Smarketing is the process of integrating the sales and marketing processes of a business. The objective is for the sales and marketing functions to have a common integrated approach.

In many organizations, Marketing and Sales have historically had a somewhat contentious relationship. But there is a new trend showing behaviors have changed. The need for increased alignment and closed-loop communication between marketing and sales teams is absolutely critical. I remember approaching the Director of Sales on my first day of a new job as Director of Marketing and asking if she would like to go to lunch. She curtly replied, “I don’t eat lunch”. So began my relationship with sales for the next three year. Statistics have shown organizations with tightly aligned marketing and sales teams achieve higher revenue growth up to 20% and faster profit growth when tracked over a three-year period.

Many companies use marketing automation platforms to align, strengthen and create transparency as well as better working relationships between teams. For me, I actually worked well with Sales after our initial meeting. Some of the best practices I deployed were centered on old-fashioned team work.

Here are some easy steps to build better Smarketing teams;

 Sales + Marketing =Alignment

I started my career in sales which helped me to understand the sales language and the pressures to produce. In order to get on the same page with your sales counterparts learn about their quotas, what’s expected and the lead cycle involved to convert business. Your job as a marketing person is to build the funnel.

Celebrate success and keep the lines of communication open. Once you establish goals, team work will follow as you support one another. Weekly meetings are crucial in understanding the process. After the sales team realized marketing was there to support their efforts they would come to my team with challenges and we would work together to solve them. 

Follow the data, there is nothing more rewarding for a marketing person than to see a campaign deliver results. Sales is typically about numbers whereas marketing is more creative. Try reversing the numbers in order to visualize the results. If a sales person needs to close $20,000 a quarter in sales, backtrack to how many customers they need, measured by the average revenue per deal. By working backwards you can use the data to create a manageable campaign that delivers results.