Sales People Marketing: Connecting The Dots Of Marketing ROI

Disparity or disconnect between sales people marketing and your marketing department, regardless of the size of the teams, can significantly decrease the effectiveness of your marketing program — and its ROI.

Before you put a plan into place, it pays to take time to gather your teams and gain strategic insights into the needs of your sales people and put the skill of your marketing team into action.

Your sales team and/or technicians work on the front lines of your business, interacting daily with customers; they know the day-to-day needs of your operation. On the other hand, your marketing professionals are just that: They know how to effectively put sales copy into action, along with creating effective messages for selling products and services and prioritizing your brand equity.

To connect the dots between these two teams, here’s what you can do:

• Get input – Invite sales people into the process. They can offer key insights to buying objections, what customers need and the key benefits and features of your services or products. Additionally, sales people are on the front lines of competing with other businesses, so they can help you stay ahead of the game. With this information in hand, your marketing team can hone materials and programs to better address real-time needs of your business.
• Cover the bases – Working together, your sales and marketing teams can address each point in the sales cycle, and ensure that you have materials to cover every stage. You can develop a brand message that threads its way through each marketing communication piece, and give your sales team a full arsenal of effective tools to use.
• Get them involved – Since your sales team isn’t likely to have marketing skills, be sure the last step in the process is to show them how the program works. Getting them on board and helping them learn how to use the materials will go a long way toward boosting your ROI.

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