The rift between sales and marketing is something of a certainty in the business world. But as Honest Abe once said, a business divided against itself cannot stand. Well, maybe that’s not exactly what he said, but you get the point.

Luckily, aligning these two warring factions isn’t an impossibility, and lead generation programs can help.

Conquering the Cultural Divide

While sales operates in the here and now, cognizant of monthly and quarterly goals, marketing takes a more strategic, big-picture approach. But that doesn’t mean they can’t collaborate in mutually productive ways. In fact, it’s imperative that they do—they’re on the same team.

To emphasize this dynamic, it’s important to establish mutual revenue goals. This not only sparks communication, but it also necessitates collaboration on items as basic as defining shared terms. For example, what marketing considers a qualified lead may be considered a complete waste of time by the sales team. When that lead is passed on, sales is resentful for having wasted their time, and marketing is upset that sales squandered a qualified lead. No one wins!

By coming together on what constitutes a marketing qualified lead versus a sales qualified lead, you lay the foundation of a successful coexistence. Now shared metrics can be established to define a unified funnel that is understood and supported by both sales and marketing. Knowing exactly where to hand off a lead makes for a much more efficient process.

Learn more about  Marketing strategies for success.

How Lead Generation Programs Can Help

Once terms and metrics have been agreed upon, lead generation programs can be used to streamline the process and increase the velocity of leads to the sales and marketing funnels. Here’s a basic overview.

• Import your database. These may be leads you’ve been nurturing over time or brand-new cold contacts from a purchased email list.
• Clean your data. This removes any incomplete or inaccurate data and eliminates any potential spam triggers, optimizing the deliverability of your list so there’s no wasted motion.
• Add permission or consent to cold or purchased contacts. Set your parameters and let the automated process of lead generation programs begin.
• Enjoy the power of integration. Lead generation programs are designed to complement existing BPM and CRM software, so there’s no need to transfer data across multiple platforms. As cold contacts meet your set parameters, they are upgraded to warm leads and pushed to the appropriate funnels.

But that’s not all lead generation programs have to offer. Real-time reporting and analytics enable you to track the journey of each potential lead from start to finish and beyond. You’ll not only have a measurable means of tracking results and ROI, but you’ll also gain valuable insight into the behaviors and interests of each contact.

This insight allows marketing to filter out the dead-end contacts, promote the warms leads and properly nurture anyone in between. Meanwhile, sales can provide the proper attention to qualified sales leads and strategically engage based on the past actions of each lead. Email lists can be segmented accordingly, making future interactions all the more meaningful.

While keeping sales and marketing aligned is an ongoing challenge, lead generation programs can help establish a united front. 

To learn more about Clickback’s lead generation programs, request a free demo today.