In my last blog I wrote about the importance of sales and marketing working together and what a productive relationship would look like. In this article I discuss what your sales team needs from marketing to support their efforts. Keep in mind that effective sales support depends on a good working relationship between marketing and sales.
Product Information
Arm your team with information specific to each product and customer persona. Leverage all marketing channels for distribution. Make market and product information available through your website or email, or in hard copy for premise visits. Create targeted content to address questions & roadblocks at different touchpoints of the sales cycle.
Competitive Intelligence
Your sales team is your primary source of competitive information because they are on the ground and talking to customers. Combine that with your competitive research to get a clear picture of the competition and their approach. Use that information in its entirety to solidify your unique value proposition and develop strategic marketing plans and campaigns.
Higher Quality Lead Generation
Working with the sales team, define each of your target audiences with as much precision as possible. Develop marketing campaigns directed toward each audience. Coordinate the execution of each campaign with sales’ activity and product launches for qualified leads and maximum return.
Brand Awareness
Ongoing marketing efforts such as advertising, promotions and public relations opens doors for sales. Build awareness of your brand to help prospects quickly understand who you are, what you are offering and the benefits of using your products or services. Align content marketing with the customers’ buying cycle to facilitate the buying process as much as possible.
Shared Data & Reporting
Successful marketing is an evolving process because tactics are constantly adjusted to improve outcomes going forward. Combine sales results with marketing data to understand which marketing tactic, message or lead source works best.
Literally everything Marketing does is intended to facilitate sales. Therefore, the goal of any marketing effort is to work towards setting up the sales team for success: generating brand awareness and inquiries, motivating high potential leads, and nurturing prospects until they are ready buy.
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