Sales & Marketing Alignment: How Both Can Work Together for Building Materials Brands

In this Constructive Insights episode, we’ve brought in two of Jan Kelley’s marketing masterminds, Senior Strategy Director Kamila Karwowski and Director of Media Strategy Terri Cameron, to talk about sales and marketing alignment and what both teams can do to foster collaboration, drive more qualified leads and strengthen a building materials company’s bottom line.

What you’ll learn in this Constructive Insights episode:

Why it’s tough for sales and marketing to be BFFs
How sales and marketing can help each other win
3 ways to foster collaboration, now

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“Think of marketing and sales as a play. The salespeople are the actors…they inspire the audience and sell the story. And then you have the marketing team who are the behind-the-scenes-people: the set designers, the directors, the script writers. You can’t have one without the other. You need both to put on a show.” – Kamila Karwowski

Why it’s tough for sales and marketing to be BFFs

Whether you’re marketing a building materials brand or selling it, the desired outcome is the same. You both want to sell a product. But, how both departments achieve that are different. Sales and marketing teams have very different responsibilities, agendas and even KPIs that you’re working against. This can often make it difficult to collaborate, co-create and really, to work together – even when your ideal outcome for overall business success is ultimately the same. And if we’re being honest, this is not uncommon, especially in the complex building materials space. Here are some common reasons why:

> Your organization is more sales driven.

Historically, those in building materials do tend to be more sales driven in terms of growth and customer interactions. They may not have had an in-house marketing department or robust marketing agency before. Therefore, in many cases, teams may not be familiar with the value that marketing can bring to their overall growth and target audience because they’ve never really dealt with it firsthand.

> Different departments have different goals.

Marketing teams care about brand equity, awareness, clicks etc., whereas sales teams care about growing their customer base and strengthening their product offerings. In essence, it’s all working towards the same thing, but when broken down, they have different KPIs they’re working towards.

> Combating the perception of marketing.

We see this a lot in the building materials industry, where marketing can be seen as an unnecessary cost. Thinking of marketing in only the traditional sense and not opening your mind to the targeting capabilities and tools that digital marketing has to offer can hinder your growth and your efforts.

> Sales teams can be protective of their customers.

Great sales teams are the ones who spend the time getting to know their customers. They find face-to-face interactions effective and value the personal approach they take. So, it makes sense that they may see marketing as being a less genuine or personable approach.

> Both sales and marketing tend to work in silos.

Siloed working isn’t beneficial for either team. It prevents collaboration, creates communication barriers and reduces creativity. When both teams don’t take an opportunity to talk to one another, they’re missing out on insights, opportunities and fresh perspectives on how to effectively reach their audiences – from architects to homeowners, and everyone in between.

How Sales & Marketing can help each other win.

> Marketing.

Boosts brand credibility.

Sales come easier when a brand is well known. Marketing teams that are doing the work to get brands noticed and are working to build brand confidence and credibility support sales teams and their efforts.

Sends qualified leads.

Through targeting capabilities, qualifying questions and remarketing tactics, marketing can identify, refine and capture qualified leads that the sales team can then follow up on and convert.

Shortens the sales cycle.

When a lead has a good foundation of your brand, your points of difference, or PODs, and your products, a sales rep doesn’t have to spend time on a hard sell. They know their business and their needs well enough to guide them toward the solution that’s right for them.

> Sales.

Uncovers real customer insights.

Salespeople are one of the biggest untapped resources building materials companies can leverage to find out what their audience is truly feeling and the challenges they’re facing. These insights are invaluable for marketing teams that are looking to create campaigns that audiences will connect with.

Have success stories to share.

The solid, trusted relationships that sales teams have with their customers allows them the opportunity to get testimonials and case studies. And those are two of the most impactful resources a marketing team can use in their campaigns to communicate credibility and trust.

Impact marketing campaigns, in real time.

Sales teams can inform marketing on what kind of leads are coming in, if they’re having trouble converting or if they’re not a right fit. All of this information can help the marketing team to switch up their tactics and targeting to make the most of their campaigns and ensure a higher ROI.

3 ways to foster collaboration, now.

Collaborating doesn’t have to feel arduous. In fact, there are things you can take action on right now to start creating a shared vision and commitment.

> Co-creating content.

Co-creating content is just like it sounds: marketing and sales coming together to collaborate on a strategy that will then inform future content. No matter what type of strategy you’re collaborating on, having both parties provide their insights and expertise will result in content that customers will like and resonate with.

“60-70% of B2B content is never used by the sales team. How frustrating is that for marketing who’s creating content that’s never getting used, and, how frustrating for the sales team who’s not getting content that’s relevant for them?” – Kamila Karwowski

> Integrate a tool that encourages communication.

Implementing the right technology and tools can not only encourage communication, but can also create accountability and transparency among teams. Integrating a CRM tool for example can allow for data sharing, knowledge transfers and overall greater visibility and transparency among the two departments.

“Communication is so important and is something you can take action on immediately. These tools help to create an environment where sales and marketing can come to the table together, be open and transparent.” – Terri Cameron

> Work together from the start.

No more waiting to bring in marketing or sales reps halfway through a project. Bring them in at the start of a project. Whether you’re providing insights on customer needs or sharing success metrics, both sides will have the opportunity to start from the same place, take ownership of their own deliverables and feel inspired to achieve success, together.