Introduction

Most businesses have several teams working towards the same goal - bringing in better revenue. Revenue is the one wheel that must keep turning, failure is not an option. 

But what happens when your teams are not on the same page? 🧐

It doesn’t matter if it’s a Michelin Star restaurant, two bickering chefs can only ever make food that features in Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen. 😛

Similarly, when it comes to teams like Marketing and Sales, which primarily work on bringing in more clients, it becomes pertinent that they work in unison. 

However, at times, what we think is the right approach is as productive as swimming against the current. When done incorrectly, email outreach is one such thing.

Why sales and marketing teams should go hand in hand — literally.

Consider this: according to a report, sales and marketing alignment leads to a 38% increase in win rates. 

These numbers prove that a certain level of understanding between teams can go a long way and ward off potential conflicts regarding the scope of work. 

In this blog, we explore the problems arising when both Marketing and Sales teams simultaneously reach out to the same prospects and the potential ways one can tackle them.

Why sending marketing and sales emails to the same prospect is not ideal

Every business has prospects on different levels of sales-readiness. More sales-ready prospects would do well with a direct approach, while some prospects might need more information and the right amount of nurturing before they convert. 

When marketing and sales teams aren’t aligned, you might send marketing emails to sales-ready prospects, confusing them in the process. 

When marketing and sales teams reach out to the same prospect,  it leads to communication fatigue, inconsistent brand messaging, and unnecessary confusion. What’s worse? It’s a waste of time and resources. 

To build a robust email outreach program, it is important to first understand the basic difference between sales emails and marketing emails.

Sales and marketing emails: key differences

The biggest difference between sales and marketing emails is the audience. Sales emails are more targeted, sale-specific, action-oriented, and for people who have already shown adequate interest in buying their service or product. 

On the other hand, marketing emails are more general and deal with a wide range of subjects. Unlike sales emails that aim to sell, marketing emails can be for informing, educating, and entertaining, apart from selling. These emails are targeted towards people who are not ready to convert just yet and require more nurturing. 

Interested in how to write email sequences that work like a lead magnet? Learn the 9 best practices to write converting email sequences for your business.

As you can see, these are vastly different audiences that expect to be treated with different styles of content and forms of communication. This is why an overlap between the two is bound to create issues.

Overlapping sales and marketing emails: why it’s a problem

Consider this. You’re a potential client who has been in touch with a sales representative for a while. You are close to making up your mind and making the purchase. 

Out of the blue, you receive a marketing email from the same company that doesn’t address your specific issues or interests and assumes that you are unaware of their services or products. This throws you off as a potential client and makes you rethink the company’s messaging.

For any salesperson, this is a frustrating turn of events. An overlapping of sales and marketing emails can lead to a plethora of problems. 

• Duplicacy in messaging: When prospects are approached with both marketing and sales emails, it makes them think that the company is disorganized and points to a lack of internal communication. It also lessens the overall impact of your messaging.  
  
  
• Negative customer experience: Let’s be honest, a person receiving numerous emails from your company may think of them as spam and is more likely to ignore them. Not only this, it may even lead to frustration, making them even less likely to buy from you. Moreover, prospects are more likely to convert if their customer journey is streamlined effectively. A conflict in calls to action will make for a jarring customer journey experience. 

• Waste of time and resources: What makes this overlapping an absolute no-go is the fact that it leads to horrible inefficiency. The time and effort your employees could be putting into something productive is gone. Instead, you’re wasting time reaching out to the same set of people who are even less likely to convert because of your confusing messaging. 

• Inconsistent messaging: Because marketing and sales teams work independently, their tone, approach, and style of communication may be completely different. While that may not sound so bad, on paper it makes for a disjointed experience. If you want clients to associate you with certain values and trust you as a brand, consistent messaging is necessary. 

That can be achieved through coordinated Email outreach by sales and marketing teams.

Anxious about launching your next email campaign? We can help! Read our case study below for more details. 

Aligning sales and marketing teams: why it makes sense

If your teams aren’t attuned to each other’s work and style, aligning them might take some time. But in the long run, you couldn’t have asked for anything better. Here’s why it makes sense: 

• Consistent communication with customers: Aligning marketing and sales teams leads to consistency in tone and approach, which builds trust. Your company comes across as more organized and cohesive, and customers do not receive mixed messages.

• Customer journey is honored: When internal communication between teams is robust, it’s easier for them to be aware of a prospect’s position in their customer journey. This ensures that the prospect only receives the communication that they need at the moment. While the marketing team nurtures leads with educational content, the sales team can approach sales-ready prospects for easier conversions.

• More effective lead management: With the marketing and sales team on the same page, it becomes easier for the marketing team to smoothly hand over sales-qualified leads to the sales team. With a pre-determined lead qualification approach, this process achieves peak efficiency. 

Learn more about lead management with this case study!

• Optimized resource planning: An alignment between the sales and marketing teams ensures that there is no duplicity of work, meaning that your teams get to do things that bring results. 

• Improved collaboration: When teams work together, it leads to more cohesive communication, a lack of conflict, and a generally healthier work environment. This unified approach ensures that your teams work towards the same goals.

Conclusion

With that, we hope you now understand why aligning your sales and marketing teams can lead to better results and improved conversions. Aligning your teams ensures consistent messaging that is also relevant to the prospect based on their needs. 

Unsure if you can pull it off? RevX is a full-stack RevOps agency that can streamline your marketing efforts. Our immaculate lead scoring systems and cutting-edge email and landing page templates can help you hit the ground running. But wait, there’s more!

Schedule a call today to revamp your MarOps.