CAN YOU SAY “SMARKETING”? SALES
AND MARKETING COOPERATION IS POWERFUL AND DOABLE

CAN YOU SAY “SMARKETING”? If
you were an alien and observed how sales and marketing teams are structured today, you’d say:

CAN YOU SAY “SMARKETING”?
WTF?

SALES AND MARKETING SING THE
SAME SONG, DIFFERENT WAYS ➤They aren’t so different, but they are different enough that a lot gets lots in translation ➤They don’t really understand each other but they are forced to work together day-to-day like an arrange marriage, with expense reports ➤They sing the same song in different ways ➤Here’s how sales sings the song: straightforward, linear, classic:

SALES AND MARKETING SING THE
SAME SONG, DIFFERENT WAYS ➤And here’s how marketing sings the same song: experimental, buzz-worthy, and by wasting money on costumes:

A LACK OF SHARED
UNDERSTANDING BREEDS CONTEMPT

“87% of the terms sales
and marketing use to describe each other are negative. -Corporate Executive Board

WHAT IF SALES AND MARKETING
WERE ON THE SAME PAGE?

THIS IS “SMARKETING”

AND SMARKETING PAYS…

“Aligned sales and marketing teams
show 400% higher annual revenue growth compared to teams that are not aligned (20% vs. 4%). -Aberdeen Group

THE 5 CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF
SUCCESSFUL SMARKETING

DEVELOP MUTUAL
UNDERSTANDING
1

DEVELOP MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING 1:1 ➤Lunch
Buddies (pair up sales and marketing for monthly 1:1 lunches) ➤Marketing Shadow Day (sales people sit with marketers for a day, at their desks) ➤Sales Ride Alongs (marketers go to sales appointments or listen in on sales calls)

DEVELOP MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING ➤Cross-functional experience
is key. The best marketers have also been in sales.

DEVELOP MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

DEVELOP MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING IN GROUPS
➤Weekly Smarketing meetings to check progress and find problems ➤Monthly executive sessions with sales and marketing leadership

CAN YOU DO THIS?

OF COURSE YOU CAN

SHARE STRATEGY, METRICS
AND REPORTING 2

SHARED STRATEGY ➤Agree on target
audiences and personas ➤Agree on funnel steps and stages ➤Agree on handoff processes

SHARED DEFINITIONS ➤What is a
“lead” ➤What is a “good” lead? ➤What is a “qualified” lead? ➤If there is a zebra in your office but one team insists on calling it a “striped horse” you’re eventually going to have issues

“45% of businesses have a
company-wide definition of a sales-ready lead. -MarketingSherpa

SHARED REPORTING ➤Use the same
system ➤Does marketing know what happens to leads? ➤Are duplicate leads flagged and discussed? ➤Can marketing determine revenue at the specific program level? If you can’t the “I know 50% of my marketing is wasted, but I don’t know which half” will come true

COMMIT TO MUTUAL
ACCOUNTABILITY 3

MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY ➤Sales has to
stop blaming marketing for lead quality ➤Marketing has to stop blaming sales for inability to close leads

MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY: HOW TO ➤First,
determine the activities and ratios necessary to hit company-wide objectives: ➤Leads > Qualified Leads > Lead Conversion Rate > Average Revenue Per New Customer + Contingency = Total Leads Necessary to Hit Objectives

MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY HOW TO: ➤Next,
commit in writing to how your team will contribute to this formula: ➤“Marketing will deliver 75 qualified leads per month, per sales person” ➤“Sales will follow up with ALL new leads within 4 hours, and will make 5 closing attempts within 21 days of lead receipt”

EMBRACE
NEW ROLES
4

SELF-SERVE INFORMATION ➤Customers are always
online, and have more information than ever at their fingertips ➤Zero Moment of Truth means customers need more information pre-purchase ➤Help your leads find you, instead of you finding the leads

WHEN THEY’RE READY, THEY’RE READY
Average customer reads 105 pages before contacting the company

SELF-SERVE INFORMATION (WILL INCREASE OVER
TIME) ➤Old marketing works less ➤Content marketing works more ➤Marketing is educating early-funnel customers in a way that used to be sales’ responsibility

“I started my career as
a sales guy in the nineties, when the funnel was controlled by the sales rep, who had all the information the prospect wanted, including pricing and discount options. Now 90 percent of it has swung to marketing. The game has changed a lot. -Brian Halligan, Hubspot

CUSTOMERS KNOW THE BASICS (AND
THEN SOME) ➤There are countless sources of information prospects can use to research purchases: ➤Company-created content ➤Third-party content ➤Ratings and reviews ➤Even customer service and support content on forums and beyond

WITH THIS MUCH FREE INFO
AVAILABLE, WHY FILL OUT A LEAD FORM?

YOU DON’T FILL OUT A
LEAD FORM UNTIL YOU ARE GOOD AND READY, RIGHT?

SO WHY DO WE TRY
TO CONVINCE OUR PROSPECTS TO BECOME A LEAD AT THE TOP OF THE FUNNEL?

RELATIONSHIPS ARE CREATED WITH INFORMATION
FIRST AND PEOPLE SECOND

STOP GATING CONTENT AT THE
FRONT, AND INSTEAD ASK FOR PROSPECT INFORMATION AFTERWARDS, IN EXCHANGE FOR RECOMMENDED NEXT-BEST CONTENT

Don’t gate content here Gate
content here

GATING AT THE END, NOT
THE BEGINNING, REDUCES TOTAL LEADS WHILE INCREASING AVERAGE LEAD QUALITY

SALES HAS TO UNDERSTAND THAT
PROSPECTS ARE MORE EDUCATED, SO WHEN SOMEONE IS READY TO BECOME A LEAD, SALES MUST FOLLOW UP FASTER

SALES’ JOB SHOULD BE EASIER
WITH MORE EDUCATED PROSPECTS Sales’ role now Sales’ role before

BUT SALES ALSO HAS TO
HELP MOVE PROSPECTS THROUGH THE FUNNEL IN NEW WAYS

SOCIAL INTERACTIONS FROM SALES CAN
BE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN CAMPAIGN NURTURING FROM MARKETING

“When a lead is developed
as a trusted relationship of a salesperson in social media, that lead is 7 times more likely to close. -IBM

MARKETING MUST EMPOWER AND
ENABLE SOCIAL SELLING

MARKETING MUST POWER AND ENABLE
SOCIAL SELLING ➤Training and ongoing training ➤Software ID and rollout ➤Ad hoc counsel and support = a marketing-led “social media help desk”

RELY ON DATA NOT
ANECDOTES 5

ANECDOTES DESCRIBE ONE EXPERIENCE, NOT
NECESSARILY A PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR

WHEN SOMEONE USES AN ANECDOTE
TO TRY TO ARGUE FOR AN ACTION OR INACTION, SAY THIS:

“That’s an interesting story. How
often does it occur?

SMARKETING IS WORTH IT, BUT
IT AIN’T EASY

YOU HAVE TO WEAR THE
“GET ALONG SHIRT” TO MAKE SMARKETING WORK

HAPPY

CURIOUS

CATATONIC

PSYCHOTIC

CHOKED

IF YOU LEAD THE SMARKETING
INITIATIVE AT YOUR COMPANY YOU’LL FIND ALL OF THESE PEOPLE: HAPPY, CURIOUS, CATATONIC, PSYCHOTIC, AND THOSE THAT WANT TO CHOKE YOU

BUT NOW YOU KNOW HOW
TO MAKE SMARKETING WORK:

1.DEVELOP MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING 2.SHARE STRATEGY,
METRICS, AND REPORTING 3.COMMIT TO MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY 4.EMBRACE NEW ROLES 5.RELY ON DATA, NOT ANECDOTES

MARKETING HAS TO ACT
MORE LIKE SALES

SALES HAS TO ACT
MORE LIKE MARKETING

TOGETHER,
EVERYONE WINS

THAT’S THE POWER OF SMARKETING

BIG THANKS TO MY FRIENDS
AT HUBSPOT FOR POPULARIZING THE SMARKETING CONCEPT, AND CREATING A LOT OF THOUGHT LEADERSHIP THAT INFORMED THIS PRESENTATION