4 top ways marketing fails sales - from dreamforce 14

4 TOP WAYS MARKETING FAILS SALESAND HOW TO FIX THEM

B R I A N G R O T H

S A L E S E N A B L E M E N T M A N A G E R

X A C T L Y , C O R P O R A T I O N

O C T O B E R 2 0 1 4

1. CONTENT CREATION

Marketing

• Messaging Framework

• Datasheet / Factsheet

• Case Studies / Customer Stories

• Sales Pitch (maybe)

Sales

• Cold call scripts

• E-mail templates

• Competitive comparisons/objections

• Sales Pitch (on their own)

Fix: Define ownership & input for creating customer-facing content

2. CONTENT MANAGEMENT

Marketing

• Product info• For web & social sharing

• For e-mail newsletters

• Product info• By industry

• By persona

• By content type

Sales

• Available immediately

• Easy to share

• E-mail template when needed

• NDA, Order Form, etc. when needed

• Product info when needed

Fix: Think of sales as another channel needing quick responses

3. MOTIVATION

Marketing

• Pageviews

• Downloads

• Social shares

• Buzz

• New leads

Sales

• Quota

• SPIFF

• Gamification

• President’s Club

Fix: Educate marketing on the variables in the sales commission plan

4. SALES PROCESS

Marketing

• Generate Brand Awareness

• Generate Leads

• Sales Accepted Leads (SAL)

Sales

• Sales Qualified Leads (SQL)

• Needs Analysis

• Value Proposition

• Proposal

• Negotiation

• Close

Fix: Have shared metrics, such as SAL and SQL

4 TOP WAYS MARKETING FAILS SALES AND HOW TO FIX THEM

1. Content Creation: Define ownership & input for creating customer-facing content

2. Content Management: Think of sales as another channel needing quick responses

3. Motivation: Educate marketing on the variables in the sales commission plan

4. Sales Process: Have shared metrics, such as SAL and SQL

Brian Groth

Sales Enablement Manager @ Xactly

bgroth@xactlycorp.com