Sales & Marketing

Collaborating Sales & Marketing: Christine Crandell @ Forbes

• Sales and marketing should be playing the same score, even if marketing plays the trumpet and sales plays the baritone saxophone
• Collaboration between marketing and sales involves resolving conflicts on an ad hoc basis after the curtain has already closed
• To win business, the marketing and sales teams need to do more than just communicate better using structured communication with clearly defined roles, rules of engagement and hand-off points for key revenue-driving tasks
• Trust one another in order to find common ground and use their combined efforts to increase revenue and improve customer relationships
• Jointly define marketing plans, participate in joint revenue-planning sessions and determine strategic adjustments to improve business performance
• Work together

They need to acknowledge that they both have different charters, time frames, vocabularies and work styles. Companies that build a model rooted in shared goals and rewards for sales and marketing will make better decisions, drive more revenue, have more motivated employees and service happier consumers.