Sometimes the transfer of leads from the marketing to the sales department can be a bit like a negotiation from an episode of Game of Thrones. Jabbering, long-winded, and only resolved when someone gets their head chopped off. Like two ancient families, sales and marketing departments have volume-worthy back stories of fights, badly resolved negotiations and just generally not getting along.
The Sales family are angry. They’re pissed off at Marketing for never giving them enough leads to work with, and the leads that they do get aren’t ripe for the plucking yet. They’re pissed off because their sales materials are out of date and they’re endlessly making jibes like “pigs will fly before the marketing department have work to do.”
The Marketing family are annoyed. They’re generating loads of leads which, when they pass them over to sales, they never hear any more from. They say that Sales aren’t doing enough to look after their carefully nurtured and cared for leads. They accuse them of chucking their babies over the castle wall out of laziness and mediocrity.
This disconnect is central to the ancient feud, and is yet to be brought to a ceasefire
Hubspot’s State of Inbound report highlighted it as one of the main problems facing both sales and marketing departments in various companies. Central to the problem is this; in the report, 59% of marketers said that their highest quality leads came from inbound practices whereas 38% of salespeople said that the leads that they sourced directly were the highest quality.
This inability to transfer leads between departments and to communicate and align goals with each other means that the process for turning leads into customers is broken and overcomplicated.
So how can companies bring about a truce between the two departments in order to fix the most fundamental stage of the buying journey?
Align their goals
By making sure that both departments are on the same page, that MQLs and SQLs are clearly defined, that both are clear on the persona that they are targeting and the goals that they are trying to achieve, you clear the way of potential collisions. Encouraging them to meet up regularly to reiterate or update their goals and consider their progress will start to break down the walls of communication in a positive and gradual way.
Break down the blame culture
Breaking the culture of blame between the two departments is going to be one of the toughest nuts to crack, because a lot of it passes under the radar. A jibe here, a snigger there, they all add up to a culture that lays blame at other people’s doors rather than actually admitting mistakes and fixing problems. For this relationship to be fixed and your company to make real changes, you’ll have to address blame behaviour directly.
Don’t just address it when you see it, but encourage people to admit mistakes and fix them rather than making up an excuse. A stand up and be counted culture is much more positive than a blame one.
Address misunderstandings
Sit both departments down and get them to share what they really think of each other, in a controlled and non-slanderous way. This way you clear the air immediately and can address any misunderstandings about what each department does and doesn’t do. This means that roles and goals are defined and communication lines are opened up ready for positive changes to be made.
Encourage unbiased management
If management are biased to either marketing or sales, the other department will soon get an inferiority complex. By giving them the same amount of time in the spotlight and encouraging them to collaborate more, not only will you benefit the business long-term but boost job satisfaction on both sites of fence.
Don’t just let the war rumble on
Ways of tackling this divide will differ from company to company. The nature of the feuds will be different and the trenches may be dug a little deeper in different places. However problematic this may be, it’s essential if you’re going to get to the bottom of your conversion problem. Focus your sales and marketing on making customers not war and you’ll benefit your company culture as well as your bottom line.