A company is made up of several departments, right? However, for everything to work optimally, these areas need to perform their functions in harmony. In today’s post, we’ll talk about two specific departments and the importance of their integration: marketing and sales.
Both have the common goal of attracting and convincing consumers to buy. But companies are not always able to align these two important areas, and the consequences can be harsh — from losing customers to a lack of feedback and innovation within the company. Want to know how to avoid these problems? Then keep reading and find out how!
The interaction between marketing and sales
Simply put, marketing generates sales opportunities. When departments talk to each other, this can be done efficiently and objectively, avoiding losing promising deals.
It works like this: from the moment a consumer shows interest in buying from your company, they become a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL). The marketing team is responsible for ensuring that this MQL gets to know your company better and develops enough trust to buy from you.
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Once the MQL is almost convinced to buy and only needs specific information, such as prices and payment terms, he passes it to the sales team, responsible for closing the deal, and becomes a Sales Qualified Lead ( SQL ), a consumer very close to the purchase decision.
When marketing and sales talk, the sales team will know what the SQLs are and what information to use to convince them to make their decision. This not only reduces your effort to sell but also ensures better conditions for negotiation. If you know, for example, which cell phone models the customer researched and what information about the company convinced them to go ahead, you have more arguments to guide them in their decision.
On the other hand, the marketing team, when talking to the sales team, not only ensures that their efforts will not be in vain but also gains a valuable source of information about their customers, which can contribute to better future attraction and qualification strategies.
Converting MQLs to SQLs
Passing a lead from one team to another can be done with greater guarantees of success when teams are aligned. To do this, there are some important steps:
1. Identify qualified leads
The marketing team is responsible for identifying those leads that are closest to making a purchase decision — those that have requested a quote, for example. This care prevents your company from approaching leads that are not yet ready, running the risk of losing them.
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2. Study the lead’s history
On the web, practically every step your customers take is recorded. Therefore, it is possible to study their process, from the first materials accessed to the products researched. This information will be essential for the sales team to offer personalized and practical service.
3. Pass the information to sales
All information about the lead, including history and contacts, must be passed on to sales. The ideal is to build a way to manage this transition that ensures its fluidity, such as adopting a CRM. Now, it is up to salespeople to transform leads into business.
4. Attend to unqualified leads
Some people ask for quotes but aren’t ready to buy yet. This is just one case where leads aren’t qualified yet, but they are leads — meaning they could become customers in the future and shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand. Prepare your team to serve these people as well as SQLs.
5. Return leads to marketing
In some cases, it is also possible that leads need to “think” a little more. In this case, they can return to marketing to better prepare. The important thing is to always keep this dialogue between the areas close.
The web is complex, but achieving success through it is not as difficult a task as it may seem. By offering quality products and services and good customer service, both from the marketing and sales teams, your chances of success will only increase.
Always keep in mind some golden words of online sales: personalization, practicality and agility. So, are you ready to get started?
