Better Together: Sales and Marketing Alignment Tips

With sales and marketing alignment, your reps will focus on more leads and be better equipped to close.

Patrick Seidell, senior consultant at Sales Benchmark Index, writes that a rep is at her best when sales and marketing alignment is in effect. “Reps often hunt down new leads themselves, discounting many from marketing,” Seidell laments, even though “it’s marketing that has the tools and data to deliver” quality leads. Since “direct support of the rep making their target is one of marketing’s key objectives,” Seidell recommends that reps start trusting “that marketing can regularly identify and hand-off quality leads.”

To help sales and marketing alignment come together, Seidell has three actions for reps to take: “give responsibility for defining ‘good’ sales leads back to marketing,” learn how marketing defines a good lead and be better prepared with their data before following up, and “tell marketing that you’ll accept all the leads they send you.” Take your first steps toward sales and marketing alignment and watch both departments succeed.