Aligning Marketing & Sales Closes The Sales Gap
Alignment is the degree to which marketing messages generate sales leads that convert into profits. You may have heard the saying before: “Half of my advertising is working, but I don’t know which half.” This is exactly what happens when alignment is missing.
Think of the alignment on a car. If the front wheels are misaligned, the car will always pull to one side, and the driver will always have to correct by steering in the opposite direction. Over time, tires will wear out more quickly than usual. Similar things can happen when the key marketing message does not support your company’s sales goals. The phones will ring, but the people on the other end will be the wrong customers. Your sales reps and customer service employees will have to constantly compensate for the fact that the customers walking in the door are not a good fit. This can lead to low profits, employee burnout, and high staff turnover.
When alignment is missing, the first step is to create a system of measurement. By contrast, a well-aligned marketing message will attract the right people to your business. Your sales team will have an easier time selling, and your organization will have an easier time delivering the value that your customers want and expect. This creates profitability and sustainable growth. When alignment is missing, the first step is to create a system of measurement.Conversion Rates and ROI
Conversion is the process by which prospects become customers, and by which one-time customers become repeat customers. Sales managers often measure “close ratios,” or the percentage of sales appointments that result in an order. The conversion rate is similar, but it measures the effectiveness of a process rather than a person. The conversion rate of an advertising campaign is an effective measure of alignment. When you can measure the conversion rate accurately, and you can accurately measure the cost and net profit of each sale, you can determine the ROI of a marketing campaign.
There are two end goals of an Alignment plan:
1. To give you a clear, accurate picture of what it costs you to generate a sale.
2. To identify the unique path of a suspect, a prospect, a lead and a customer.
How can YellowWood Group help?
Measuring the effectiveness of campaigns can be complicated, but we simplify the process for our you. We conduct the research to determine which tools, techniques and technologies make the most sense for your business, sales and marketing goals.
Because we are not driven by a 3rd party incentive to steer you toward any particular platform or software, we offer an objective and unbiased evaluation. In the end, our goal is to make alignment matter to your company. Ready to start the process? Call us at 919.783.4101.
