B2B sales and marketing organizations have recently seen a significant increase in technology solutions to help improve business performance. This has helped many leaders being to focus on and optimize a more integrated lead-to-revenue funnel. However, with the increase in available technology solutions has come the challenge of determining which one is right for the organization (e.g. marketing automation, content management, business intelligence, etc.). Even more of a problem is that many organizations just want to throw a new platform at the Sales and Marketing Alignment issue and hope it resolves itself. Good luck!
What leaders need to focus on when attempting to move toward better alignment is encouraging a fundamental shift in the way Sales and Marketing see their interaction with one another. If this is done in connection with choosing a technology that provides the correct actionable insights for the business, Sales and Marketing will be set up to focus on generating revenue - together.
CRM does not stand alone. It needs to be the foundation upon which other solutions add situation-specific value. -- Aberdeen Group, 2016
Without a doubt, the CRM is the foundation for any successful B2B company. Other technologies should be evaluated to see if they bring value to the organization by providing a unique perspective on how the customer is being engaged. It is the ability of the organization to unlock timely, actionable insights that will provide a competitive advantage.
So what should business leaders focus on when choosing a new B2B technology aimed at aligning Sales and Marketing?
They need to focus not on the bells and whistles of the individual product, but rather if the technology can assist teams in executing identified best practices. Aberdeen Group in their "Marketing/Sales Alignment 2016: Who is Agile Enough to Win?" study identified a large collection of best practices that are more frequently adopted around Sales and Marketing Alignment by the most successful firms. These best practices may serve as a starting point for an organization attempting to identify what needs to be done to empower the Sales and Marketing relationship.
From the figure, you see that a few themes emerge:
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Lead qualification
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On-Demand, personalized marketing content
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Lead nurturing
Leaders might want to consider that if these are the themes that are seen as best practices among top performing organizations with a focus on Sales and Marketing Alignment that maybe they should step back and determine if they have processes in place to allow their sales and marketing leaders to execute on these best practices. Using these best practices will also give a more objective way to evaluate new technology and provide a checklist of things to consider.
