Sales and marketing teams have different approaches to relationship building due to the nature of how they speak to potential customers–a one-to-one conversation in sales vs. a one-to-many conversation in marketing.
With that said, there is a lot that these two teams can learn from one another if they work closely together. Each team is gathering different information about potential clients; by coming together to share that information, both teams can improve their messaging.
Our Marketing Director Michael Roberts recently discussed this idea on an episode of The Health Connective Show with our Company President, Scott Zeitzer. Scott has a background in sales, while Michael has recently shifted from a marketing role to more of a direct approach to relationship building. On the show, they discussed what Michael has learned from that shift and how marketing and sales teams can keep open lines of communication to improve relationship building in both channels.
Differences Between Sales & Marketing Approaches
The methods sales and marketing teams use to communicate to potential customers is quite different because of the ways they are able to get in front of customers. While salespeople are able to communicate face-to-face, marketers are developing messaging for a variety of different channels.
Marketing: A One-to-Many Approach
Marketing teams are sending out information from a single source with the hopes of reaching many people. Whether email, podcasts, blog posts, or website content, the message has to appeal to a wide range of people at once. While you can tailor the messaging to particular personas, you can’t personalize on the same level that you can in a one-on-one conversation.
Marketing relies on tools to “listen” to trends and sentiments among the company’s target audience. They also use analytics tools to measure the results of each initiative to adjust the strategy over time.
Sales: A One-to-One Approach
Salespeople are much more focused on one-on-one conversations, or a small group. The discussion is happening in real-time, so they are able to tailor the conversation and adjust course as needed along the way. And they will often have a pretty good read on the situation right away in terms of whether or not it will result in new business.
While salespeople can benefit from a script or a set of talking points, that real-time feedback means that they will need to adapt in real-time based on the response they get.
What Marketing Can Learn from Sales
In the podcast episode, Scott shared that one of the advantages of sales conversations is getting that real-time feedback. You often know right away what talking points resonated with the customer, and which ones didn’t. With marketing initiatives, you have to gather data over time and interpret it to determine what does and doesn’t work with your target audience.
Since sales and marketing are often delivering similar talking points on particular products, it can be really beneficial for marketing to gather feedback from the sales team on what parts of the pitch resonated most with customers in the field. From there, marketing can start to build more robust customer personas and shift the messaging accordingly. The data can only tell us so much, and the actual customer feedback helps to add some context to what we see in the stats.
Get to the Point
Scott also shared that in his experience the marketing would typically put together a script or pitch for the sales team, but that it would sometimes be too lengthy to deliver to the customer, especially when selling to doctors. Distilling the full pitch down to an “elevator pitch” gives the sales team a few different options for delivering the key points about the product depending on how much time they have to make an impression. And, if the elevator pitch is successful, then there may be opportunity to deliver the full pitch.
What Sales Can Learn from Marketing
Scott noted that over the years, he has learned things from marketing that can help improve the sales pitch.
For one, the amount of research and preparation that goes into marketing initiatives can help to refine the sales pitch before getting in front of the customer. Marketing consults different tools and sources to understand the target market, their needs, and sentiments before developing messaging. Sales can tap into that research as well to have a better, more informed conversation with potential customers. Scott mentioned how helpful that can be ahead of meetings, stating “I do think to have a successful meeting, no matter how much trust you’ve built up for a particular group, you really need to get that research. Who’s attending, what do you think their needs are ahead of both as a company and as individuals?”
Know When to Update the Script
Another thing that sales can learn from marketing is to adjust their strategy over time based on the feedback they receive. Scott noted that salespeople will sometimes tend to stick to the same sales pitch if it worked before, noting “I can’t tell you how many times something worked at a particular meeting and you’re thinking, ‘Well, that’s it, I solved it. Got it. I am done now. I will just do it this way forever and it will work.’ And that’s a method for failure…every situation is gonna be just slightly different.”
It’s Not Just the Initial Pitch
Followup is another thing that sales can learn from marketing. Marketing is consistently putting out new messaging and content to stay top-of-mind, whereas sales can lose out if they aren’t consistent in their followup. Scott mentioned that followup is one of the areas where he has seen salespeople really drop the ball. Being more consistent and intentional about followup may ultimately land you the sale.
Keeping the Lines of Communication Going
When marketing and sales teams work together to share what they have each learned, each group can benefit and strengthen the pitch, whether it’s a one-to-one or one-to-many conversation.
Each group can gain valuable information that the other does not have, and putting it all together can create a more holistic picture of your target market. Both teams are ultimately working toward the common goal of growing sales, and supporting each other can improve the result on both sides of the equation.
Michael spends a great deal of time with the healthcare industry both professionally and personally, which gives him the perspective of what stakeholders on either side of the care equation need.
He began coding in 2008 and subsequently shifted his attention entirely to online marketing. Michael completed his MBA in 2018, focusing on the intersection of healthcare and marketing.
As the marketing manager, Ashley ensures that our clients’ marketing strategies are put into action. This includes content writing, SEO, online advertising, analytics, and interfacing with the tools, systems, and team members needed to help our clients accomplish their marketing goals.
