According to a study by Corporate Visions, only one in 10 companies consider their sales training and demand generation functions to be perfectly aligned. This is a startling problem, and it’s more than just revenue that gets lost.
61% of B2B marketers send all leads directly to sales. However, at the average company, only 27% of those leads will be qualified. When the two departments aren’t communicating clearly, marketers misalign their actions with what sales needs to close the deal. As a result, leads get handed off too early, and the sales department wastes valuable time trying to convert them into customers. Those leads often become cold, or worse: they end up in the hands of your competitors.
60-70% of B2B content created is never used. Why? The most cited reason is because the topic is irrelevant to potential buyers. This is totally preventable. It simply requires that marketers capture insights from sales staff about conversations they’re having with prospects in the field. These insights can help marketers determine what content will resonate with potential buyers most and then develop assets accordingly. When conversations about content direction are skipped, the sales team is left with literature they don’t use, and marketers waste countless hours churning out material irrelevant to the needs of the customer.
When there’s strong alignment between sales and marketing, the pipeline moves efficiently. More high quality leads come in, salespeople are able to close deals more quickly, and customers stay satisfied longer. Misalignment breeds just the opposite: lead volume decreases, the quality of leads drop, and salespeople have a more difficult time closing deals. In fact, 25% of marketers with integrated strategies that align with sales report that sales teams contact prospects within one day — but only 10% of marketers without integrated strategies report the same follow-up time.
How have you seen marketing/sales alignment change your business for the better — and how have you seen misalignment hold your organization back?
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