Will B2B Marketing ever align with Sales? Quelling the Clash of the Titans

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of MathMarketing, writes...

In B2B marketing, goal-setting is used to incite progressive behaviour. B2B Marketing 101 teaches us to:

• Know what’s happening in the market; and
• Set the right goals to keep on top of (or lead) market trends.

Piece of cake, right? Well, actually, it’s only one piece in the bigger B2B cake, which is precisely why fellow DemandCon keynote Christine Crandell believes B2B marketing departments disconnect with their cousins from Sales. So why are Sales and Marketing agendas often so disparate, and how can you use this understanding to broach alignment?

As SVP of Marketing for Accept, and previously as EVP and CMO at Egenera and VP Marketing at Ariba, Christine has seen lack of alignment play its hand many times. Her view is that this B2B marketing and B2B sales disconnect is a ‘role issue’:

“Sales is preoccupied with the seller’s need to convert the product into cash; Marketing with the idea of satisfying the needs of the customer.  Sales’ focus is on the here-and-now, taking whatever the market dishes out while fighting to make their quota. Marketing, on the other hand, focuses on goals; some that are in the future. Their eyes are fixed on both emerging trends and the realities of tomorrow’s revenue. These core differences make it clear why these titans are frequently at odds.”

And this clarity will bear fruit in her keynote on day 2 of DemandCon, where Christine will talk about barriers and remedies:

• The 6 archetypes of Sales and Marketing;
• 5 techniques for getting Sales and Marketing to team up; and
• 3 surefire ways to make alignment stick.

In the study MathMarketing conducted (jointly with MarketingProfs.com) about alignment in 1400 businesses, we found that aligned processes are also key. This is why my own keynote on day 1 will show how to gain visibility, and act as a relevant backdrop to Christine’s presentation the following morning.

Then in our B2B Marketing Training Workshop on day 3 of DemandCon, Chuck Besondy and I will lead you through the process of building an end-to-end sales and marketing plan that helps you select tactics for every stage in the buyer’s journey, and to task each tactic with a clear and measurable role.

Haven’t yet registered for the B2B Marketing Training Workshop? You can do so (and get a 15% discount!) by scrolling to the bottom of our DemandCon event information page.

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