Speaker 0:
Hello, everyone at, uh, MarDreamin. My name is Lauren. Um, I’m moderating today’s session for you guys. I have put some information in the chat, um, to just give you guys a quick rundown on some things. And I do want to quickly introduce Sharon Taylor, our speaker today. So, Sharon, the floor is yours.

Speaker 1:
Great. Thank you. Alright. So this presentation covers a topic that’s near and dear to my heart. That’s the relationship between sales and marketing. Uh, it’s sold from the marketer’s perspective with a focus on what marketers can do for sales since, in my opinion, the number one rule of b to b marketing is marketing works for sales. So a few other notes about this presentation, um, as we get started. So what this presentation is and who it’s for. So one, um, it’s it’s mostly common sense. I don’t expect any of the insights covered here today to be new or earth shattering. The goal really is to bring to mind some of the things that you could be doing, should be doing, want to be doing, but just haven’t prioritized yet. So, uh, what does success look like coming out of the session? We’re gonna cover seven tips to gain better alignment between sales and marketing. And if you walk away with a commitment to put maybe two or three of those insights into action, that would be success. And a reminder of who the key audience is for this presentation, if you’re a b to b marketer responsible for delivering sales leads, this is speaking directly to you. And if you’re not that marketer, hopefully, you can take something back to people in your organization that are. So let’s get started with our first tip. Building before you understand is a recipe for disaster. I know I’ve lived this experience, and you probably have too. So how do we address it? We’re gonna cover some do’s and don’ts. So first, do engage directly with sales, and, really, this goes for any stakeholder group that you have. Um, now I think the absolute best way to understand the sales process is to observe it. Don’t just ask about the sales process, observe it. The number one thing that you can do is sit in on sales calls. I think that’s the number one takeaway, putting it out there right here upfront. And there’s really no substitution for this. It’s a great opportunity to learn how reps sell, learn how customers and prospects react, what sales tools are used, how they’re modified, and what tools are ignored. In my experience, um, you know, sales has never pushed back on inviting me into calls. But if for whatever reason you’re you’re not able to schedule those, I think, you know, viewing a recording of a sales call works almost just as well. And a few additional tips here to, um, one, ask to be included in any rep follow-up, uh, for that call so you get a sense of that full process. Two, observe multiple reps. Reps are not robots. Everyone sells a bit differently, so it’s important to understand how different people, um, approach the same process. And then, um, three, this is not a onetime task. So products evolve, sales teams change, you’re gonna forget some of what you heard. So hold yourself accountable to a regular refresh schedule. Um, I would suggest doing this at least quarterly. And then beyond observing, interviews are a key to understanding the needs of the sales team. Ask about their pain points. And while marketing is the focus, um, don’t ignore other pain points that impact how sales and marketing work together. Also, ask about their goals and their wish list. If sales and marketing have different goals, um, you’re not gonna be aligned. Pretty simple there. Um, and, of course, we’re aligned on the number one goal of growing revenue, but what’s the path to get there? Does sales have specific goals for new business versus retention or by product line, and how does the marketing strategy align? Um, what else is on the sales wish list, um, besides, you know, crushing revenue goals? How could you better how could they better use their time, And, um, you know, what would make work more enjoyable? And as a reminder, solicit feedback from a cross section of the sales team. So don’t just talk to sales managers or your favorite sales reps. Really do your best to hear from the full range of perspectives. Another do is to map any and all sales processes. So this includes existing processes, um, how are leads managed, what does the opportunity path look like, what insights do sales have into marketing activity, what are the processes that occur before and after a sales rep is involved, and what’s the overall customer experience as well as new processes. So map every single step here, every single click. Uh, it’s a tedious process. Yes. But imagine how tedious it must be for reps when there are redundant or unnecessary steps that that they have to take over and over every day. Run the proposed processes by your cross section of sales reps. Um, again, not just the the few. Um, really wanna get the full breadth of, uh, experience there and and really listen to their feedback. Um, also map the external processes. And by external here, I mean anything outside of the Salesforce sales and marketing ecosystem. So think of something like a financial system that could be used to book orders or pay commission. And then a don’t. Don’t lead with solutions. So one way to keep yourself honest here is to list out your biases. Do you have a platform of choice? Um, and why is that? Is it based on your familiarity with it? What are the features and benefits of that platform, and do they align with the current needs? What are the competitors in that set, and how do they align? Are there potential solutions from a completely different competitor set? What’s your stance on build versus buy? Personally, I know that I’ve been burned one too many times by building, so I have a personal bias towards buy. But that doesn’t mean that it’s always the right answer. Also, uh, compare your solutions. So do your own analysis because you’re gonna have specific needs for your organization, but also look to external sources like g two, Gartner, Forrester, and get input from your network as well.

So our second tip, there’s no substitute for good communication. So do focus on the what’s in it for me for the sales team. Simplify as much as possible. Make your communication digestible. So think small bites, things like posting on chatter or Slack updates, and make sure that you’re editing yourself. Also, tailor your communication by role. We don’t all care about the same things, so focus on what’s important to each group. Sales reps, sales leadership, marketing leadership, we’re all gonna have different needs. Also, do make sure that you provide training and documentation. Deliver content in multiple formats. Not everyone learns the same way. Um, a few key types of, uh, content formatting I would recommend is step by step guides, video tutorials, and hosting live q and a sessions, um, all part of the overall training strategy. Also, ensure that your content is easily accessible and update it regularly because things change. Um, layouts, processes, all this can change. Wanna make sure that everything is up to date and relevant. And then for a don’t don’t put the onus on sales. So, you know, don’t make anyone else think too much, dig too hard, or wait too long. If you’re providing support to sales in any way, which you probably are, you should have a service level agreement outlining the expected turnaround time. Next. Too much data can overwhelm. So do align with sales leadership on key metrics, and you’ll want to measure what you treasure. Um, this can be as simple as, you know, making sure that the data you provide sales is relevant. Um, one example, small example is, you know, my sales team told me that they don’t really care about email opens. Opens. We used to provide, um, that data through, um, email opens and clicks, and we’ve since eliminated any open data. Um, it’s it’s irrelevant. It just clutters, um, the campaigns for them, so we only pass through click data. You also take advantage of data visualization. Um, you know, you might have a separate team that manages sales operations and provides reporting, but if not, it’s a great opportunity to add value to the sales and marketing relationship. Really being the person or the group that can own, um, you know, managing the data, telling stories with data, visualizing the data is a a huge benefit. So, um, using, uh, dashboards, they can offer a quick snapshot into views to track status and progress for both reps and managers, um, and can also uncover insights such as, you know, which opportunities have the most room for improvement and how an average deal size or product mix changes over time. And on to a don’t, don’t share data without a purpose. So sometimes a data report can be replaced by a simple sentence or bullet. And if people don’t need detail, don’t share it with them. You can clarify that, um, you can always provide data upon request, but, you know, don’t send data by default unless it’s relevant. So one thing I think of here is strive to be Google where people go to find their answers, not the phone book that, you know, people get and don’t want.

Moving on to number four. The person closest to the relationship has the best understanding of it. So do give sales the option to opt out. They know their customers and prospects better than you do. So leverage CRM visible lists to opt out of campaigns or programs. Think more points in time, not opting out completely, but, you know, more of a a quiet period. And use engagement programs to snooze contacts, um, and more on this in a minute. Also, do encourage sales to provide meaningful feedback feedback. So provide easy options to update details such as roles and buying intent. I think is a is a contacted decision maker. Is the company in market for a solution? Um, if sales can easily update the records with detail that’s useful for them, you can make sure that you’re making use of that detail as well for segmentation and reporting. Also, consider utilizing, um, customizable campaign influence to allow sales to indicate which campaigns had the most influence in advancing an opportunity. And then don’t get in the way when sales is actively engaged. So just as sales can snooze a contact, you know, marketing can consider when to auto snooze an account by opportunity stage using really, you know, similar functionality. Might not be for all communication, but there may be certain communication during certain stages that you really want to, um, opt certain people out of.

And taking a little bit closer look at that snooze program, So kind of a a simple four step process here. So by having that CRM visible list, you can allow sales to select, you know, something as easily as as calling it a marketing snooze list. So when sales adds a contact to that list, they enter into an engagement studio program, setting up just a simple, you know, call it a thirty day wait step. They are entered into the list. They’re immediately clock starts ticking for that that thirty day wait step. Meanwhile, marketing adds that snooze list to any suppression list for emails going out. And then automatically, in that fourth step, as soon as it meets that, um, that time threshold, whether you set it thirty days or longer, they’ll be removed from the list and back into the regularly scheduled programming.

Next, intuition can’t be automated. So do learn what sales what lead criteria sales values most. And a hint here, it’s probably fewer criteria than you think. So, you know, as marketers, we have access to tons of data, behavioral data, uh, demographic firm firmographic. But really, you know, sales has that relationship. They’re they’re working on intuition a lot of times, so it’s likely gonna be much fewer, um, criteria that they’re really honing in on. So look at the data points like industry, revenue, contact titles, buying team size. One moment here. And and make sure that, um, sorry. One one slide back. So talking again about the the criteria, um, making sure that you just you’re not accounting for too much in your lead scoring. Um, you really want to focus on what’s important to sales so that you’re not, you know, adding in people, um, elevating people that are kind of the junk leads, but they’ve had, um, positive behavior or you’re bearing who really is the most relevant leads, um, because you’re, you know, you’re not tracking the right things. Also, do review closed deals to better understand the ideal customer profile. Um, this this data delivers insight to both marketing and sales, so that is adding all of the, um, industry data, revenue data, um, you know, and then working with sales directly to determine how these opportunities, um, what what content can be used and upgraded for new campaigns, um, including account based marketing strategies. Also, don’t forget to incorporate grading with lead scores. So just like we don’t want to, um, you know, focus on on the wrong people because we’re tracking a lot of criteria that might not really fit, um, grading is something that can come in and help ensure that, um, we’re looking at things based on the company as well as the behavior of the contact. So, you know, a lower qualified contact may be coming in, engaging with tons of content. They seem like a really great lead. Um, Um, but if it’s not the right company, you know, if they they’re not the right revenue size, not coming from the right industry, it’s really not the best lead. Um, so having that comparison with a lead score and a grade can be really beneficial. And it it helps to negate any negative sentiment that, um, sales might have thinking that, you know, marketing leads aren’t aren’t quality. If they’re used to seeing, you know, oh, it’s just the the kind of junk leads that download all the ebooks or, you know, are engaging with content in other ways. Um, grading helps really bring to the surface those, um, those contacts and accounts that are the true, um, valuable leads.

Next, marketing’s role isn’t to close deal. It’s to make closing easier for sales. So do focus on source and influence. The less time that sales spend sourcing leads, the more time they have to spend selling. Um, marketing can help provide communication and content once the sales reps engage with a prospect, but the number one thing marketing can do is serve up qualified leads for sales to reach out to. So measuring where marketing helps move deals along, uh, shows contribution without claiming credit. It’s sales jobs to close the deal, and no one wants to be told that they didn’t do their job. Two, make follow-up easy. Marketing leads aren’t always the only leads that sales has, so make sure it’s super easy for them to follow-up. This means making lead lists easily accessible with all the relevant demographics, firmographics, and contact info. And having a reputation for delivering quality leads will be more likely to result in quality follow-up. And for don’t, don’t overemphasize revenue goals. So marketing doesn’t have control over closing deals. You can say that marketing sourced maybe a 100 leads that led to a million dollars in revenue, but you really can’t say that marketing closed a million dollars in revenue. And always keep in mind that claiming too much attribution can lead to distrust. So, you know, how much impact did downloading a single ebook really have on closing a a 6 or 7 figure deal?

And finally, we have our seventh tip here. So building advocacy trumps getting credit. So do give credit as much, if not more, than you seek it. And you can do this by making sure to use your data to tell the whole story, um, not just your role in it. Marketing can really shine in, you know, our ability to access data from different parts of the organization, to visualize it, to build out presentations that help tell the story. Um, so make sure that you’re, you know, bringing other people into that story and and not just shining a spotlight on marketing. Um, and sharing credit, you know, really, it builds trust and partnership. Um, things that you can give credit for to sales include, um, you know, helping to develop a campaign strategy. Um, that should be something that you’re getting input from sales on and not just, um, creating in a vacuum. So, you know, giving a shout out for the role they played in that, uh, for timely follow-up. So, you know, follow-up is key. And when sales is engaged and in partnership with you to, um, you you know, to to have timely follow-up, uh, it’s more likely that the campaign’s gonna have overall success. Um, organized tracking, making sure that they’re, you know, tracking what the the follow-up notes were, um, you know, updating statuses. That’s all gonna be helpful for the overall campaign and ROI tracking. It’s really something that, you know, you need to depend on sales to, um, to input where they’re, um, having that that prospect engagement. And also giving a shout out to feedback from sales. They are the ones who are closest to that customer relationship. So understanding, you know, how, um, how content was perceived by a prospect or customer, you know, understanding the overall flow of a campaign. It’s a really valuable feedback and, you know, something that marketing is not gonna be as close to. Um, so really soliciting that feedback and, um, and valuing it is important in that sales and marketing relationship. Uh, you know, do ask for that advocacy directly. We all forget to give credit sometimes, um, so there’s there’s really no harm in asking. Um, you know, ask for a testimonial. When someone openly appreciates your work, that’s a great time to say, you know, hey. Would you mind sharing that with my manager, with your manager? Um, making sure that both the sales leadership and marketing leadership and any other key stakeholder is is getting that information. You know, marketing, um, the impact of marketing is notoriously difficult to measure. So and there are some folks that are more resistant to believing the marketing hype than others. So advocacy can really cut through any questions about attribution, you know, how does it really work, are we double counting, getting that valuable feedback, that advocacy from sales, um, is there’s really, you know, no substitution for it. And the final don’t is don’t claim credit that you don’t deserve. One, it’s not believable, um, and it builds mistrust and resentment from sales. You want your sales team to be your ally and your advocate, not your adversary. So, hopefully, you’ve taken away some actionable steps here, um, from these seven insights. Maybe it’s sitting in on sales calls or, um, you know, taking the giving sales the option to snooze contacts or taking the opportunity to snooze contacts or accounts yourself. Um, maybe it’s something as simple as simplifying the data that you share with with sales. Um, really thinking about what’s relevant and important to them. Um, so a a couple of key takeaways that that I would recommend. And, really, whatever you’re thinking of implementing, your first step, it it should be reaching out to your sales team to either start or expand that dialogue. So to close out here are just a few starter questions. Um, you know, what data would be most helpful to you and your team? Um, what tasks take up too much of your time, and how could marketing help? Um, what would be helpful for marketing to know about customers and prospects that I might not know? So starting that dialogue is really the key, and then any of these seven tips can really, uh, help you get closer to the ultimate goal of sales marketing alignment.

Speaker 0:
Awesome. Thanks, Sharon. Uh, a few questions for you. First, uh, what tools do you recommend for process mapping?

Speaker 1:
I think, honestly, I’m a little old school. I like whiteboarding. Visio works, Miro works. I would love to see other recommendations from the chat.

Speaker 0:
Yeah, some people are recommending Miro. Lucidchart is also mentioned. And a whiteboard works well too.

Speaker 1:
Yes. So the key is to get the process out of your head and into a format that others can consume.

Speaker 0:
Another question, how do you approach building an ICP with sales for each product?

Speaker 1:
Start simple. Use storytelling. Ask open-ended questions. Review recent opportunities and closed deals. And, you know, keep it light. The simpler the conversation, the more likely sales is to engage.

Speaker 0:
Can you revisit the snooze program briefly?

Speaker 1:
Yes. It’s a four-step process. CRM-visible list for sales to add contacts, enter engagement program with a wait step, suppress email sends during that time, and automatically return contacts to regular campaigns after the wait period. You can also automate it by opportunity stage.

Speaker 0:
And how do you add a contact to a list?

Speaker 1:
Make the list CRM-visible. Work with your Salesforce admin if needed. Ensure sales can see it in their view.

Speaker 0:
Definitely. Screenshots and step-by-step instructions help sales find things quickly.

Speaker 1:
Exactly. Screenshots save questions and make processes clearer.

Speaker 0:
Thanks, Sharon. And your point that marketing generates leads but doesn’t close them is always a good reminder.

Speaker 1:
Yes. Take credit for the assist.

Speaker 0:
Exactly. Thank you so much, and enjoy the rest of MarDreamin session.

Speaker 1:
Thank you, everyone.