Written By: Sarah Ahern | Feb 10, 2023 12:36:57 PM
“Customers don’t care where marketing and sales begin and end, they want one seamless experience.”
-PATH study participant
According to our research, 80% of customers are more likely to use a business if they offer personalized experiences. Separate, sales and marketing have important and powerful perspectives on their customers. But their individual perspectives alone aren’t enough to deliver what the customer wants. The magic happens when sales and marketing put their information together.
Sales and Marketing collaboration is your growth multiplier – the thing that builds the kind of competitive advantage that drives companies to outperform the market. Sales and Marketing are key to understanding customer experience – no one is positioned better within the organization than these two functions. If both departments have the full picture of their customers' wants, needs, and goals, they can understand more about their customers and turn that into action faster than the competition. Don’t just take our word for it, the American Customer Satisfaction Index proves that a powerful focus on customers can deliver huge impact – up to 1000% more growth!
The good thing is everyone agrees that collaboration is important. In a recent national study we did at PATH with almost 200 Sales and Marketing leaders, 82% of respondents felt collaboration was of the highest importance.
So what’s the problem? Our national Sales and Marketing leader study also made the challenge clear. Sales and Marketing come from two distinctly different perspectives. We heard feedback like:
There’s a lot of friction to overcome.
We’re happy to say that a very clear solution emerged from those same conversations. Collaboration is hard, but not impossible. The Salespeople and Marketers that were doing it best – and getting the results that proved it – built collaboration in three steps:
“The buyer’s journey has changed so much over the past 10 years. Phone calling doesn’t work, people aren’t opening emails, you’re not allowed to show up at their office. Traditional ways don’t work anymore. You have to be where they are looking and know what they’re looking for – and that takes integration from start to finish.” -PATH study participant
Strain between sales and marketing takes energy and focus away from long-term growth. Creating a process that encourages collaboration and sharing information is key to achieving the company’s goals and growing revenue.
Whether you’re just getting started or have been collaborating for a while, remember to simplify, simplify, simplify. Ask yourselves these questions:
For a more comprehensive understanding, check out PATH’s Sales & Marketing Collaboration Model.
Tags: Strategy, Business, Sales, Marketing, Customer Experience (CX)