CEO of Arketi Group, building thought leadership for a team specializing in PR/digital marketing for B2B tech companies.
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Recently, I had the privilege of moderating two panels featuring sales and marketing leaders representing companies the likes of Manhattan Associates, Cox Automotive, Fiserv, Deluxe, Oracle, EarthLink, Salesloft and more.
Our topic of discussion? The evolving relationship between sales and marketing, and how the rise of chief revenue officers (CROs) is fueling a new dynamic.
In today’s world, where the business-to-business (B2B) sales journey usually starts with online research rather than a sales team, marketing plays a critical role in driving revenue and enabling business growth.
These sessions offered an inside look into the thinking behind our new customer journey and brought to light some revelations. These are the top three.
Marketing And Sales: Shared-Fate Goals And Metrics Are A Must
When sales and marketing teams work in silos, nobody wins. For a more cohesive and mutually beneficial relationship, marketing and sales leaders are establishing common shared-fate goals and metrics so each team’s success is tied to the other. A rising tide lifts all ships, after all.
Think of it this way: Why should marketing celebrate meeting its key performance indicators (KPIs) when sales did not? The two teams are intrinsically linked—with one feeding the other. This is especially true when we get down to bottom-line revenue. A green dashboard for one or the other does not always equate to a healthy, sustainable business.
Multiple executives also called out the ops function. Marketing ops, sales ops, revenue ops … these different pockets are often unnecessary and can even hinder collaboration. Instead, departments should focus on measuring a highly targeted, narrow set of goals and KPIs, all of which track back to bottom-line company results.
The New Holy Trinity: Sales, Marketing And Product
If there was one topic we kept coming back to in our discussion, it’s the role of product and product marketing alongside sales. I have observed that in many organizations, 2 of the 3 departments tend to have a strong working relationship, whereas the third must continually invite itself to the table.
For example, sometimes sales is handed a product right before its go-to-market launch. They are told to close some deals without understanding (or even identifying) the need for a solution in the first place. Marketing can be viewed as a collaboration enabler, helping bridge the gap between product and sales.
When this three-legged stool is on equal footing, the magic starts to happen. Get these three teams in the same room. When all voices are heard and are on the same page, the stars align, output improves and the organization wins.
Where The Rubber Meets The Road
We’ve seen a growing trend for companies to elevate CROs and position them at the center of their organization. I suspect this is due to the growing complexity of our business environment and the need to deeply focus on revenue and cash flow.
And while some may point to this as a cause of friction at the executive level, our bench of marketing and sales leaders pointed out that revenue flow and success are everyone’s priority. No business can survive without profits coming in the door, so this alignment toward a goal like revenue makes logical sense.
While most CROs are sales leaders, I suspect a shift in the next decade, with future CROs rising from marketing. Simply put, a marketing background and expertise can better position a CRO to sit over a cross-functional revenue team.
For example, many marketers are adept at manipulating and analyzing data. They are also, typically, great communicators and collaborators who can clearly express, share and translate ideas for a broad audience. They help drive the content and messaging sales teams use to close deals and must understand what customer feedback sales receives.
From Dashboards And KPIs To Long-Term Results
In sum, the three-legged marketing, sales and product stool works best when all parties have equal footing and can plan strategy and tactics together. And marketing and sales departments are increasingly succeeding when both have shared-fate goals.
Most importantly, however, are the bottom-line results generated when each of these teams and departments work hand in hand. No one team will ever succeed in a vacuum. It requires all three and more to come together and work together for a company to succeed and generate long-term results.
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