The number one rule for sales is being broken
For most people that love barbecue, the number one rule of barbecue is, "It's My Grill!" That means hands off and keep your spatula to yourself. A challenging situation is cropping up for lots of people who are used to cooking up their own leads as salespeople, and someone (marketing) has swiped the spatula.
It's a common sentiment - this hard-core personal grill protection - it might even be called affection. Some might see those who stand by their grill as a kind of barbecue control freak, but you can be sure they are not the only ones who feel that way.
Just ask someone you know if they like to share their grill.
When marketing takes the grill from sales
It's no secret that the sales process has gone digital. And that puts a great deal of what used to be sales-driven interactions in the hands of the marketing crowd.
In marketing's defense, it isn't their fault. They didn't push sales out of the way, it was the buyers that made the change.
Before the pandemic, buyers already preferred digital and remote sales, and the shutdown pushed them even further. Recent research shows just how far it's gone.
Made with Story Magic
The shift to digital has put marketing in charge of cooking up all of the sales prospects.
There's lots of evidence that 70% of the buyer process is now entirely digital.
That means that marketing is now the one driving the majority of the sales experience, often in the absence of sales guidance. If it was my grill, there would be words.
Where does customer insight live?
Seriously, in most companies who is most in tune with the needs of the customer? Sales.
And, who knows best the objections and questions that come up in the process of buyer consideration - yes, that would be sales, too.
It creates a problem when the majority of interactions, information, questions posed, and real consideration is happening outside of a sales-informed experience.
Since that is a digital experience, it becomes a digital sales problem. It is critical to put sales insights back in the driver's seat when it comes to helping buyers say yes, more often, and more quickly.
Alignment is what's needed
The problem with the alignment that is needed is the fact that marketing and sales weren't exactly good buddies before. The truth is they have different goals, a different language, and a different culture. Bridging the silos in a practical way means that all of the new responsibilities that marketing has for preparing and educating sales prospects will require practical connections between their functions.
No doubt, this is part of the genesis of the RevOps role in companies that can afford or flex to this approach. But if the right marketing approach is used, sales insights and feedback are baked into the development of websites and marketing plans.
What's at stake is the effectiveness of sales, and the quality, speed to close, and revenue that follows results.
