How to Achieve Sales and Marketing Alignment at Moving Companies
Marketing and sales always have a hard time playing nicely together. It doesn’t seem like they should, but companies of all sizes and structures deal with the same issues.
Both the sales and marketing teams want the same thing – to increase sales and grow the company. But there are often open questions about who gets attribution, who counts as a marketing or sales lead, how they are measured, how best to log information into HQ Sales or your CRM system (and how frequently), etc.
Often, and incorrectly, both teams feel as though they would be able to succeed without the other. So, how can that divide be fixed?
Well, once both teams align and agree on a handful of items, typically the relationship is much more manageable, even positive! Let’s take a look.
Sync Your Marketing and Sales Tools
You can’t align the two departments and two sets of professionals if you’re not speaking the same language and looking at the same data sets. Without connectivity, your marketing and sales efforts will remain entirely separate initiatives.
Track the Most Critical Metrics
What are the metrics your company should focus on to ensure success? It will vary for each company, but here are a few starting points:
Which programs bring in the most leads cost-effectively?
Which programs bring in the most highly-qualified leads?
How many web visitors do you receive?
Conversion percentage (inquiry to an estimate, inquiry to a booked job)
Length of the sales cycle (how many days to book)
Agree on Your Ideal Customer
You have sales targets to hit and don’t want to waste efforts marketing to the wrong customers. Some moving companies mainly run commercial moves, others only HHG. Some brands outperform with college kids but fail when it comes to working with real estate brokerages. Get your sales and marketing teams on the same page about what you’re selling and who, exactly, you’re selling to. With a clear target, your marketing team will be able to target their spend effectively, so that your sales team receives more high quality leads that close.
Agree on What the Stages of the Booking Cycle and Stick to It
If the sales team defines the sales stages (initial inquiry, scheduling an estimate, estimate completed, job booked, etc.), the marketing team needs a full understanding of what these stages mean and when a lead gets moved from one to the next. They can nurture leads most effectively with alignment on stages. If the sales team make changes to workflows, CRM fields, or anything that has existed for some time, marketing needs to be in the loop.
There is no greater happiness in business than when your departments work together effectively. So, go on marketing and sales teams – align!
