Sales And Marketing Alignment Improving The Bottom Line

A company is only as good as the sum of its parts, and combining different areas in your business can help to ensure maximum efficiency. The best example of this is with sales and marketing alignment, and when you focus on improving the way these two departments work with one another.

Sales and marketing alignment is similar to how it sounds. This is a process that involves getting both your marketing and sales departments on the same page. It's about improving the communication between them, defining clear goals that both understand, and improving the way they work with one another. The key lies in helping each department understand exactly how the other works and what steps they're taking at any particular time.

To improve your alignment levels, start by having each department do a quick 'ride along' with the other. No, this doesn't mean taking a road trip. Instead, it refers to letting one department watch as the other goes through their job. An hour spent by a marketing rep watching a sales rep can help them see what areas sales is focusing on and then let them devise better marketing strategies.

Next, consider setting up a team that pulls a few members from each department. Even when you're pressing sales and marketing alignment, communication between the two departments can still be lax. When you have a team set up, they can easily discuss, review, and plan. Through working together they will be able to determine which areas need improvement and what areas are working well. This method of planning draws from both departments' talent and knowledge and also ensures that they're both in the loop when a new strategy is developed to get better profits. This also ensures that everyone is on the same page in terms of identifying problems instead of having both departments blaming the other.

You can celebrate together, too. When a goal is met a short interoffice party with both departments will help them see what they've accomplished and improve motivation. In short, even though sales and marketing are two separate departments, they are very much linked to one another. It makes sense that they be even more connected, and sales and marketing alignment is one of the single most important ways to go about ensuring that they work together and that your business receives maximum profit from their efforts.