This document discusses aligning marketing and sales through collaboration on personas, customer journeys, and reporting. It recommends that marketing and sales teams work together to develop personas representing their target customers, map the customer journey through the sales funnel, and have marketing regularly report results to sales. This will help ensure they use a shared vocabulary and understand both the customer perspective and how their respective roles intersect at various points in the sales process. Defining lead quality and getting sales input on marketing automation and account-based marketing implementations are also emphasized.

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ALIGNING
MARKETING & SALES
MARKETING SUCCESS WEBINAR SERIES

2. Brands and agencies work with Brilliant Metrics to
better measure, optimize and automate their marketing
while applying their insight and strategic guidance.

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PODCAST
STEVE ROBINSON
Founder/CEO, Brilliant Metrics

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THE LANDSCAPE HAS CHANGED
•Sales is engaged
later
•Consumers demand
a better experience
•New tools require
collaboration

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SALES IS ENGAGED LATER
Customers are choosing to
delay commercial
conversations with suppliers 57%
Customer Due
Diligence Begins
Customer’s First Serious
Engagement with Sales
Purchase
Source: CEB Customer Purchase Research Survey

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CONSUMERS DEMAND BETTER
Consumers demand a
consistent, personalized
experience.
Their expectations have
been set by Disney,
Amazon and Apple, but
must be fulfilled by you.

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NEW TOOLS REQUIRE COLLABORATION
•Marketing
Automation
•Real-Time
Personalization
•Account-Based
Marketing (ABM)

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THREE KEYS TO SALES & MARKETING BLISS
1.Personas
2.Customer
Journeys
3.Reporting

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WE’LL ALSO COVER
1. Lead Quality vs.
Quantity
2. Marketing Automation
3. Account-Based
Marketing (ABM)
4. Tips for Working with
Sales

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KEY #1: PERSONAS
NAILING DOWN THE “WHO”

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WHAT IS A PERSONA?
•Fictitious person
•Represents a
larger audience
•Allows for
empathy and
a deeper
understanding
MARKETING & SALES PERSONAS
ANDREA
Marketing Director
Floors Unlimited
“Keeping up is not enough - I need to
be ahead of the curve.”
BACKGROUND
• 39 years old
• Married, two kids (elementary age)
• Lives in Milton, Georgia
• Bachelors in Business Administration
• Marketing generalist whose education
didn’t include many of the tactics she
uses today
PROFESSIONAL ROLE
• Oversees marketing strategy and
implementation for the company,
including Advertising, Branding and PR
• Relies on external vendors to fill holes in
team
• Trying to balance traditional and digital
• Tasked with producing results, but
doesn’t have the oversight to do so
FRUSTRATIONS
• Constant flux in advertising and
technology landscapes
• Never enough budget, or time, to do
everything that needs to be done
• Questioned at every decision point,
especially by Sales
• Always reactive, never proactive
ASPIRATIONS
• Develop strategy that connects the
dots, clearly showing the“why”
• Understand if the campaign is working
• Showing ROI
• Understanding the value she brings
WHAT SHE READS
• AdWeek, BrandWeek, CRM Magazine,
AMA Newsletter
• Industry-specific publications
SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILE
• Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for
personal use
• LinkedIn, professional
OTHER INFO SOURCES
• Quick internet search to fill skill gap
• Personal Network (including agency),
networking events, trade shows
A DAY INTHE LIFE OF ANDREA
• Feels overwhelmed by unrealistic
expectations placed on her
• Everything is important; there is no
guidance on prioritization
• Under pressure from Sales to provide
“quality”leads, but not sure what that is
• Pressured to produce campaigns, but
unsure how they support objectives
MAKE HER JOB EASIER
• Provide a means to prioritize marketing
• Increase digital proficiency, both for the
company and Andrea
• Connect marketing activities to top line
results
• Guide her on strategy
KEY BRAND AFFINITIES
• Direction
• Collaboration
COMPANY PROFILE
National floor covering distributor selling
carpet, hardwood, ceramic and more

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WHY INVOLVE SALES?
•Co-Ownership
•Insight
•Deeper
Understanding
•Shared
Vocabulary

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PERSONA WORKING SESSION WITH SALES
1. Explain the objective
2. Start with a blank slate
3. Pick a name that is not
a current customer
4. Avoid picturing one
single customer
5. Keep on time & on track

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VERIFY THE FINAL PERSONA
Ask the sales
team, “If this
person approached
you to do business,
would anything
smell off to you?”

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DON’T LET PERSONAS COLLECT DUST
Refer to a persona
whenever possible
while interacting
with sales.
Post personas in a
conspicuous location

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KEY #2: CUSTOMER JOURNEYS
KEEPING THE PLAYERS ON CUE

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WHAT IS A CUSTOMER JOURNEY?
A customer journey is a story
of the prospect as they move
through the sales process,
and ideally beyond. It begins
before the prospect is aware
of the brand, product or
service and follows them
through the sales funnel,
documenting both their
expectation and experience.

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WHY INVOLVE SALES?
• Co-Ownership
• Coordination
• Deeper
Understanding
• Shared Vocabulary
• Shared Appreciation

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CONDUCT TWO JOURNEY MAPPING SESSIONS
Session 1
Document the
sales process
Session 2
Complete the
Journey Map

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SESSION 1: SALES PROCESS
1. Focus on at the account
level
2. Remember: Sales’ job is to
make deals close
3. Ask the sales team to tell a
story
4. Identify the stages in their
funnel/pipeline
5. Note which personas are
involved
6. Ask about the persona’s
state of mind at each stage
7. Find out when an account
moves to the next stage

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SESSION 2: JOURNEY MAPPING
1. Clearly lay out the
objective
2. Walk in with a
preliminary map
3. Include your marketing
efforts as they exist
today
4. Walk through each step
in the journey

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COLLABORATE ON THE PROSPECT’S EXPERIENCE
The finished
customer journey
becomes the
grounds for future
collaboration.

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KEY #3: REGULAR REPORTING
SHOW ‘EM YOU GET RESULTS

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WHY PRODUCE REPORTS FOR SALES?
•Keeps sales
informed
•Reinforces shared
vocabulary
•Opportunity for
feedback
•Proves value

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WHAT TO REPORT TO SALES
1. Where resources were
allocated
2. Results of that
investment
3. Status of database /
audience growth
4. Insights from
experiments

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OTHER POINTS
WHERE MARKETING AND SALES INTERSECT

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THE BATTLE OF THE LEADS
Focus on Quality
Metrics are lackluster
and sales complains they
aren’t getting enough
leads
Focus on Quantity
Metrics look good, but
sales complains or stops
following up on leads

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DEFINING A SALES-READY LEAD
Contact
Sales
Lead
Contact MQL
Sales
Lead
Contact MQL SAL
Sales
Lead
Contact MQL SQL SAL
Sales
Lead

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FEEDBACK ON LEAD QUALITY IS KEY
Regular reporting
on non-accepted
leads is key to
improving lead
quality over time

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MARKETING AUTOMATION
•One Tool / Two
Departments
•Introduces Sales
Earlier in The Process
•Key to Success:
Involve sales in
implementation

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ACCOUNT-BASED MARKETING
• Marketing talks leads /
Sales talks accounts
• ABM pushes
marketing further into
the sales process
• Introduces
collaboration to land
“big fish”

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A FEW TIPS FOR THE ROAD
• Honor the sales team’s
time. Be prepared.
• Remember: Sales closes
deals, they don’t convert
leads. Speak their
language.
• Tech is great, but must be
layered on people
(personas) and process
(customer journeys)

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QUESTIONS?
@steverobinson
steve.robinson@brilliantmetrics.com