Historically, sales and marketing teams are not always on the same page. For salespeople, their objective is to get their products/services/solutions into the hands of their customers. Marketers, on the other hand, want to get the ‘idea’ of using or adopting the product into the minds of potential customers. You don’t always see these functions working together because their end goals are different; however, when sales and marketing organizations put aside their differences and collaborate, the results can be staggering. Experts report that aligning these functions can result in a 50% bump in your win rate.

To reap the benefits of an ideal Sales/Marketing partnership, you need to agree on some key elements:

The Target Audience and How They Purchase

Agree on who you are targeting and ‘how’ the customer decides to purchase your solution, known as their buying journey. The best way to determine your ideal customer is to map out ideal buyer characteristics. When related to the company, they are known as firmographics and for individuals, personas. Once this is determined, it will make it much easier to target your desired customers—whether they are current customers who could potentially buy more from you, or completely new customers. If your audience is technical, scientific, or engineering inclined, then they likely have some buying behaviors that have moved to the digital realm, while others may still desire a personal touch.