I recently read a quote by Arne Slot, the new Head Coach of Liverpool FC, which got me thinking. The quote in question was “It’s my firm belief that you don’t improve the individuals, you improve the team and because of that individuals improve.”
Looking at the mortgage industry right now, we have had a whirlwind of changes. These changes have put Sales and Marketing teams very much on the back foot, reactive, in terms of trying to hit sales targets. So, the Slot quote highlighted that in those organisations those that focus on developing Sales and Marketing together, will be the winners.
Now I have been lucky over the years to have been part of great marketing team development. But I can say that where there was joint development with Sales and Marketing, the outcomes were so much better. I am not just talking about sales growth, but greater enjoyment of work, greater efficiencies, greater relationships and all-round better performance.
Team development occurs through greater understanding of each teams’ strengths and strategies, through greater communication and a culture shift to maximising data. Below I set out some ideas to help develop Sales and Marketing teams.
1. Have Common Goals
Creating goals together really starts the team development process off in the best way. Both Sales & Marketing should have the same goals and be working towards the same desired outcomes.
2. Don’t Just Focus On Sales Targets
Trying to hit short term sales targets can really disconnect the two teams and does little to aid team development. If the goals are right and you are achieving these goals (which need to be realistic and achievable) then sales targets look after themselves. There are a couple of lenders who grew market share in 2023 who don’t have sales targets and continue to be successful. Instead, create lead and lag metrics that support your goals to ensure that the overall sales target will be hit.
Focusing on things like brand salience, unprompted brand consideration, NPS and Customer Effort Score are key goals to work together to improve.
3. Plan Together
It is also important to develop by planning together. Those teams that do, thrive. Know who is doing what and by when towards those common goals. Know what your success measures are. Review the plan together. Unite and plan together.
4. Maximise Your Strengths
Marketing and Sales teams consist of different types of people, which is a huge strength, not a barrier. To help understand each other’s strengths, use the StrengthsFinder assessment, which is a great way of the two teams realising how they can work together using everyone’s talents. This is the key starting point of team development. Self-awareness and awareness of each other are crucial for strong emotional intelligence (EQ). And teams who develop their EQ are the teams that are most successful.
5. Learn how to work the funnel together
There are many variations of the sales funnel, but Marketing and Sales teams should now learn and develop skills to create and work their own funnels, together. Both have important parts to play in this and know what part they are playing.
Learn how to segment and have relevant messages for each segment. Develop techniques to turn a website visitor into a sales prospect. Thinking about the sales funnel together will take your relationship to new heights.
6. Get The Most Out Of CRM
I have seen this a lot, where Sales and Marketing teams have a common focus on developing CRM strategies. It focuses the minds in a different way, everyone is learning and developing and the spin off benefits are huge. So, use CRM as a way of developing and winning.
7. Make Sure Each Team Knows Its Role To Play
Think team sports, such as football, where everyone is responsible for their part within the team, and each has a specific skill set. You’re only going to win if everyone knows their position and role, so use this to aid that team development.
8. Know How To Communicate With The Target Audience
Knowing and understanding the target audience is such a simple, yet powerful way of developing the teams. It is also important to understand how to communicate with the audience and understand that how Marketing needs to communicate will be different to that of Sales.
9. Collaborate On Content & Campaigns
The two teams should collaborate more on developing content and campaigns. Both Sales and Marketing will have different views of things, but by working together and using each other’s view point really aids development and performance.
10. Review together
If you plan together, you should review together. This really does aid development. By reviewing where you are against the goals helps you refine and improve what you are doing, rather than keep doing the same as before. So set up regular opportunities to talk with each other, either online or in-person, to share what’s working and what’s not.
11. Understand Trust
Trust is so important, and comes from reliability, credibility and relationships. Trust can be eroded by egos. I have seen many teams develop quickly by simply understanding the trust equation and building on this.
There are companies who miss simple opportunities to unite their Sales and Marketing teams and miss out on market growth. So, find a way to get unity every now and then and ensure that the maximum value is being achieved.
The answer is to slot your teams together through understanding strengths, communication through joint planning and reviews, and a culture shift to maximising data.
