If you work in Sales and Marketing, you're likely already aware of the age-old rivalry between the two departments, and how this infighting (however fun to joke about) does nothing to generate marketing leads or sales. In fact, the disconnect between the two camps actively hinders the lead generation and lead nurturing process.
The result? Neither team achieves their goals and the business as a whole suffers. In order to rectify the situation and ensure that marketing leads start coming in thick and fast, you need to find the root cause of why marketing and sales can’t agree on what defines lead generation.
If marketing and sales realise they’ve got the same goals and metrics, they’ll realise they’re on the same team
The first thing that both sides need to accept is that they’re aiming for the same thing – to generate high quality leads that convert into sales and drive revenue. However, the same goal is usually measured in completely different ways depending on whether you happen to work in marketing or sales, which makes each team think that they’ve got different goals. Get them to appreciate that their goals are the same, and you’re one step closer to getting them to agree on lead generation. Another way to alert them to the fact they’re playing on the same side is to introduce the same, or similar, metrics to determine whether goals are being reached.
Marketing and sales need to agree on what constitutes a lead
Another common cause for squabbles over what constitutes a qualified lead is that sales and marketing have different ideas about what defines a lead in the first place. What marketing thinks is a sales qualified lead (SQL), sales might regard as only a marketing qualified lead (MQL) – and vice versa. In this scenario, marketing would send the sales team a list of (what they think are) hot leads, only for sales to be angered by the fact none of them result in conversions (because the marketing leads were passed onto sales far too early, or the sales team was insufficiently briefed).
An SLA will ensure that both teams are clear about who is responsible for each step of the lead generation and nurturing process
Both sides agreeing on what constitutes a qualified lead is crucial. So it’s worth drawing up an SLA to determine a lead scoring process, as well as when a lead is passed onto sales, and how sales handle these leads. This SLA can be updated to respond to data you collect about prospects over time. You could also agree to use the same lead-scoring framework like BANT or GPCT. Marketing and sales also need to be clear about who is responsible for which parts of the lead generation and nurturing process to avoid leads slipping through the cracks and never being followed up on.
It’s fine to use different terminology – as long as both parties understand each other
As trivial as it sounds, different terminology used by either team to classify leads – sales accepted lead (SAL) vs SQL, for example – can cause a huge amount of bickering that impedes the lead generation process, simply because lines of communication become obstructed. It’s fine for teams to use different terms, as long as they are both aware of the other’s lingo.
Ensure that your marketing team shares their wealth of knowledge about leads with sales
The flow of communication from marketing to sales is vital. Marketing will have interacted with a lead at multiple touch points, from initial contact, up until the point at which the marketing lead becomes an SQL. They’ve accumulated a wealth of knowledge and data about each lead – information that they need to pass on to sales to increase the chance of conversion. Your marketing team and the sales team need to be in near constant dialogue with each other, or make use of marketing automation software that allows for much easier tracking of each lead’s journey through the sales funnel.
If you’d like further insights about how to align marketing and sales using smarketing, and how lead generation services can assist, download our guide:
