What’s Alignment?
Sales and Marketing alignment has been on the agenda of executives and business leaders for some time, but to what effect?
Well, in 2005 almost 1,400 Marketing professionals from 84 countries shared their experiences with MathMarketing and MarketingProfs. What the research found is that alignment is more than a platitude; those businesses with the greatest success in aligning Sales and Marketing:
- Grew 5.4% more than their industry.
- Were 38% better at closing proposals than non-aligned businesses.
- Churned 36% fewer of their customers to competitors each year.
With all the efforts to grow by earning and retaining more customers, there are no easy answers. But the improvements these businesses have found through alignment are significant, clear, and worthy of consideration.
Specifically what do we mean when we talk about the alignment of sales and marketing?
Well it’s quite simple. It means having your team in agreement when it comes to:
- Objectives (what you want them to achieve?)
- Strategy (how?)
- Tactics (what will they do?)
- A Plan (in what order, how often and who?)
In this context, your go-to-market strategy boils down to three fundamental components:
- What are you going to sell?
- To whom?
- Through whom?
Regardless of your decisions, it is essential that you have broad internal support for your go-to-market strategy and one blisteringly clear, team-built plan so everyone in your business is on the same page.