut butter and jelly, that’s often not the case. Because the two departments (or roles, for a smaller business) have their own unique goals, sometimes those objectives don’t line up.
Sales is looking for instant gratification. Closing the deal. Marketing wants more brand awareness and activity on marketing efforts. More big-picture stuff. And so sales and marketing often face off, battling for their own interests.
How to solve the issue: The key is getting both sides in the same room. Hold regular meetings where both Sales and Marketing can address their needs and the two can collaborate to achieve everyone’s goals. Step #1, agree on the definition of a lead. You probably think there is agreement already. You may be surprised.
Frustration 2: They Have Technology But Don’t Use it Well
With so much marketing and sales technology available, many companies are overwhelmed with it and aren’t fully leveraging it. They may have tools in place but don’t know which features to focus on, and so they pay for software that they aren’t getting benefits from.
How to solve the issue: To get the return on their investment, here are some recommendations:
– Take one functional area at a time, for example, email marketing or social media, and master that one area before moving on to the next functional area. Seek to understand all the features that come with the tool you’re using and how those features can benefit you. If you don’t need them, don’t use them, but make sure you understand what they are so you make a conscious decision.
– Always keep your outputs in mind. You want clean data for segmentation and reporting. For example, only collect the data you actually need (also important with GDPR going into effect in May), and use drop-downs to minimize free-form fields that limit your ability to segment and report on them.
Frustration 3: They’re Chasing Dead End Leads
Along with technology, the sales funnel has changed. It’s because of today’s sales and marketing software that companies have the potential to zero in on qualified leads. And yet, 22% of salespeople say qualifying leads is the most challenging part of their work.
How to solve the issue: The key here is, again, the right technology. Today’s sales tools allow companies to segment leads and nurture them based on buyer behavior and interest, which is helpful. But, take that a step further and score those leads so you know which ones are ready for sales and which ones still need nurturing. Lead scoring is one of those topics you can work with the sales team on (see #1). After you agree on the definition of a lead, complete a Lead Scoring Worksheet – identify what behaviors will impact a lead’s score and the number of points. Then, identify the threshold of points for each behavior what constitutes a high-quality lead that will go to Sales. For example, if they download an offer, that may give them 10 points but they need 30 to be sent to Sales for follow-up. So marketing will continue to nurture that lead. If they submit a Contact Us form, that would be worth 30 points and immediately go to Sales.
There’s no reason you should be lumping all prospects into one bucket when they each have different needs. Customize, customize, customize!
Frustration 4: There’s No Sales Process
For smaller companies that don’t necessarily have a dedicated sales team, the sales process can be nebulous at best. Often the CEO is the one running sales, and given how busy she is with other aspects of the company, she may not even have a process for attracting leads and closing sales.
While she may function just fine doing things helter-skelter for a while, having a sales process in place can streamline the closing process, cutting down on the time she spends on it. It can also come in handy when she’s ready to hire a dedicated salesperson because she can easily hand that process over for him to learn.
How to solve the issue: Write down everything you do to attract visitors to your site, convert them into email subscribers or customers, and close the deal. Work through it with others on your team until it becomes a streamlined workflow.
B2B companies will always have frustrations. It’s how they manage sales and marketing now that lays the groundwork for the future.