The Happy Marriage of Sales and Marketing: Some Insights from Tammi Couto, Business Development Executive

We're joined today by the spirited Tammi Couto, Business Development Executive at Marqui. Tammi's fresh energy and experience in business development over the years have provided her with some incredible insights into how marketing and sales teams can find that sometimes-elusive symbiosis.

M: Tammi, in your experience, what are some of the factors that can cause mis-alignment or "siloed" approaches between marketing and sales teams?

It really comes down to different perceptions. Often enough, marketing teams feel frustrated about having to create a large number of leads and feel that they don't have enough visibility into how those leads are engaged by sales. I also know that some sales teams emphasize the need for lead quality over quantity, which really puts the onus onto marketing to ensure that leads are well qualified before they are handed off to sales.

Also, there really needs to be a common language spoken between marketing and sales. It's often lacking. For example, it's crucial to work towards the same definition of the "ideal" customer, and to have an agreed-upon idea of what a "sales-ready" lead looks like. It's also critical to determine who will be responsible for engaging with prospects at key points throughout the sales cycle, and to identify who will nurture live opportunities.

Don't forget about measurement, either! Sales and marketing teams need to come together to determine what to measure, including lead count, the ratio of opportunities to conversions and the % of sales-ready leads that convert.

M: Great tips, Tammi. Thanks for those. Now, let's switch gears a bit. What can marketers do to help make the sales process more efficient and productive?

Nurture. Nurture!

Lead nurturing is so important; leads that are nurtured typically have a higher ratio of closing, however you need to be prepared to sit back and wait for their readiness to buy, which could take 6-12 months.  When a lead is generated from a campaign, you have an opportunity as a sales person to influence the buying process and provoke them to make a decision sooner than later.  In short, I think it is fair to say that you need to have a good balance of prospecting and lead nurturing, and both marketing and sales teams can help each other out (i.e sales can have a hand in planning lead nurturing campaigns, and marketing can help with prospecting).

M: Thanks for the great tips, Tammi! In closing, what's the one key takeaway here for marketers?

More isn’t always better.  If marketers delivered fewer leads, but they were sales-ready, it would make a day in the life of a sales rep little easier (not to mention the close ratio a lot higher). That is not to say that sales teams are looking for an easy way out [laughs]. It would just allow us to use our time more effectively throughout the day.

Posted by Nicole Capelo at February 15, 2012 4:30 PM

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