BCM Agency
The sales and marketing disconnect – how to deliver in a digital world
Imagine a trade show stand, circa 1998. Sales and Marketing are all there, ready to engage with the passing trade. But whilst they’re both trying to row the boat in the same direction, their oars are out of sync. Marketing is starting conversations whilst Sales focuses on conversions. Between those two poles there is a gaping chasm – the famed ‘Sales and Marketing Disconnect’. When Marketing and Sales get together after the show, over a drink
or a bite to eat, they chat and share information openly. T e disconnect dissolves.
But that was 1998, and the world was a very diff erent place. So, from
a post-pandemic, determinedly digital perspective, what does the Sales and Marketing relationship look like these days – and what is the key to resolving any disconnect that remains?
Knowing the customer: a shared endeavour In the old model, Marketing could expect access to tacit customer knowledge at best. T e invaluable customer insight Sales gleaned every day from prospects and existing accounts was not plugged into Marketing’s activities. The inevitable result was that whilst
the relationship was
undoubtedly delivering many positive things, it was not always delivering the right things at the right time – that is, the intelligence and
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activity that would shorten the target audience’s journey from suspect to prospect, and thereafter (via Sales) to timely conversion. Fast-forward to today, and the situation has
changed radically. The line between Sales and Marketing has not only moved, but fl exed, with many of each discipline’s responsibilities being at least partly assumed by the other. Take the use of customer relationship manage- ment (CRM) systems, for example. T ese systems now enable data captured at the Sales coalface to be shared with Marketing and translated into insights that can help Marketing more eff ectively nudge each customer on to the next step of their journey - and closer to a buying decision. At the same time, this has forced a culture
change within Sales, as they must now focus on capturing that information from their customers and prospects (Where did you hear about us? How do you prefer to be communicated with? What content would be of particular interest to you?) and sharing it within the CRM. However, it’s important to understand that whilst solutions like CRM and other marketing technology (martech) tools can certainly help accelerate and improve results, they have not changed the fundamental premise of successful marketing and selling. T is is that knowing your customer – and their
pain points - is the difference between scatter- gun activity that delivers sporadic returns versus
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