While B2B marketing and sales teams are divided by title, they need to work together to create measurable success. The best marketing plans are executed by an attentive marketing team and an involved sales team. The tasks of both overlap quite a bit, so as a B2B sales agent you can’t expect to tip back your office chair and wait for the sales to magically appear in your lap. However, if you sit up straight and jump headfirst into the marketing place, there’s a good chance you will see your B2B sales skyrocket. Ready to learn more about how you can bag those sales? The following are six things a B2B marketing manager would say to a sales manager if given the chance.
1. Marketing is not magic.
Marketing involves creativity, data analysis, market research, digital content, and a lot of communication in order to be successful. Effective marketing looks like magic, but it is a team effort with so much done on the backend. Top marketing campaigns are a lot of work, but that work pays off when brand awareness soars and sales follow. As a sales manager who wants to improve your sales, your first step should be reaching out to the marketing team to see how you can help, and to find out the most effective way to close sales following their strategy.
2. Are you sure about who your perfect customer is? (PS – It’s not everyone.)
One common misconception in sales is that everyone is a potential customer. They aren’t. If you are trying to sell your product to everyone, you are wasting their time and yours. Refocusing your marketing, advertising, and sales efforts onto your target customer will offer a much better ROI than continuing to market into what is effectively empty space. You wouldn’t try to sell cat food to a dog owner, so stop trying to sell your product to an audience with no interest.
3. Have you logged into the CRM yet … or ever? (AKA – Is that a Rolodex on your desk?)
As a B2B sales agent do you feel disconnected from your company’s advertising and marketing efforts? Maybe that is because you haven’t taken the time to log in or thoroughly navigate the CRM yet. The same way marketing companies need to look past Facebook and jump into new social media markets, it’s time to adopt new technology and truly learn what an effective communication and goal-orientated tool the CRM software can be.
4. No, automation tools are not robots (well, maybe a little).
One major reservation that people have about automation tools is that they feel robotic. Perhaps the most archaic automation tools are, but if automation is working correctly it is anything but. Automated emails and customer tracking tools should feel highly personalized and relevant. If your B2B sales tools feel robotic, there is a good chance you need to revise the way you approach them.
5. Yes, advertising does work. But you need to nurture warm leads.
Effective advertising is only half the battle. The goal of advertising is to bring customers to the sales team, but it is up to the sales team to close the sale. A lot of potential customers will click through to look at a product, but then don’t complete the sale. The internet is distracting; it’s very easy to click away and never return. It’s your turn now. Grab the attention of browsing customers and close the sale. Reach out to those with incomplete carts and offer them personalized offers that make checkout desirable.
6. Did I mention? Marketing is NOT magic.
Finally, in case you didn’t hear us before, marketing is NOT magic. We put in a lot of work on our end, so make sure you are up to the task of completing the sale. We can send customers your way, but only you can close the deal. Personal attention, open communication, and shared goals are what make B2B advertising and sales compatible and effective.
Interested in learning about how we can help your B2B Marketing Manager AND Sales Manager? Drop us a note, we’re always ready to chat.
