SMarketing – how marketing and sales work together efficiently

Today, it is more important than ever that departments work together – especially in marketing and sales. In order to develop the full potential of lead generation and to remain competitive in the long term, the two departments must work together. In this context one hears the art word SMarketing again and again. We clarify what exactly lies behind it and how the collaboration between sales and marketing can succeed.

What does the art term “SMarketing” mean?

SMarketing is made up of the words sales and marketing. It describes the process of merging marketing and sales processes within the company. The aim is to develop a common strategy and exploit the synergies between departments to maximize customer centricity. In order to establish a link between the departments, in addition to the process level, support tools such as a marketing automation tool and a CRM system are also required, so that the processes can run in a standardized and centralized manner. This creates a common data base across the departments, which is used as the basis for interactions with the customer.

So much for theory, but what does it look like in practice?

Challenges in the collaboration of marketing and sales?

In practice, the collaboration of marketing and sales is often not as easy as one would think. Particularly in these two departments there is a strong understanding of roles, which is often accompanied by prejudices.

From sales, the task of marketing is often dismissed by “creating colourful images” that do not work in a targeted manner or target the right target groups. Or that marketing relies on the wrong communication and information platforms anyway and does not generate enough leads at the end of the day.

On the other hand, marketing thinks of sales as not implementing marketing strategies properly, just going to the customer to drink coffee anyway and generating too little revenue.

Hand on heart? Have you encountered this or that prejudice in your professional career? I suppose so. These prejudices and role models are often a disruptive factor and hinder the cooperation between marketing and sales. It would be much better if both departments worked together, followed the same strategy and set common goals. After all, they also have the same goal, namely to WIN CUSTOMERS!

How marketing and sales work successfully together

Developing a joint strategy
To be able to pull together, we need a joint strategy. Of course, the focus is on the overall goal of lead generation. This concerns questions such as: Who is our target group? Are there any focus industries? Do we use accountbased marketing to enter the market? What quality must a Marketing Qualified Lead have? How do we measure joint success?
Promoting regular exchanges
Prejudices and role models often arise due to the lack of/limited communication between marketing and sales. In order to counteract this, regular meetings may be convened to bring the two departments together. In this context, it is important to exchange views on the current achievement of the strategic guidelines and, if necessary, to discuss them. Take measures, exchange information on current and upcoming campaigns and events, and discuss the pipeline.
Support by technical tools
In a digitalised world, it is more important than ever to have a unified data base, especially on prospective customers. A marketing automation tool and a CRM are suitable for this, which are fully integrated with each other and in which the marketing and sales processes are mapped.

About the author

Robin HartmannHead of Modern Work and Business Intelligence itmX GmbH

As Head of Modern Work and Business Intelligence, Robin is responsible for optimising our customers’ processes and helping them to position themselves for future challenges. As a creative mind, he is primarily driven by innovation topics. Due to his proximity to the customer, he experiences the real business requirements first-hand and enjoys driving them forward together with our customers.