Few things are more frustrating than getting on a call with a “prospect” only to find out they’re asking for something that was discontinued months ago.
If you’ve asked them how they got your number, they might tell you they asked the internet, which led them to your website. Or they found your company’s post on social media.
If you conclude that the marketing department screwed up again as you hang up, counting the minutes wasted on a call that was destined to go nowhere, you’re not alone.
But as a marketer who has also worked in sales, I can show you where you probably missed the opportunity to avoid talking to that “prospect.”
Table of Contents
- You Never Communicated the New Direction to Marketing
- What Are Some Other Ways Sales Can Help Marketing?
- Constructive Criticism Beats Whining
- How Do I Know Sales and Marketing Can Beat Each Other?
- Is Your Sales Process Aligned with Your Marketing Process?
You Never Communicated the New Direction to Marketing
The marketing department is given information on the company, the founders, and the products/services you sell. They’re given enough information on the kinds of clients you want to do some market research and put together some ideal client profiles (ICPs), which they use to create content that attracts and engages people who fit those profiles.
It can be tempting to look at all that data they have and work they’re doing and conclude it’s all a waste of time and money if they’re not bringing in the people who actually want to buy from you.
And you’re right.
But it’s not always the fault of the Marketing department.
Take another look at the first sentence in this section: “The marketing department is given information.”
The marketing department does its best with the information that it’s given. But if you’ve discontinued a product line or service offering and marketing is still talking about it, my first question would be, Did you tell marketing that it’s been discontinued?
If the answer is “no,” then how can Marketing be expected to stop marketing something they don’t know is no longer being offered?
We marketers might like to think of ourselves as mindreaders, but the fact is we are mere mortals who need to be told when there’s a change in direction for the company.
What Are Some Other Ways Sales Can Help Marketing?
If you’re a salesperson wondering why Marketing doesn’t know what they should be promoting these days, that’s probably not your fault. It’s the fault of your Leadership who told you about the new direction, but failed to update Marketing. That’s a conversation for another blog post.
But as a salesperson, there are crucial ways you can help your Marketing department do their job better, so they can make your job easier.
It all starts with communication.
Marketers are fans of data. We look at visits to the website, subscriptions to the newsletter, social media followers, engagement, mentions, etc. We track and analyze it all in an attempt to drill down on your ideal client and how they look for the solutions you offer.
But data can only get you so far.
Nothing beats talking to real, live prospects and clients about what they’re struggling with, how the problem is affecting them, and what they’ve already done to try to address the problem.
That’s where you come in.
The more information you can give Marketing on what you’re hearing day in and day out, the more they can refine their ICPs and their content to cater to the people you want to have more conversations with and the problems that keep them up at night.
Constructive Criticism Beats Whining
When you do end up with a bad prospect that somehow made their way through the pipeline, don’t just complain. Let Marketing know they brought in a low-quality lead, and let them know what made it a low-quality lead.
The more information you can give Marketing on the lead and how they ended up on a call with you, the better. Marketing might be able to trace the path that specific lead took before reaching out to you, which lets them know which pieces of content are attracting and engaging the wrong prospects.
If they know what made it a low-quality prospect, they’ll be more likely to be able to identify the elements of the content that attracted and engaged the wrong lead. That’s the information they need to adjust their approach so they can make the necessary changes to their content and their funnel to make sure more of the right leads are coming in and fewer of the low-quality leads are calling for something you don’t sell.
How Do I Know Sales and Marketing Can Help Each Other?
As a solopreneur, I do all my own marketing and all my own sales. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been at a networking event or talking to a prospect, and when a question comes up, I’ll think, “I can write a blog post on that!”
Then I write a blog post on that, do a video, and share those pieces on social media and in my newsletter. I’ll also send a link to the article to the person who brought up the question in the first place because they’re most likely to be among those who will find value in it.
Is Your Sales Process Aligned with Your Marketing Process?
Marketing’s entire goal is to bring in leads so you can close them, but that can only happen if Marketing and Sales are aligned. If Marketing and Sales aren’t communicating regularly, how can they be aligned in their efforts?
If your Sales and Marketing teams are off doing separate things, barely aware the other even exists, you need my Sales & Marketing Alignment Workshop.
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