CEOs and Sales Leaders: Finally embrace this blindingly obvious Sales Revenue Growth Opportunity that has been staring YOU in the Face for 10 Years!
Ever since the start of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, we have seen business leaders do everything they can to eke out every last bit of productivity improvement from their organizations. Despite all that effort sales revenue and profit growth have stalled in many businesses.
You would think that anything that can deliver 18 percent shorter sales cycles and 26 percent higher win rates would catch the attention of sales leaders and their C-Suite executives.
Due to the relentless pressure to deliver growth every month, every quarter and every year, short-term-ism and quick "band-aid" fixes abound. The usual candidates are:
More Sales Training: But unless it is actively supported by sales leaders and supported by ongoing coaching it will be forgotten after one month. Why even when all the support is in place there are still an awful lot of sales reps out there who do not want to change their ways.
Hire More Sales Reps: But more reps does not automatically translate to more revenue and even less so to more profit. Hiring new reps is risky as, no matter how good their resume looks, their true competency can only be assessed after quite a few months of ramping up. They cost their employer real money while they are coming up to speed, in fact more than US$60,000 total employment cost, according to Forrester.
More Leads: This is a popular solution but, unfortunately, just as hiring more reps does not necessarily deliver more revenue, more leads do not automatically lead to more sales. Only the rare combination of high-quality leads and a highly effective sales process has a chance of delivering sales growth.
That leaves More Technology, another popular solution: At last count there are literally thousands of sales enablement and marketing technology on the market, there is an image below by Scott Brinker of Chief Martec that neatly illustrates that reality. Imagine all these brands promoting themselves, all of them telling you that they are the solution to all your marketing problems and promising a miracle if only you buy their licenses. But, according to Accenture and CSO Insights, only 15% of sales technology implementations, such as CRM and sales force automation, increase win rates for their organizations. That means that a full 85% of business technology does not deliver any result, let alone the desired result. Have you had more than one CRM in your business? Did the 2nd or 3rd one perform much better than the old one ? Right.
That means that a full 85% of business technology does not deliver any result, let alone the desired result.
As if that is not bad enough, your technology may well be glossing over a potentially serious disconnect at your cultural level. Fact is that, the higher up the seniority ladder you go, the higher the likelihood of collaboration. Conversely, the closer you go to the front line staff, the less likely close and, moreover, effective collaboration becomes. In other words: While your senior executives think everything is well, your front line sales and marketing people at best ignore each other, and at worst hate each other's guts.
So, it is easy to see why many sales leaders are now running out of new ideas to restore that elusive business growth.
So, what is this untapped sales growth opportunity that can deliver this sort of return and has been staring business leaders in the face for at least 10 years ?
In these circumstances, you would think that anything that can deliver 18 percent shorter sales cycles and 26 percent higher win rates would catch the attention of sales leaders and their C-Suite executives. Wouldn't you ?
So, what is this untapped sales growth opportunity that can deliver this sort of return and that has been staring business leaders in the face for at least 10 years ?
Here it is: Finally breaking down the long-standing silos between your sales and marketing functions:
Salespeople: Stop passing the buck complaining about poor quality leads that marketing is producing.
Marketers: Stop hiding behind your technology and stop complaining that the sales people are not following up your leads.
CEOs and Business Leaders: Stop pretending that everything is well between your sales and marketing people, your denial is hindering your business growth.
Instead: It's high time to get "Marriage Counselling for Sales and Marketing" and to embrace effective Sales - Marketing Collaboration, such as Smarketing® and The OneTEAM Method®.
Why so, why now? Here are quotes from three international experts on this subject:
Altify's 2017 Business Performance Benchmark Study researched 60,000 data elements from 800+ companies in 66 countries and found that: "Sales and Marketing working well together is the single biggest marketing contribution to improved results." On average, the quantified benefits are 18 percent shorter sales cycles and a 26 percent higher win rate.
Sales and Marketing working well together is the single biggest marketing contribution to improved results. On average, the quantified benefits are 18 percent shorter sales cycles and 26 percent higher win rates.
2. Tony Hughes, CEO at Huthwaite International, said this on announcing their February 2017 research findings of 725 UK business leaders: “It's time for sales and marketing to come together and work as real partners. Working together to co-create will be hugely effective when it comes to closing more business, driving more revenue and growing their organisations more quickly.”
3. Our own research reveals that "Organizations with close sales - marketing collaboration are twice as likely to achieve sales revenue growth, compared to those with low collaboration." Our clients have achieved tremendous breakthrough success within weeks and months, not years. In addition, they find that closer collaboration also adds cultural benefits, as it creates a nicer work environment that - in turn - attracts and retains higher performing talent to your organization. It's a win - win -win for your sales team, your marketing people and for your customers.
"Organizations with close sales and marketing collaboration are TWICE as likely to achieve sales revenue growth."
So, how do you find this sales-marketing alignment and collaboration nirvana ? I recently gave a talk and a short workshop on this subject for Corporate Executive Board (CEB), as part of their global CSO (sales leaders) Forum event series. CEB had invited senior sales leaders and their marketing counterparts from multinational organizations to daytime events in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. CEB's brief to me was to challenge the audience's thinking, to entertain them, and to give them something that they could take away to implement in their businesses.
As I said, I gave a short talk and ran a quick exercise to show the attendees how to identify gaps in their own sales-marketing relationships and to help start a discussion with their own counterparts in either sales or marketing. I ended the talk with this takeaway for the group:
However, without appropriate and effective action these will just become three mute points. You know that making an actual difference takes the courage of a true leader, to stand up and acknowledge that doing the same thing over and over again will not produce a different outcome. Instead, it takes the conviction of a Leader who recognizes when the time has come to try something different, something that can produce a hugely better result for the business, for the staff, for the customers, and for themselves.
“It's time for sales and marketing to come together and work as real partners. Working together to co-create will be hugely effective when it comes to closing more business, driving more revenue and growing their organisations more quickly.”
So, does that mean that bringing a collaborative spirit into your sales and marketing teams will take a long time and cost a fortune ? How long does it take, and how much does it cost, to get on your way towards 18 percent shorter sales cycles and 26 percent higher win rates ?
How long does it take, and how much does it cost, to get on your way towards 18 percent shorter sales cycles and 26 percent higher win rates ?
The answer is: Not that long, and not that much. Our clients have achieved significant results with our OneTEAM Method®, ranging from within just a few weeks to a few months, and their financial outlay was less than a 10th of the business benefits they gained.
Sales industry pioneer and veteran Neil Rackham said this about the OneTEAM Method®:
"I think you’ve produced an eminently practical approach with the OneTEAM Method. It’s simple without being simplistic and it tackles head-on a problem that most people try to resolve with the usual “communicate better” platitudes. Congratulations.”
— Neil Rackham
It's been ten years since Neil Rackham and Philip Kotler released their paper, called "Ending the War between Sales and Marketing". So let's stop talking about it, let us act.
It's time to finally embrace this untapped sales growth opportunity, to be a real leader, and not to fall into the trap of the seven most dangerous words in business: "We have always done it this way."
The 7 most dangerous words in business: "We have always done it this way."
Instead, be brave, step up and be the true leader you are.
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About The Author
Peter Strohkorb is an international expert on Smarketing®, he is a published Author, international Speaker and sales & marketing Business Coach, as well as an Executive MBA guest Lecturer.
f the subject of Sales and Marketing alignment and collaboration is of interest to you then please join his LinkedIn group, the Sales+Marketing Collaboration Community.
Peter's Book
Peter Strohkorb's book "The OneTEAM Method" has received international critical acclaim. You can download the first chapters free of charge.
The full version is available on Amazon.
Contact Peter:
Website: www.peterstrohkorbconsulting.com
Twitter: @pstrohkorb