Procedures such as inbound marketing or content marketing and lead development with functional CRMs are already taking place exclusively online. At the same time, digitally minded prospects ensure that the lines between sales and marketing are blurring with their online purchase decisions. Marketers and salespeople are therefore already playing on the same team anyway. But what separates the departments from each other that they are not yet working together to offer the customer an optimal buying experience?
While creativity has its place in the marketing department and presents the product in line with the market, sales staff are responsible for distribution, sales and the turnover of the products or services. The department is therefore in direct contact with customers. Communication thus flows in both directions and allows employees to quickly provide feedback and suggestions from customers.
What is sMarketing?
In theory, sMarketing is an oxymoron. This is a fusion of the otherwise contradictory terms sales and marketing. In practice, however, it represents a cooperative approach, in which the two departments work together in symbiosis and can thus significantly increase the company's turnover. With a strategic approach, it is not difficult to establish and keep such cooperation running.
What are the benefits of this principle for open-minded companies?
While the approach is already widely used in small to medium-sized companies, larger companies usually still work with a strict separation of the two departments. The other rivalry between the two parties does not have to shape everyday life. If an existing rivalry still prevents the implementation of such a symbiosis, the following benefits can result in the understanding of all parties involved.
A major advantage of working together between sales and marketers is the transparency created between the two areas. While the parties are otherwise working against each other, it is crucial in sMarketing to create joint processes and achieve common goals more quickly through cooperation. Furthermore, the existing knowledge of the participants can be bundled and a team of experts can be created that actively contributes to the success of the company through more leads. Closed-loop reporting ties in with the topic of “transparency.” With its help, the gaps between marketing and sales can be closed. A key advantage of closed loop reporting is to make marketing measures even more measurable, to identify the most successful ones and to focus on them in a value-adding way in the future.
The separation of sales and marketing often causes irritation on the part of potential customers. Thanks to marketing, there can be better collaboration through active exchange between departments, which makes it possible to respond better to future customers. This approach means that companies can establish a closer relationship with their target groups and are no longer exclusively concerned with generating leads and the resulting turnover.
Instead, sales and marketing work together to develop materials and offers from which customers benefit. They do not have the feeling that something should be “forced” on them, but appreciate the added value offered. This not only generates short-term purchases, but also acquires long-term customers (through customer satisfaction). The result is higher quality and more profitable customer lifetime value.
How can sMarketing be integrated into companies?
In order to profitably integrate the principle into the company, the following steps are essential:
1. Developing a common framework
2. Creating transparency between the parties
3. Developing a common language
4. Defining the limits and responsibilities of the parties
In order to ensure the success of the cooperation between the two parties, it is important (as stated above) to work together and establish common ground. After all, successful cooperation between both parties ensures the success of the company.
Which requirements are essential?
A solid basis of trust
Rely on confidence-building measures and geographical proximity to facilitate cooperation. This creates a good basis and any reservations and problems can be identified and eliminated at an early stage. During the process, a professional and targeted feedback and improvement culture is essential.
A meaningful exchange
A productive and efficient exchange can be ensured through a wide variety of reliable communication media and channels. This also includes an insight into key figures and relevant information by all participants, with meaningful meetings, continuous meetings and regular updates
A joint approach
An SLA (service level agreement) sets the specific goals of the two departments in an understandable and written form. Through the unique insights of both parties, goals can be made meaningful and achievable. As a result, a promotional process can be designed that leads to both higher turnover and greater corporate success.
Clear distribution of responsibilities
All tasks and responsibilities must be clearly defined when working together between the two departments. This ensures that all pending tasks are completed professionally and on time. A specific contact person is also appointed for all concerns, which highly personalizes cooperation.
How can success be ensured?
Tools to help
For successful sMarketing, it is essential to integrate uniform tools. A CRM is just one of the examples that makes collaboration easier. We can draw on a lot of experience to do this and immediately provide concrete advice. Sales enablement resources such as brochures or presentations also enable employees to access information at any time. Through communication tools, departments can also exchange ideas and clarify differences and cross-departmental information. Marketing software can also be helpful. It automates processes and ensures professional lead scoring as part of lead management. Last but not least, there are tools that help create an SLA and help, for example, set goals, create and use sales resources, scale sales teams, and much more. In addition, identifying a contact person can be very helpful in the long term. The timely analysis, evaluation and optimization of the jointly agreed variables is a useful measure in the process of cooperation.
What steps must be taken to implement it?
Consistent evaluation of contacts
As a result of the previous separation of departments, there is a standardized transfer of customers over the course of the buyer journey. Through so-called lead scoring, the future customer can be located in the buyer's journey and optimally developed from team to customer. These stages can be divided into various development stages or even lifecycle stages.
An exemplary delineation of the lifecycle stages within the buyer journey could look as follows:
1. Subscriber: Has already ordered the newsletter or liked the fan page
2. Confirmed lead: Has shared his contact details, for example
3rd Marketing Qualified Lead: MQL
4th Sales Qualified Lead: SQL
5. Opportunity lead: has already “advanced” in CRM
6th customer
Joint formulation of objectives
Now that the departments are working together, it is extremely important to formulate a common goal in order to create a “sense of unity.” In this way, you achieve harmonized cooperation and joint responsibility for achieving the goals you have set yourself. During this process, the team will grow closer together and everyone involved will benefit from each other.
Target formulations can be designed as follows:
1. Number of MQL's to be delivered monthly
2. Increasing the number of emerging customers
3. Target time for development from subscriber to customer
4. Workflow design
Marketing qualified leads are the currency from which sales success in a company is created. In the previously separate system, MQLs were handed over from marketing to sales — true to the principle of hope that this would then turn them into customers.
On the other hand, sales hoped that marketing would also understand “qualified” as a truly qualified lead. In sMarketing, on the other hand, a joint workflow for dealing with MQLs is defined, which can also be controlled by all participants. The collaboration is therefore not based on the hope of others in the department, but on active action for the success of the company.
SMarketing is by no means a trend term. It is a tried and tested strategy that is increasingly being used. Sales and marketing pull together and achieve more than they could ever do alone.
It is therefore worthwhile to invest time and resources in integrating the two departments and to implement and use channels and tools for professional eMarketing.
In principle, two basic things must always be kept in mind for eMarketing to work:
Always work to tighten the links and keep looking for useful synergies to make the two parties work together even more closely. You should also ensure that marketing and sales employees recognize the benefits of sMarketing and learn how to use them together for joint success. Of course, this is only possible if you look outside the box of long-learned patterns of behavior and lead the company to success. Take advantage of a flexible sMarketing area to make your company more successful.
In a personal video call with one of our founders, we can specifically exchange ideas on tried and tested and new strategies that specifically suit your company.
