The power has shifted

The internet has also shifted sales conversations from being all about the product to being all about the customer. This shift means that the two previously isolated sales and marketing teams need to collaborate more effectively if they’re to achieve their combined goal: more sales from more customers.

Here’s why:

• Access: Having access to limitless information online means that buyers are under more pressure than ever to know everything before they make a purchasing decision. Their bosses expect them to know it all, and they want to be fully prepared before they engage with a salesperson.
• Teamwork: Buyers seldom operate alone – they’re part of a broader team that’s tasked with making the most informed decisions possible. Again, this means that they want to have the lead in decision-making forums by having all the research at their fingertips.
• Detail: In the quest for all possible information, buyers need more information than a salesperson can share in a meeting. They’re looking for pricing details, case studies, white papers, blog posts, and news articles to help make their decision.
• Social: Buyers increasingly turn to social channels for information and data to guide their decision-making, whether it’s via social media or other digital channels. Word of mouth – even if it’s virtual – is still a trusted channel.
• Empowered: Doing their own research means that buyers feel empowered to find a solution to their own business problem – they don’t feel that they’re at the mercy of a salesperson with an agenda and a target to meet.

What does this mean for sales and marketing teams, who have conventionally and historically been competitive and at odds?

With over 90% of marketers using content as part of their digital marketing strategy, it’s simply wasteful that two out of three sales representatives don’t know which content to send to their prospects.

It’s time for them to align, to join forces and work together to attract buyers’ interest by:

Working together to highlight common customer questions and to create content that answers them effectively, the two teams can work together to create and promote content that gently but effectively guides leads from being prospects to deals done and dusted!

Content adds value – for everyone

It’s not only in winning new business that content produced out of collaborations between sales and marketing makes good sense. With acquiring new customers being up to seven times more expensive than holding onto existing ones, creating content that adds value to existing customers and leads them on return buying journeys makes even more sense.