Marketing and Sales departments have been known to work closely together for a long time.
One’s research is another’s data, and as one flourishes in the right direction, the other becomes a prominent part of the success.
Their working together based on each other’s practices is deemed beneficial today. However, this is not the case yet for many organizations.
Traditionally, companies have chosen the other way around and worked with disjointing marketing and sales departments to have a ‘clear effort-result attribution.’ While this may have had some benefits, the cons have outweighed the pros.
Here are some challenges that disjointed Marketing and Sales departments have faced over the years:
Ineffective communication practices – due to the lack of visibility due to scattered tech stacks and despair metrics, both parties suffer poor communication.
This corrupts the bridge of mutual trust and understanding between marketing and leads to a dent in the firm’s productivity.
Budget competition – budget is always a matter of concern between departments. While all the departments working under a firm may need additional monetary resources, not everyone always gets what they want.
The lack of support for reliable reports or attribution between marketing and sales efforts can lead to severe issues like disappointment, jealousy, and team resentment.
Unclear understanding of roles and responsibilities – departments tend to stereotype each other based on their responsibilities. For instance, a marketing manager might think that salespeople have a limited view of the company (and vice-versa).
This dim view of roles between departments may lead to a culture of disrespect among departments.
Overlapping goals – the marketing and sales power struggle can also translate into an overlap of priorities between teams that don’t work together. This could be originated from the lack of a Service Level Agreement (SLA) and a source of truth that works for both.
Instead of choosing to work for the firm and reach its long-term goals, teams worry about their objectives jeopardizing the company’s timelines.
The blame game and misaligned strategies – When things go wrong, and there is no data hygiene, marketing and sales blame each other for lack of effort.
This turns into misaligned strategies, leading to redundant actions and pipeline gaps that could have been quickly filled if the departments had worked together.
While these challenges hamper a firm’s working by manifolds, achieving optimal marketing and sales alignment can be possible with the right tools and tactics. HubSpot defines it as smarketing.
Benefits of choosing the Smarketing strategy
Smarketing paves the way for a marketing and sales team to work together for the betterment of the whole firm. It also helps them to:
● Work closely together on individual goals and shared ambitions to improve the customer experience. Teams working individually and then combining their efforts for a final result can do infinitely better.
● Establish a SLA that has been agreed upon mutually. This will help the departments to govern and hold both teams accountable in the best way possible. The administration is an instrumental weapon for any firm, and using this technique can allow both teams to manage their efforts and results better.
● Improve lead quality on both ends, as both teams can cross-check each other’s work simultaneously. As more leads qualify, the company can enhance its customer database and increase its growth manifolds.
● Shorter buying cycles for customers as the rate of going from marketing to sales is significantly reduced. The firm can easily handle a customer and provide tailored solutions through a joint effort of both teams.
● Easier deal closings on both ends. As the channel becomes smaller, the deal closing time will also significantly reduce.
● Increased customer retention and a higher volume of returning customers because of the shorter service time.
● Faster revenue growth for the entire firm.
Which technology supports ‘Smarketing’?
If you are looking for a seamless, reliable, and consistent tech experience, then you should consider Hubspot Marketing and Sales Hub implementation.
This will not only delight your customers but also empower your employees to engage in brand-new technological strategies.
HubSpot’s multi-hub solution will allow you to conquer your team’s most significant smarketing challenges smoothly. It will give your marketing and sales teams a beneficial toolset that facilitates internal workings and improves customer satisfaction.
Learn More: Why go Hubspot? The Ultimate Guide
HubSpot’s Sales and Marketing Hubs help your teams:
-Develop data-driven customer experiences in your firm and increase cross-team transparency. Both marketing and sales hubs offer a wide range of reports that offer a friendly experience for your internal teams. They will feel comfortable using data to make big decisions and trust the results.
-Work with a unified brand voice and personalized content across touchpoints for smoother B2B inbound sales customer experience from end to end. By having one source of truth with access to marketing emails, templates, chatbots, snippets, and playbooks, nothing will be lost in translation.
-Adapt and provide solutions to customers’ needs. Since the communication between departments will improve, so will the feedback loop. Marketing and Sales teams can leave feedback notes and tasks; attach files and quotes on either contact’s or deal’s records. As the customer demands change, accepted practices should change too.
-Measure the ROI of every smarketing effort through reliable inbound sales assessments to be ahead of your goals. With Sales Hub you can establish ROI goals and identify the attribution assets that will contribute to that goal.
If I decide to go ‘Smarketing,’ how can Origin 63 help?
If smarketing is something that you are interested in, then waste no time and look for an expert today. Origin 63, as a Hubspot solutions partner program member, is here to help you every step of the way.
Talk to a HubSpot expert for a consultation, and get ready to utilize your customized solution today!