What Happens When Marketing and Sales Don’t Talk

What happens when marketing and sales don’t talk?

Salespeople spend time with the wrong prospects.
The wrong prospects clog the sales funnel.
Everyone blames everyone else.

Sales decline when marketing and sales don’t talk.

Getting Marketing and Sales on the Same Page

How does one manage marketing and sales professionals who are wired differently? How do you get them to work together? As VP of Marketing and Sales, the challenge is to build an effective sales funnel.

Two critical questions that marketing and sales must agree to are:

What is the best client for your business?
Who is in charge of what part of the company’s sales funnel?

Agreement on these two questions is the foundation of getting both on the same page.

Samson, Eagle, Justice, and Trust LLC (SEJT)

Bob Trust is the Managing Partner of SEJT, a NYC law firm with 50 lawyers and 20 administrators. Robert’s direct reports include the marketing and sales managers. Over the past 2 years, Robert saw several disturbing trends:

New client acquisition was flat.
Marketing initiatives generated interest but not clients.
Sales follow-up with lawyers was ad hoc.

SEJT’s CRM tracked each of these trends and the facts were clear. Bob knew his 2 direct reports were trying hard, but results were limited.

SEJT’s Next Steps

Bob convened a team to work with SEJT’s marketing and sales managers to choose the best ways to generate new business.

The team reviewed 5 years of CRM data. “The findings were powerful,” said the team. Within 30 days the team had agreed to:

Client Definition – Commercial business with sales greater than $1M in construction, government contracting, and healthcare.
Sales Funnel – Track prospects to learn what is working.
Focus outreach on its 3 industries driving readers to landing pages.
Focus on current clients to identify cross-selling opportunities.

The marketing and sales managers agreed to manage the sales funnel together and keep everyone up to date.

Sales Funnel Management

The team divided the funnel into thirds:

Top – Marketing – Online campaigns, thought leadership articles, and strategic networking
Middle – Attorneys – Lead nurturing, meaningful consultations, and tailored legal solutions.
Bottom – Sales – Engagement letter and client relationship building.

“Often in sales, there is a door opener, presenter, and door closer. We need them all,” said Bob.

SEJT’s Results

The team used its CRM to measure SEJT’s results. They had multiple campaigns across 3 industries and invested significant time in building client relationships. What did they learn?

Industry trade groups rather than Chambers were their primary sources of new business.
Construction and healthcare clients presented greater cross-selling opportunities than government contractors.
Email campaigns to each industry drove prospects to compelling landing pages.
Sales team follow up by the sales manager and the attorney increased conversions.

SEJT shared its results firm-wide every week and the Firm buzzed with excitement.

SEJT’s Success

Robert’s leadership changed the “once-disconnected” marketing, sales, and attorney teams into one seamless team, aligning efforts to drive the Firm’s success. Using its CRM and sales funnel, SEJT built its sales pipeline and solidified its foundation.

What are the Best Ways to Build Your Sales Pipeline?

I invite you To meet with me!

When you stack magnets, their power is exponential.

Stacking Magnets

Think about your best clients and what actions they took when first buying from you. Build magnets based on these actions. Here are examples of how to stack magnets:

Fractional CFO Service Company

TOFU – Cash-Flow Forecast Template for Founders.
MOFU – 3-part email class on “Scaling from 500K to 5M using videos.
BOFU – Free 30-minute “Financial Check” with a 90-day pilot option.

. Residential HVAC / Plumbing Contractor

TOFU – Seasonal Maintenance Checklist to Avoid Breakdowns
MOFU – Educational videos on “What To Check Before Calling For Help.
BOFU – Free home system inspection plus a discount on annual plans.

Specialty Retailer or E-Commerce Shop

TOFU – “Find Your Perfect Product Style” quiz with personalized recommendations and a small first-order discount.
MOFU – How-To Guides, Lookbooks, and Comparisons

BOFU – Limited-time starter kit, cart-abandonment coupons, and free shipping.

This “magnet stack” approach—clear value at each stage, linked to your core offer—will pull the right prospects from curiosity to commitment.

Getting it Done

Apex Advisory Group, a professional services firm, had four sales reps plus the owner selling and servicing clients, but deals were inconsistent and follow-up was ad-hoc.

Apex engaged CCC, www.cccsolutions.com, to help build their sustainable sales pipeline. The team focused on the ideal client’s journey, selected magnets, and created a sales process to manage prospects. The magnets were:

TOFU – Risk and Readiness Checklist.

MOFU – Quarterly Webinars and Case Studies

BOFU – Business Circle Invitation

CCC set up X2CRM to segment, track, and reach prospects and remind salespeople to follow up. At every stage, the CRM captured new information and responded based on specific prospect actions.

Apex Today

Apex now has a repeatable sales engine: Their magnets consistently attract new prospects, X2CRM nurtures and scores them, and the sales team focuses its energy on the best opportunities.

With CCC Solutions guiding strategy and configuration, Apex built a sustainable, measurable pipeline that increased sales while reducing the chaos of manual follow-up.

FREE ebook:
Build More Revenue with Less Follow Up Fatigue

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