How to make the marketing and sales departments work together

The feud between marketing and sales. This is the most common thing we see when we come to companies, and today we will think together with you how to reconcile them. Maybe the New Year's Eve atmosphere will help with that 

"Salespeople don't sell" and "marketers chase bad leads." If such statements did not come to the already tired manager, there would be no problems, and we as an agency, perhaps, would not be needed . In fact, getting things in order helps solve problems better than many auditors and consultants can.

Let's start reconciliation with the basic functions:

Sales works "in the field"; they are in constant direct contact with the client. They break through the remnants of defenses in his head and bring you revenue.

Marketing is a reliable rear guard. They make sure the sales team sells more, faster, more expensively and more often. And they also help the business chart the right course based on analytics.

They can work without each other, but very inefficiently, because everyone in the strategy of the company is responsible for a large piece of work. And building the strategy itself is impossible without the experience of both departments.

Let's dig deeper. Their entire business process is built on customer support. Both the marketer and the salesperson lead the client by the handle along the same route, but at different stages. They "lay the straw" where necessary and push him if he slows down.

If this route is broken down into stages, it will be seen that sales should be responsible not only for sales, but, for example, also for quality service. And marketing is not only responsible for advertising and traffic, but also for the consumer qualities of the product. They overlap and they need to constantly exchange feedback.

In our experience, the best way to establish communication and not get the phrase "Why should I even listen to them?" thrown in the direction of any of the departments is to build a customer journey map (CJM). Train on how to use it and continually improve it. It will become clear what responsibility each specialist has and that there is no shame in sharing data, because everyone's experience is different. We will tell you more about CJM in 2023.

Yes, we don't live in a world of pink ponies and rainbows. The human factor plays a role everywhere, especially in companies with a weak corporate culture. In such cases, we remind you that we will get "on the hat" from the management with sales for the same thing.

"Let's live amicably" - said Leopold the cat. Not only "team building" helps in the development of relationships. Marketing and sales have different knowledge, but solve related problems, so it is worth thinking about introducing a culture of brainstorming in the company. At first with a disinterested mentor, and later they can also solve problems on their own. This approach not only helps with quick decision-making, but also strengthens working relationships.

Business is a large mechanism made up of small processes. Marketing covers each of them to a greater or lesser extent, even if it is not always thought about. Marketing can (at a certain level of development even should) start working with production, HR, lawyers and the finance department in order to increase overall profits.

So the challenge, if you are a manager, is to surround marketing with people from other departments at the holiday table