Conversational Marketing

Chapter 5 Ending the Family Feud Between Marketing and Sales

Historically, marketing and sales teams haven’t had the best track record when it comes to alignment. In many cases, companies have allowed marketing teams and sales teams to operate almost independently of one another. They often have completely separate sets of goals as well as separate philosophies around what the buying experience should look like. Internally, these differences have led to arguments and/or a lack of communication between teams, while externally, they have contributed to a buying experience that can feel bumpy and disjointed.

We saw what this disjointedness looks like first-hand in Chapter Four when we explored how lead capture forms act as roadblocks, forcing buyers to wait and preventing them from reaching out directly to sales reps. From the buyer’s perspective, having to fill out a form creates a clear delineation between where the marketing portion of the buying process ends and where the sales portion begins.

While Marketing and Sales are ultimately responsible for the same funnel, and for building relationships with the same people, the way these teams have been operating doesn’t always reflect that. Traditionally, Marketing has sat at the top of the funnel, obsessing over generating as many leads as possible for Sales, while Sales has sat at the bottom of the funnel, trying to convert those leads into customers. Have you spotted how this arrangement could cause (and has caused) tension ...