Pursuing sales without a marketing strategy is like setting off on a long country drive with only a quarter of a tank of petrol. You might get some of the way there, but you certainly won’t reach your intended destination. And you might find yourself lost in the wilderness…
It is an unfortunate truth that marketing is one of the least understood professional disciplines. Many businesses don’t have access to true strategy to guide their marketing. Instead, they pull tactical levers and engage in random acts of marketing, which produce sporadic success, drains budgets and adds strain on the relationship with sales – who need that steady stream of quality leads. It’s no wonder sales is often prioritised over marketing under these circumstances.
But it doesn’t have to be this way! Businesses that commit to a program of strategic marketing, designed to deliver to broad organisation goals, instead of engaging in knee-jerk tactics, get their growth strategy on track and start filling that pipeline so the sales team can focus their attention where it matters – on closing deals.
To get your marketing and sales engine humming, here are a few considerations for your organisation to take on board:
Marketing allows you to target customers at scale
Even with the highest-performing salesperson working for your business, there are limits to what they can achieve. Telesales and face-to-face selling definitely have a place, but to achieve significant business growth, your message needs to reach larger numbers of potential customers in an efficient and effective manner. By using the right channel strategy targeted to key stakeholders, a marketing strategy can deliver customer volume in a way no sales team ever could.
Marketing allows sales teams to focus on what they do best
Sales is about converting new leads into revenue. When a marketing strategy is delivering a steady stream of high-quality leads to the business, the sales team can focus on conversion, as opposed to attraction and acquisition. With a structured buyer’s journey where marketing and sales each have key responsibilities and support customers at key points in the purchase process, the experience will be better and less leads will fall through the cracks.
Marketing builds a stable pipeline of new business.
A structured marketing program can make it easier to forecast and develop targets for new business. Without a calendar of marketing initiatives to capitalise on opportunities and balance out seasonality, a pipeline based on sales activity alone could look lumpy, making managing cash flow and customer service tricky. A marketing strategy tied to performance metrics will give you the best chance at achieving the growth you seek, while also allowing you to put a plan in place to manage it.
A connected marketing and sales team delivers the right customer experience to drive results
The is often tension between sales and marketing teams. The sales team complains they need more leads, while the marketing team believes sales isn’t looking after the leads they already have. It’s an argument as old as time, but it doesn’t help you to achieve your business goals.
It is essential to break down the silos between sales and marketing, ensuring that our strategies are aligned. Sales must be clear on what marketing is trying to achieve, and how they can achieve a seamless handover from the marketing funnel to the sales process.
Marketing and sales should share goals and insights
Marketing and sales should not operate in isolation. It is critical these teams understand each other's strategies, challenges and opportunities. Sales and marketing must be meeting regularly to discuss progress, shared performance goals and brainstorm how to adapt to what’s happening in the market.
----------
Indicator is proud to partner with Customerit on the Mood of the Sales Leader 2025 in Australia. Customerit is a strategic marketing firm with operations in Australia and New Zealand. Customerit’s experienced growth specialists make marketing transparent, proactive and a key driver of revenue.
Learn more about Customerit, click here.
