Synergy within companies ensures that everyone is pulling in the same direction towards the same goal. Aligning the sales and marketing teams means seamlessly engaging, informing and retaining customers through content, conversation, and sales conversion. Strategies within the departments should be built on solid foundations, as marketing studies leads and sales converts leads into customers. 

On a recent AdVic “Salesforce Simplified” podcast, Fangled Tech CEO Andrew Deutsch spoke to the success that teamwork can bring to any company. 

How would you advise sales and marketing teams to go about building and executing a strategic, go to market playbook?

“I would inform and make sure that they understood that it is a team approach to developing that strategy. The marketing team will be responsible for truly looking at the qualitative study of who that customer is. What are the personas?  And there may be multiple types of customers that you’re dealing with. But in looking at each of those, what are the actual problems that they have that you can solve? What are the challenges, what are the needs, the desires? And then look to the organization as to what do we make and do, and how do we behave in ways that actually matter to that consumer? And then involving the sales team in the development of the strategy so that when they go out, they can speak to the actual things that matter.

“An example, imagine you’re a car manufacturer and you as the engineer who happens to be the CEO decides that all customers out there are excited about the fact that we use thicker steel and quality paint. Things that you think matter. When actually your consumer for the model car that you make is more interested in safety for their family, reliability, and comfort. So there’s a disconnect. Now you’ve got your salespeople out on the word of the CEO, talk about steel and the customers don’t relate. Well, if we knew that there was this niche in the market that wanted those things that we just described, and the marketing team gets that feedback from the sales team, then they’re equipped with the messaging and all the work that marketing does to the world and the audience. Now, the salespeople can speak to that, to the customer who’s the fit. I know it’s a little contrived way of bringing it around, but it’s about the team. It’s not about just making the sales guys go out and do their job.”

Bottom Line:

• Unify across teams.
• Study and understand the customer.
• Develop strategy around customers needs.
• Frame questions around brand alignment to customer interest.
• Translate strategy to the sales team, so that they can communicate essential information to customers.

So, it’s really a synergy that needs to be built between Sales and Marketing departments…

“Look at construction of a house. The designers design a house… And, of course, the guys who come out to dig the hole go, the guys who designed it don’t know what we do. They dig a hole. Then, the next crew comes in and they have to build the foundation. The foundation isn’t right because the guy who dug the hole isn’t right, according to them. And then the next guys who do the framing blame…. So, each is passing it to the next. Well, what would happen if in the design process of a house, you knew who was going to be doing the building and you brought them in and shared the plans with them before you finalize them? Wouldn’t it be great if everyone along the way understood what they’re going to need… and then you start building?

“It’s that way in a powerful business, too. If you listen to teams where marketing and sales are constantly butting heads, the sales guys will tell you, ‘the marketing guys create these programs that can never be implemented because they don’t know anything about our customers.’ And the marketing team is saying, ‘those sales guys, they’re just doing what they want to do. If they would only follow our plan.’ And that’s when the truck hits the telephone pole and everybody gets hurt.”

Bottom Line:

• Each member of the team should know and understand their part of the project.
• Work together as one for the goal of the bottom line.
• Sales and marketing teams on one accord to execute the goal.

Are there any new tools that you’re excited about these days that would be of interest to sales and marketing teams to be aware of?

“One that we’ve brought to market, and again, it isn’t our software, but we provide the training is, is a system. And this is great being an audio podcast because people will have to check it out afterwards called the Virtual Presenter Course*. We found ways to answer the question, how can you be present in the room in a Zoom meeting when you can’t physically be there? How can you be more interesting, impactful, all of those great things in a sales meeting or presentation? So we’ve developed training to use this open source software that’s out there so that when you’re in a Zoom meeting, you can properly do a PowerPoint presentation, walk through a video, demo a website. Rather than being that little head in a box off to the corner, you can be actively in the window while you’re doing that.

“What we found is that salespeople that are using this tech are keeping people interested are much more memorable than that boring guy who isn’t quite focused and doesn’t understand how to give a presentation well and loses his audience. So that’s one tool that we’re advocating for.“

Bottom Line:

• Virtual Presenter Course
• The Virtual Presenter Course trains salespeople to effectively present virtually. 

During AdVic’s podcast chat with Andrew, we also touched on CRM implementation, AI, and turning sales teams into selling machines. Listen to the whole episode here. 

And if you’re looking for CRM solutions for your company to help create a better synergy between your sales and marketing departments, AdVic has a solution, so let’s chat today! Fill out the quick form below, or click here.[gravityform id=5]
*Note: The link offers AdVic Salesforce Blog readers an already-applied $50 off coupon at checkout for the Virtual Presenter Course.

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Andrew Deutsch, CEO of Fangled Tech, was a recent guest on AdVic’s “Salesforce Simplified” podcast and talked about converting sales no’s into yes’ by analyzing important data he says may be “leaking” within your sales funnels. Then we dug into transforming sales teams into selling machines, and more. Here are some highlights from that conversation.

What changes are we witnessing in the sales world today when it comes to generating, nurturing, and converting leads into customers? 

“I don’t know if I would call it a change as much as a maturity. Many people are starting to recognize that they don’t know what a lead is. And if you asked a bunch of different salespeople, even those in the CRM world, there’s a piece of lead that’s missing that really it’s become valuable. The difference between a suspect and a lead. So suspects are people who you don’t know, but very possibly could do business with you. Once they become a lead, there’s at least a clue that says that this is somebody who could do business with you as you start to narrow those things down. I think that the maturity now is that people are recognizing that the sales funnel leaks. And it’s good that it leaks. And it has more stages in it. Although, many times the sales process allows stages to be in microseconds rather than having to actually, physically in your mind, go through each stage. So, those are some of the concepts that I’m seeing that are different as folks are maturing and really understanding that process.”

Bottom Line: 

• Lead vs. Suspect.
• Suspect: unknown, however can possibly become a customer.
• Lead: provides greater detail on who the suspect is.
• Maturity: understanding leaks in the sales funnel.
• Maturity in the sales funnel allows for greater understanding of “leaks” and the expansion of phases throughout the sales journey.

It was interesting that you used the term “leaks” when referring to sales funnels. What would be leaking?

“I’m speaking in generalizations because it’s not everyone, but there’s always been what I’ve called the ‘kiss or kill’ mentality… As you’re going through the leads in your funnel, if you get a ‘no,’ they’re gone. They’re not viable. There’s no future for them. And now with tech that’s out there, those no’s have value. When you rule out a lead, you may discover that if you’re paying attention to those pieces of it, it may lead to the need for a new product development. Maybe the reason that all of those people left your funnel is because there’s a need that you’re not meeting, or they don’t recognize that you do meet the need that they’re looking for. In the old days of the sales funnel, you would see a chart where the first two steps are sales. I mean the first two steps are marketing and then they turn it over to the sales team. And of course, I always call that throwing a turd over the wall. ‘Here it is guys, go sell it.’

“A true sales funnel is an hourglass. You’re collecting customers at the bottom of the hourglass and continuing to nurture them.”

“In the maturity of the sales funnel, now marketing needs to go further down the funnel before sales. Marketing has learned that they need to be involved at every level to check the leaks, the stuff that’s leaking out of the funnel that didn’t make it. And also at that point of sale, because if marketing is not involved at that point, how are you going to convert all those people who just bought your product into voracious advocates for your brand? They’re going to go out and shout from the hilltops, how wonderful it was to do business with you. So, a true sales funnel is an hourglass. And you’re collecting those customers at the bottom of the hourglass and continuing to nurture them. Not just because you expect them to buy again, because you expect them to love your brand so much that they’re going to convince the world that there’s no other business out there you should be doing business with.”

Bottom Line: 

• A “leak” is no longer a lead. 
• Leaks provide valuable insight to a company’s future development, as their needs can become a new product.
• Marketing is more involved in the sales funnel from  checking  ‘leaks’, to point-of-purchase.
• Sales funnels are comparable to hourglasses, as customers are continuously nurtured even after purchase  to become ambassadors for the brand.

How do we turn sales teams into selling machines?

“The mistake that people have made in the past is thinking that salespeople are only motivated by commissions. So, one of the things that we do is we actually look at our salespeople as human beings, not as selling machines, as we convert them into that. Because when you really understand what are the personalities, and motivation structures, and the attributes of the human, and compare those to high-performing salespeople, what you find are the true motivation strategies of your sales folks.

“The way to create monstrous sales teams that go out is to actually understand and know the personas and every detail of your people. And treat them as individuals in ways that get them to work together as a team.”

Bottom Line:

• By understanding that sales people are human and not machines, enables a relationship that influences them to perform at their best.
• Understanding what motivates salespeople.
• Design training and development in a way that people can connect and identify with.

If you think your company’s lead, sales and brand advocates need better tools to navigate your company’s sales funnels and stop the “leaking,” why not have a chat with an Ad Victoriam consultant today about solutions that will plug those leaks? Fill out the brief form below, or reach us here. 

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Resource Articles:

Four Ways Salesforce CRM Improves Lead Conversions

Sales is Not a ‘Churn and Burn,” It’s a Partnership (Blog or Podcast)

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