10 MIN LEZEN
When sales and marketing are aligned within a company, great things happen. That’s what we call Smarketing. But what exactly is Smarketing? Is it relevant to your SME or business, and if so, how exactly do you implement this approach in your day-to-day operations?
One of the biggest challenges facing companies and SMEs today is a lack of collaboration between sales and marketing. When these teams are not aligned, it will lead to miscommunication, wasted resources and missed opportunities in the long run. Fortunately, this is where the concept of Smarketing comes in.
What is Smarketing?
Smarketing is the strategic collaboration between sales and marketing within an organization. Traditionally, these teams often operate separately, but with proper agreements, short feedback loops and regular, direct communication, Smarketing changes that for a more streamlined and customer-focused approach. This allows you as a company or smaller SME to attract, convert and retain more customers.
When sales and marketing are aligned, great things happen
The importance of Smarketing for a customer-centric organization
A successful implementation of Smarketing offers your organization numerous benefits:
Improved customer satisfaction
By improving collaboration between marketing and sales teams, your organization provides a more consistent and personalized customer experience. This leads to higher customer satisfaction and increased long-term loyalty.
More efficient processes
Smarketing optimizes processes and eliminates duplication of effort as sales and marketing teams share more resources, exchange knowledge and collaborate better on shared projects, which automatically leads to more efficient operations.
Increased sales
Working more efficiently also means more effective lead generation, qualification and conversion. This results in more sales and higher revenue for your business.
Better decision-making
Finally, by sharing and integrating digital data and insights, you as an organization get a more complete picture of the customer journey. This is useful when, for example, you want to optimize your business strategies using data-driven decision-making.
As a company or SME, how do you get started with Smarketing?
Implementing Smarketing seems simple, but it requires a strategic approach and commitment from the entire company. Here are 5 tips to apply Smarketing immediately in your organization:
1. Define shared goals and KPIs.
First and foremost, your sales and marketing teams need to really work together, and that means setting common goals and sharing KPIs. For example, for marketing, set goals about the quantity and quality of leads they need to bring in. For sales, determine how many of those leads should be followed up and converted into customers within a certain amount of time. This way, you create a sense of shared responsibility and motivate your teams to work together.
Tip: Also align goals and rewards. Sales often works with commission and bonuses, while marketing rarely enjoys variable pay. To break silos, goals and rewards must be aligned fairly.
2. Align processes and technology.
To support the principle of shared goals and kpi’s, it is important that your sales and marketing also use the same tools and systems. For example, consider a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to track customer interactions and share data. This way, both teams always have access to the same, up-to-date information.
3. Establish an ideal customer profile
Another important aspect within the principle of Smarketing is the ideal customer profile. By creating an ideal customer profile and identifying your customers’ challenges, needs and buying behavior, you know exactly who you want to reach and what their needs and pain points are. With these insights, you can tailor your marketing and sales actions perfectly to your target audience.
4. Promote open communication
Efficient collaboration obviously goes far beyond an ideal customer profile, tools and processes. Therefore, ensure open communication between your teams as well. Encourage regular meetings, create channels for dialogue and share successes, challenges and insights. Only then will sales and marketing stay aligned.
5. Invest in your people
Finally, ongoing training and development is crucial. Help your teams build the skills and knowledge needed to work together effectively. Only then can they truly improve the customer experience.
How Markies makes your sales and marketing team work together
With Smarketing, we focus on clear and achievable goals, which is essential for smooth collaboration between departments. As experts in growth, sales, marketing, human resources and digital transformation, we are ready to guide you through this extensively.
Are you ready to unleash the power of Smarketing in your organization?
