One of the biggest resources that marketing teams have is access to their sales team. That's right! The sales team is a key resource for successful marketing campaigns. 

So, how is the sales team a resources for marketing? Here's how marketing and sales teams should collaborate throughout the marketing campaign process to drive better sales results.

Not only does this relationship help your marketing campaigns produce better results, but it can help them run smoothly from start to finish.

Sales and Marketing Collaboration for Successful Marketing Campaigns

1. Set Goals with the Sales Team

Before any campaign, marketing should meet with sales to discuss what the goals of the marketing campaign should be based on who we want to target, the results we want to see, and what we're promoting. From this discussion we set our goals for MQL's, SQL's, Opportunities, and what we want to drive in revenue from this campaign. Using conversion rates and this conversation, marketing and sales can set (and agree on) goals for the campaign.

2. Explore the Target Persona with the Sales Team

Because the sellers are constantly communicating with prospects and working with your target persona all the time, they know the needs and the pain points of your target audience. Oftentimes, marketing forgets that the sales team is a resource in this area. If marketing can dedicate time to dig in and talk to the sales team, grabbing a little of that insight and working knowledge about the target persona and what they truly are searching for, marketing campaigns can be crafted to speak to those pain points and drive more qualified leads because you're speaking to them the way they want to be spoken to. 

3. Define the Lead Qualification

As leads are coming in, do you know who's qualifying them as MQL's, SQL's, and Opportunities? Is everyone on the same page when it comes to what qualifies someone to be an SQL vs. an MQL? This is a vital conversation that every marketing team should have with their sellers.

4. Assess the Lead Quality

A critical conversation to have during the campaign, is getting input from the sales team on the quality of the leads that are being generated. Marketers need to know the good, bad, and ugly. Why is this important? Not because it's going to hurt marketing's feelings (or boost their ego), but because it can help to shift the focus of the campaign and alter the communication strategy to ensure it's driving quality leads, which in turn drives revenue.

At the end of the day, sales and marketing want to drive revenue (or should want to). So if marketing can work with sales throughout the whole strategy and campaign process, then you company will drive better leads that in turn drives more revenue. 

If you're a marketing person and you haven't talked to your sales team lately, go give them a handshake (or a hug), and discuss ways you can work together on planning strategic marketing campaigns that will help them improve sales performance.