Sales and Marketing Alignment? Or do we just call it Growing a business?
There’s a ton of talk out there about the aligning Sales and Marketing departments. HubSpot went so far as to coin the phrase “Smarketing”, and I’m sure they aren’t the first to attempt a clever way to merge the two departments. The more and more I see these terms the more I get confused as to why we need them at all. Haven’t we always been aligning Sales and Marketing? If you are looking to grow your business is there any other way?
If you boil it down, both teams are very much alike and they both want the same thing…. customers!
The way I see it, Sales and Marketing go hand and hand. Now I understand there are specialties within each, but they should always be working together and here’s why –
| Goals: | Sales | Marketing |
| Max visibility both online and offline | Yes | Yes |
| Be better than the competition | Yes | Yes |
| Qualified Leads | Yes | Yes |
| Closed Deals – Customers | Yes | Yes |
The list could go on and on with both sides saying YES!
Both Sales and Marketing have their way of reaching these goals, so why is it such a big deal to align the two?
I believe it comes down to education and ego in some cases. Some companies simply need help bridging the gap, and this is where 3rd party partners make sense because their singular, objective focus is on the bottom line.
Objectivity removes ego, which in turn helps bring these two powerhouse departments together rather than battling it out for the top spot.
I’d rather be #1 in an industry and outperforming the competition than be the #1 “arm” for a company falling short, wouldn’t you?
