Do I Really Need To Be In These Meetings?

By Carly Bauer, Advertising Coordinator at Heinz Advertising

At Heinz Advertising, we repeatedly speak about gross sales and advertising alignment– A strategic and collaborative strategy through which an organization’s gross sales and advertising groups work intently collectively to attain frequent objectives, enhance effectivity, and enhance general enterprise performance. Although the time period SALES and MARKETING is regularly referenced, the idea of alignment ought to contain the group as a complete to permit harmonious integration and coordination of assorted parts throughout groups to make sure all components of the group work collectively successfully to attain objectives and targets.

When referencing gross sales and advertising, particular person groups, or the group as a complete, the thought and implications of alignment apply to all. In different phrases, to have alignment on the organizational degree, there should be alignment throughout numerous groups and inside every workforce. All three tiers want the identical core elements – 

• A well-defined technique
• A construction that promotes environment friendly communication and collaboration
• A tradition that encourages habits and attitudes which might be according to the corporate’s objectives
• Environment friendly and efficient processes
• Means to recruit, develop, and retain expert certified workers

Alignment is an ongoing activity that requires steady effort to enhance and preserve. Therefore why it’s a subject of dialog that by no means appears to actually go away. Each firm varies on it’s degree of workforce alignment, from extremely conscious and actively pivoting to non-existent. Corporations with siloed groups are sometimes on this little to non-existent space of alignment. Not deliberately, however with the character of how siloed groups are structured, cross-team collaboration is proscribed and the thought of alignment isn’t seen as a precedence. Thus it’s frequent to see comparable points amongst completely different firms that battle with misalignment. As a advertising consultancy agency, we’ve labored with shoppers all around the spectrum, offering assist to implement efficient change and produce consciousness to unknown points.

When you’re questioning how your groups are experiencing misalignment, right here’s an instance of a scenario we supported a consumer by means of.

As soon as upon a time….

I’ll preface this story by stating, from the start of our engagement, there have been indicators that advised groups weren’t totally aligned inside the consumer’s group. From lack of communication between gross sales and advertising, delays to schedule interviews with workforce members, and never prioritizing well timed suggestions on paperwork being developed to make sure our work aligned with and supported desired outcomes. 

On this particular instance, we had been in a weekly standing name with the consumer. Throughout this assembly, I offered a gross sales doc that may assist streamline their lead prioritization. The following step was to develop the technique for constructing a set of sequences the gross sales workforce would assign results in primarily based on routing standards and the advertising campaigns they had been traditionally concerned in. However throughout our dialogue we found {that a} member of the gross sales workforce was already tasked with an identical challenge. This was the primary time their advertising workforce or I heard about this. So what had been we going to do?

First step was to arrange a observe up assembly. Each gross sales and advertising had their very own standards of what the sequences wanted to perform and we wanted to align on each. Because the gross sales workforce already began creating sequences, we wanted to grasp their course of and technique, together with what standards was getting used to route results in every sequence, and the place our sequences would probably overlap. Each gross sales and advertising wanted to speak expectations, objectives and desired outcomes, limitations, and work collectively to provide you with an answer. We ultimately did nevertheless it concerned a number of electronic mail conversations and a handful of alignment conferences to get there.

You’re most likely pondering “Nice, downside solved! But it surely doesn’t actually scream the significance of gross sales and advertising alignment.” Simply wait, I’ll get to why in only a second. 

In considered one of our final alignment conferences we spent the time brainstorming and revising easy methods to greatest restrict the variety of sequences in use, accommodate each groups targets, all whereas protecting the method easy for gross sales reps to implement. On the finish of the decision, considered one of our details of contact for the engagement from their advertising workforce, we’ll name her Rebecca, stayed on the road and requested, “Do I actually have to be in these conferences?” With out hesitation my supervisor mentioned, “Sure, completely!” And he or she was proper. Rebecca oversaw all of the planning, improvement and execution of the corporate’s advertising campaigns, which supported lead technology for the gross sales workforce. They’re related, are you stunned? After all not, however we frequently overlook how related gross sales and advertising are. The success or failure of 1 impacts the opposite and so forth. These conferences had been a possibility for advertising to grasp the challenges and targets the gross sales workforce faces and the way advertising can higher assist their counterpart with the intention to meet a typical objective – buyer acquisition. Each groups can present one another with nice knowledge and perception, together with buyer suggestions, market analysis, and gross sales efficiency metrics. This data can assist each groups assess the effectiveness of their lead technology efforts, gross sales methods, or advertising campaigns and make the required changes.

Embrace the nitty gritty particulars

Whereas strategizing with the gross sales workforce I used to be in a position to acquire insights about present prospects and prospects that helped me decide the easiest way to construction the sequence framework and duplicate. By asking the nitty gritty questions I used to be in a position to perceive how their workforce construction and processes labored, how gross sales reps utilized and arranged snippets for his or her touches in Outreach, and tackle the hurdle round restricted gross sales capability to execute lead processing. 

As a marketer, coming away from these discussions, I had a clearer image of what a profitable sequence technique, framework, and the copy wanted to incorporate. Not only for their advertising marketing campaign efforts, however to go with the gross sales workforce’s new construction which concerned a brand new distribution of roles and redefining workforce obligations and capacities. With out aligning with gross sales to grasp their processes and restrictions we wouldn’t have recognized what was wanted to create an efficient technique and course of that may profit each groups.

So, embrace stepping into the nitty gritty particulars of your workforce’s processes and the instruments they use. You’ll be stunned by what you uncover– What gaps, bottlenecks, and inconsistencies you’ll discover and likewise the alternatives to optimize, redefine, and align inside and between groups to create extra streamlined efficient processes.

Are you a pathway or a roadblock?

Coming again to our consumer’s assertion, “Do I actually have to be in these conferences?” This query introduced a number of ideas to thoughts I would like you to think about when desirous about alignment between your groups. Subsequent time you end up sitting in a gathering asking your self “why am I right here?” Ask your self once more with the mindset, “what can I contribute?” “How can my function and obligations positively impression others to assist us each succeed?”

A corporation could also be made up of various groups however on the finish of the day all of them try in the direction of the identical objectives, rising their buyer base and rising income. Every workforce performs an element in reaching that finish objective whether or not it’s constantly producing new pipeline, closing received alternatives or rising buyer renewals and constructing buyer loyalty.

The obligations of promoting, gross sales and buyer successes move from one into the following and at instances overlaps. To create a seamless transition, every workforce can present one another with insights and sources to optimize methods and processes to maneuver the enterprise ahead.

So subsequent time you’re creating your technique, speaking with one other workforce member or sitting in that assembly questioning what your function is, ask your self:

• “Am I a pathway or a roadblock?”
• “What can I do to assist fellow groups succeed?”
• “How does my job and obligations have an effect on different groups?”

Suggestions & Methods to handle misalignment