Let’s be real. You and I both know the “secrets” to achieving sales and marketing alignment. They’ve been out there for the taking since time immemorial.
Are you still in the dark? Searching for the answers? Okay. Here ya go:
- Start Talking. Begin by getting the marketing and sales chiefs in a room to hammer out some mutually beneficial strategies and define what winning looks like.
- Ensure Teams Are Communicating. Make sure sales and marketing teams meet regularly so sales can keep marketing in the loop with real talk from the front lines — i.e., what prospects and customers are actually saying. Turn these into brainstorming sessions where voices from both sides are heard, and quality and informed marketing efforts can then be devised.
- Focus On Your Data. Does marketing have a blog that’s blowing up with views and engagement? That’s sales gold. Share it with sales so they can fold it into prospecting conversations and demos. It’s a no-brainer because it’s hard evidence that your audience is eating it up.
If you have never considered these solutions, I’m happy I might have been able to help you consider how to fix some of the issues you are facing.
But as B2B sales and marketing alignment has been a core focus of my work and interest for years now, I can confidently say those “solutions” are table stakes. They are not groundbreaking strategies. They are simple recommendations that suggest two groups with a common goal should make the effort to speak to one another.
Notice I said “should” make the effort speak to one another. Because in my experience, they do not.
Wait, Sales and Marketing Groups Don’t Speak With One Another?
Correct. More often than not, the basic yet game-changing recommendation to simply communicate 一which by the way, has the potential to drive revenue through the roof 一 goes ignored. And it happens everywhere 一 big firms, small startups, it doesn’t matter. Why does this occur? I have my thoughts and, where applicable, some stats to back them up.
- Lack of Communication. From top to bottom, absolutely no one is talking to one another. Harvard Business Review points to research that says 90 percent of sales and marketing professionals report misalignment when it comes to strategy, process, culture, and content. Umm…strategy, process, culture, and content basically encompass the entire job of each department. Plus, the research shows that the problem is widely recognized, so why isn’t it being addressed? Because no one is talking to one another.
- Lack of Buy-In From Leaders Capable of Selling It To Their Teams. Sales and marketing alignment just doesn’t happen if leaders on both sides don’t buy in. Even when Gartner research shows half of sales and marketing leaders recognize failure to align negatively impacts lead generation, they still can’t or won’t make time for it.
- Straight-Up Politics. How this manifests in different organizations varies, but how it can impact the success of goals and initiatives doesn’t really require further explanation.
- Differing Compensation Structures. Simply stated, leaders on both sides of the coin are paid and/or bonused for reaching different goals and milestones. So why would they focus on anything but what gets them paid, even if it’s to the detriment of a common goal?
Old School’s Out: The Potential of Artificial Intelligence in Sales and Marketing Alignment
The roadblocks mentioned above are why we need something new. As a fan of new ideas, and as it relates to today’s topic, I’m interested not in implementing what’s old, evident and prone to failure because that equates to “playing the game” when I’m interested in changing it.
That said, I know what I can potentially influence and what I cannot. I don’t have an idea or solution that will single-handedly overhaul how individuals choose (or choose not to) communicate or how they sell ideas or navigate politics. That’s a mountain of deep-rooted habits and “but we’ve always done it this way” attitudes I cannot move.
And that leads us to everyone’s favorite topic 一 AI. I want to talk about artificial intelligence in sales and marketing alignment and how to use it to change the game.
AI is not just a shiny new toy, nor does it require a company-wide, tech stack rip n’ replace. Instead, think of it as a conduit to getting great things done faster. Who doesn’t want that?
AI in Sales and Marketing Alignment: Clarifying Lead Qualification
The chasm often seen today between sales and marketing when it comes to qualified leads sometimes seems as wide as the Grand Canyon. The disconnect is wild considering both sales and marketing groups are aiming for the same goal 一 revenue 一 but their approaches might as well have been created on different planets.
You know the story. Sales is focused on hitting numbers and closing deals, while marketing focuses on casting a broader net that includes content, SEO, website UI/UX, CRO, off-line activities, executive thought leadership and more. Both sides end up looking at the same north star through different telescopes.
In the parlance of industry, we’re talking about understanding the distinction between MQLs and SQLs. Something both sides need to come together and create a shared understanding of, but as we’ve already discussed, no one is talking to one another.
The solution? AI-powered sales and marketing alignment. With AI ironing out the wrinkles, the result is more than just good vibes. It leads to a clear definition of what is and isn’t an MQL or SQL, which in turn can spike leads turning into sales.
Here’s How It’s Done:
- Gather Your Data: Pull customer interaction details from your CRM, analyze website performance and take note of social media engagement from your active platforms.
- Tap AI – ChatGPT: Harness OpenAI’s crown jewel to find common attributes that position both sales and marketing for wins like rock solid Identification of the funnel status of prospect, development of a dynamic lead scoring system based on content engagement, and the immediate identification of cross-sell and up-sell opportunities.
- Why This Rocks: Data doesn’t have an agenda, and shared goals mean everyone’s invested. AI brings direct insights, sparing teams from juggling multiple tools and scattered data and being told to “figure it out.” It also spares the egos of those who have a vested interest in only using their guts to make critical decisions. It’s objective data, Joe. Let’s just give it a try, okay?
- Why This is Different: Without AI, you’re stuck in a loop of misaligned objectives and missed opportunities because, again, *sigh* no one is talking to one another.
- Possible Pitfalls: Humans do have to oversee this process 一 it’s not just “set and forget.” Resistance to new tech and new ways of doing things can also derail the process.
- The Hidden Bonus: When AI gets sales and marketing teams to collaborate, they start to bond and create a more unified, focused and effective relationship.
Balancing Short-Term Hustle with Long-Term Vision Using AI
Within the sales and marketing tango, sales teams are all about the immediate hustle – hitting short-term targets and closing deals, which are crucial for business survival. It’s a full-throttle race for wins. On the flip side, marketing tends to play a longer game.
Why the different beats? It’s the nature of the work. Sales involves direct and often one-on-one interactions with prospects to close deals. Marketing, however, thinks and acts with a broader perspective 一 creating materials and strategies that reach a targeted audience and nurture them through a funnel over time.
How do we get them to harmonize? Well, that’s where AI steps in, offering a more appealing tune for both to jam out to.
Here’s How It’s Done:
- Gather Your Data: That diverse goldmine of insights found in your CRM tools, website analytics and social media engagement.
- Tap AI – IBM Watson, Tableau, ChatGPT: These AI tools can analyze customer behavior, predict trends and identify high-potential leads. This means sales get immediate and actionable insights, and marketing gains a deeper understanding of long-term customer trends and preferences. For sales this means optimized sales pitches, improved management of territories and hard “ready to buy” signals based on data. For marketing this means enhanced customer segmentation, content optimization recommendations and customer journey insights.
- Why This Rocks: It’s a win-win served up by AI’s unbiased insights that paint a picture that respects both the sprint and the marathon.
- Why This is Different: We’re making next-level decisions that blend both the immediate and what’s on the horizon in sales and marketing.
- Possible Pitfalls: Same old, same old. If a fear of data or trying new things persists, the magic of AI is stalled.
- The Hidden Bonus: When AI dissolves the pesky old sales and marketing alignment barriers, it opens the door for innovative thinking and creativity that can go beyond what AI offers.
AI in Sales and Marketing Alignment: Maximizing Customer Feedback Like Never Before
Remember those golden customer insights sales takes in on the front lines day in and day out? The pain points, the praises and recommendations for improvement? Well, because no one is talking to one another, it stays in the sales silo. It’s just as much the fault of the marketing team, who fails to ask for that info. It’s a full-on communication breakdown.
And this feedback, remember, is not just random comments. It’s the voice of the market giving direct feedback on your product or service.
But per usual, both groups suffer the consequences as those insights that could shift a marketing campaign or refine a sales pitch end up dying on the vine.
How to fix this? Well, that’s where AI comes in.
Here’s How It’s Done:
- Gather Your Data: Emails tracked in your CRM, notes provided on prospect profiles by salespeople, online reviews and social media chatter, calls and emails with customer support and customer success.
- Tap AI: Salesforce Einstein, Lexalytics, IBM Watson, ChatGPT. With their powers combined, these applications act like…Captain Planet. Actually, they probably act more like like a Rosetta Stone for translating insights into action. This includes elements that benefit sales and marketing equally including online sentiment analysis, development of personalization strategies and developing a culture of data-driven decision-making.
- Why This Rocks: Using AI for this use case is an objective reality check. It means sales and marketing activities are fully rooted in the customer experience you strive to deliver.
- Why This is Different: Forget quarterly results reports. This method brings the latest customer feedback straight to both sales and marketing strategy meetings for discussion and implementation.
- Possible Pitfalls: All the insights this method provides are only of value if they are actually paid attention to.
- The Hidden Bonus: Using AI to make the most of customer feedback draws a hard line between companies that value customer feedback and companies that assume they know what’s best without listening to the very people to whom they are selling.
Using Artificial Intelligence In Sales and Marketing Means Rethinking How You Use Data
Using data to align sales and marketing isn’t a new idea, but let’s be honest – it has never really taken off as it should have. Remember when I talked about leveraging the popularity of a blog topic in sales strategies? More often than not, recommendations like that get buried in inboxes never to be seen again.
But AI changes the game. Using data is no longer about spot-checking systems for quick, low-hanging fruit opportunities that go nowhere due to lack of communication.
AI isn’t just tossing out insights; it’s delivering the kind of sharp, contextually rich information that sales and marketing can really get behind.
We need to break free from old ruts. AI offers sales and marketing a path forward, stripping away guesswork, egos and fear.
And change is tough, I get it. But it’s time to embrace it because AI is here to help us achieve shared goals faster and more efficiently.
