Sales and marketing alignment is a holy grail for many organizations. To attain this, businesses must master key pivotal elements that include: systems & reporting, goals & key performance indicators (KPIs), and culture. But, the question that begs an answer is: where do you begin?
Systems and reporting
Let's start with systems and reporting. Are your teams working from a unified source of truth? If the teams use disparate tools, their results and strategies will never align. However, if both parties have access to a shared platform or at least have visibility into each other's tools, they can report and work together seamlessly.
Shared Goals and KPIs
Next are goals and KPIs. Is your team operating as separate units or a cohesive entity? Misalignment in this sphere can spell disaster for your entire organization. Both teams need to share goals, visions, and reporting capabilities to ensure that everyone is rowing in the same direction.
Team Culture
Lastly, let's talk about culture. Do your teams view themselves as distinct entities competing for resources or recognition, or as two halves of the same whole? Regular communication and mutual respect are key to fostering a team culture. Regularly scheduled meetings will result in less blame-shifting and more collaboration toward common objectives.
These are some of the six pillars are the foundation of strongly aligned teams. Without them, ego balancing, unclear responsibility assignment, and ownership disputes can become detrimental, hindering your ultimate goal—revenue generation. With a six-pillar framework, these challenges can be addressed in a structured manner, promoting consistency, fairness, and cooperation. The result? Engaged accounts, increased business, and a stronger sense of camaraderie.
Understanding your alignment level
To understand your current alignment level, use our self-assessment template for marketing and sales alignment. It helps you gauge your audience's awareness, process efficiency, accountability mechanisms, systems, reporting structures, goal setting and KPIs, and the prevailing culture.
Once you comprehend where your teams currently stand, crafting a roadmap towards perfect alignment becomes a manageable task. This roadmap should include steps such as defining a shared audience, setting shared KPIs, assigning clear responsibilities, facilitating open communication, and celebrating victories together.
As you progress on this journey, remember: your goal is not just to improve alignment for the sake of it, but to boost overall business performance. After all, when sales and marketing come together, the results can be truly extraordinary.
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