Sales vs Marketing...Can't We All Get Along?

Collaborate. Brainstorm. Share. Align. Merge. Partner. Achieve.

These are all things the sales team and marketing department have always had a difficult time doing well. Until now. With jobs on the line and budget cuts at every corner for most of us, it's time we all just get along! OK, I will officially get off my soapbox now and offer some BPI Media Group tips and tools to help you make this dream scenario become more realistic.

• Print digitally. This is a great way to provide the sales team with handouts, case studies, white papers, etc. without tanking your budget all at once. By printing digitally, you can print a lower quantity resulting in dollars saved and less obsolete materials to trash later. Another huge benefit of printing digitally is the ability to personalize. Let's face it, we salespeople tend to have pretty big egos, so we like to see our name on the pieces we're handing out to the prospects we're chasing. If you're gonna print it for the sales team, why not personalize it? Or, take that personalization a step farther and dress up a presentation or case study geared toward a specific BIG prospect for your salesperson and you as a marketer will be their hero and make them look like a genius. I promise. You can do this on your direct mail pieces too. Stats show that you're more likely to get a return from a personalized piece than a static one. BPI's digital printing capabilities have expanded, so let's talk about ways digital printing could help you better partner with your sales team.

• Track Your ROI. Easier said than done, right? Not if you're utilizing a dashboard with real-time, lead-generation captures. Merge this with your CRM tool (we love salesforce.com!) and you'll have provided your sales team with better ways to follow up on those leads you're working so hard to generate for them.

I know this is marketing 101 here, but don't forget to qualify leads. Recruit your sales team to define what a qualified lead is exactly, or better yet, who is a qualified lead. No one in your organization knows the customers better than the guys and gals in front of them, the sales team. (Well, maybe except for your customer service department, but that's a different post for a different day.) Using a tool such as a dashboard to track your campaign results is also a great way to track your ROI. Brainstorm with your sales team to incorporate some cross-media into your printed materials. Check out BPI's campaign dashboard. This is an awesome way to keep track of what the sales team is doing and also hold yourself accountable for how your marketing budget is being spent, which is typically poured in generously at the top of the sales funnel. (Side note: Check out Delivering Happiness by Zappo's CEO, Tony Hsieh to get a great idea of how sales, marketing and customer service can all work in perfect harmony and do some pretty amazing stuff.)

• Allow Access to Materials. I've heard enough marketers express concern over branding and maintaining consistency to know that it is hard to let go of the reigns and give the sales team access to the materials on which you have worked so hard to write, create and produce. But, what if in the end it could make your job easier, make you look oh-so-smart and keep the sales team happy? Too good to be true? Not exactly. BPI Media's storefront solution can help you protect your brand while giving your sales team what they need: collateral and tools to hit the pavement. This is probably the biggest way you can free up some of marketing's time (and budget) and please the sales team. Our solution offers template-based collateral that sales people can order as print on demand. This gives them the opportunity to personalize and pick and choose the materials they need for a trade show they're attending or for a big presentation. Arming your sales team with this invaluable tool will go a long way toward bridging the gap between your team and theirs. Don't worry, you can also set up approval steps where all orders placed by the sales team require approval before being processed. Just a good way to keep everyone in check and make sure over-eager sales person numero uno isn't running up a hefty tab by printing too much or ordering too often. If you'd like to see a demo of our storefront solution, let me know; I can share that through a webinar-style demo.

I'll leave you with a few other thoughts on ways sales and marketing can work together instead of against one another:

-Recycle or repurpose pieces: turn a white paper into a blog post (and link it up socially, so the sales team can share it) or convert a case study into a hand out or include it in your newsletter. Comes up with creative ways to give your sales team a reason to call or get in front of prospects!

-Group collateral based on issue rather than on industry. In short, don't make it industry specific or you can limit its use. Chances are the issues or challenges your product or service can address is encountered by multiple industries.

-Help your customers solve a problem by focusing on content they can use. A sales person who hands out a case study to a prospect can most likely better relate to that case study than to a corporate capabilities brochure.

I hope these tips and tools will be helpful to you and your team (sales and marketing included) in achieving the results you desire to help make your organization not only profitable but a pleasant place to work with your teammates. Remember, “Our success is measured by the success of our customers.”

Until next time...Elizabeth