Pipeline Marketing must include Sales in 2017

As B2B companies look into 2017 they should not only look at how Marketing can generate more revenue but how Sales can help pull through these strategies. It will make the job of both functions easier if they have a conversation about the pipeline marketing strategies that will be used. This knowledge can help Sales understand more clearly how they can benefit from the activities that Marketing plans to execute. The 2016 State of Pipeline Marketing Report (sponsored by Bizible, Heinz Marketing, Radius, Reachforce, and Uberflip) shares a lot of strategic and tactical information that many B2B marketing teams can benefit from. Beyond just reviewing the marketing plan for 2017, marketing teams need to explore how their sales colleagues can benefit from each of the strategies to help drive revenue. Questions should be asked like - "How can Sales help pull through our email marketing campaigns?" or "How can we help Sales follow up on potential leads after conferences or other events?"

In a recent article titled "How B2B Marketers Generate Revenue — State of Pipeline Marketing 2016"  the author shares some great infographics that illustrate how B2B marketers are generating revenue for their companies. I think this information provides a perfect template to review and see how Sales can be involved in the type of activities that are being used in pipeline marketing today.  Starting with the top most-used channels is the best way to create momentum for the team.

Top channels for B2B Marketing

• Social media
• Content marketing
• SEO (tied)
• WOM / referrals (tied)
• Conferences / events
• Paid search

Let's help Sales and Marketing drive revenue together!

Use the power of tribal knowledge or die

Leaders of most B2B companies know the reality of fierce competition in this space. Customers are being blasted by vendors on a never-ending basis. Research shows that they are getting quite annoyed by it. No one probably feels the pressure of trying to make things happen more than B2B salespeople. In fact, a recent survey found that connecting with a prospect now takes 18 or more phone calls, callback rates are below 1%, and only 24% of outbound sales emails are ever opened. The Harvard Business Review posed the question - "Why are more and more buyers avoiding salespeople during the buying process?" Its response - "Sales reps, according to Forrester, tend to prioritize a sales agenda over solving a customer’s problem. If organizations don’t change their outdated thinking and create effective sales models for today’s digital era, Forrester warns that 1 million B2B salespeople will lose their jobs to self-service e-commerce by 2020." It's evident in this type of reality that Sales and Marketing need to be more aligned and focused on getting new customers. Why? Survival.

Sales and Marketing need to focus on “Togetherness” for survival.

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Information is today's survival weapon

In today's hyper-connected world, information is everywhere. It doesn't just come from one source anymore. This fragmented landscape offers an opportunistic advantage to those companies that are able to synthesize this information and gain actionable insights. The only way to do this is to have everyone in customers facing roles focused on seeking new, relevant information and sharing it with the collective group. This will empower the organization to be able to iterate on its strategies and move faster than the competition. If your organization is not nimble, it will be taken out - and not on a date.

Watercooler talk might have been helpful at times, but it was not until the digital age that enterprise employees had the opportunity to leverage the enormous knowledge of the "hive".           --Aberdeen Group

Leaders have to understand that the currency of business is information. In the current digital age, the value of that currency has exploded. We can no longer just have those at the top conduct strategic exercises with that information. We must give it to the troops on the ground that are actually going to battle every day. They need new weapons to compete. We must empower our people with something that differentiates them from everyone else asking - "Can I get five minutes of your time for a demo?". Market knowledge then becomes the new competitive advantage.

Customer and Market Insight

While salespeople gain a lot of customer insights in their daily activities, they don't have the same amount of time that Marketing has to truly gain market insight. What you have then is two groups that have two separate perspectives on reality. What would happen if they were able to combine this knowledge and together cultivate a clearer picture of how to not just react to the market but possibly shape it. One example would be the salesperson bringing the latest marketing knowledge to the customer proactively and helping them get in front of their competitors. What type of value would this bring to the customer? How could this help the salesperson secure more business for the future? A LinkedIn survey found that B2B buyers are five times more likely to engage with a sales rep who provides new insights about their business or industry. This is the information to demonstrates how salespeople can benefit from the market knowledge that their marketing colleagues may possess.

Allowing these two flows of information to converge really helps the organization in many ways to get in front of customer's change of appetite and be able to react in a way that doesn't cause the business to go into panic mode.

I don't think most would argue that the world of B2B is like a jungle. So leaders must decide if we are going to split up and make a run for it or stick together and leverage the skills of those in the group to survive the potential attacks in the future. I, for one, feel safer with a group that is committed to working together so that we all eat and survive.

Salespeople ---> Align with Marketing to make more money [podcast]

I recently had the chance to speak with @DonaldCKelly (The Sales Evangelist) on his podcast about how salespeople can benefit from better alignment with their marketing colleagues. It was a great conversation to address the challenges of selling in B2B today. There are many. What I share with people is simply that Sales and Marketing can no longer survive without each other. People need to stop being selfish and only worried about their small piece of the organization and realize that a rising tide lifts all boats - also known as Togetherness. We also got the chance to talk about why I founded The Sales and Marketing Alignment Summit.  

Highlights from our conversation:

The goals of the Sales and Marketing Alignment Summit:

• Create a community of sales and marketing professionals focused on growth through better alignment
• Find and curate the best content for the community
• Foster collaboration to facilitate meaning change for businesses of all sizes

Factors behind the tension between sales and marketing:

1. Not data-driven

Many companies look at metrics but are not data-driven. You can generate revenue and not realize you’re losing money because of missed opportunities.

1. Leadership aspect

If you have a person that comes from sales, you tend to have a sales-driven organization. If you have somebody that comes from marketing, you tend to have a marketing-driven organization. Because the skill sets are very different, it’s difficult to balance the two unless you have an executive team that has experience from both sides.

Sell to Sales!

Sell ideas, concepts, and strategies to sales people when you want them to do something different.

Communicate with sales the reason you’re doing this, why they should care, and how is it going to help them reach their sales goals and make money.

All organizations should be sales-driven and it’s up to leadership to sell the unique attributes that marketing brings to them and how it can make their life easier so they can close more business.

Account-Based Marketing

Account-based marketing is an essential component to overall high-level strategies which can fall into three buckets:

1. Take a system approach (versus a functional approach).

Instead of looking at sales as sales and marketing as marketing, look at it from the viewpoint of the customer - they don't know the difference. Start talking about customer journeys and look at it holistically as to how best to  engage potential customer so you get the outcome you want.

1. Have a formal feedback loop.

Build, measure, learn. Have that continuous conversation between the two so that marketing can iterate strategies and put the best out there for the market.

1. Focus on shared goals.

In a lot of sales organizations, sales and marketing don’t have the same goals. Regardless of sales or marketing, your primary metric should be, are you hitting revenue? If not, why not?

Metrics you should pay attention to:

• Are you reaching your target revenue?
• Correlate to the sales funnel (ex. marketing qualified leads, total lead volume)
• Middle of the funnel (ex. servicing metrics around service line agreements)
• Close metrics (ex. close ratio)
• Find out where majority of revenue is coming from to help you understand where you need to share or push your resources.

More strategies to bridge the gap between sales and marketing:

1. Raise the conversation from tactical B2B technology to fundamentally changing the way sales and marketing see themselves and the way they interact.
2. Move them from being independent warriors to really seeing each other as allies and a source of strength.
3. Convince salespeople that marketing is an asset to them and can help them do their job easier.
4. Change the focus in your conversations to:

“How does what you’re doing today affect your colleagues?”

“How can you move toward collectively attaining more revenue?”

Sales and marketing in startups:

In startups, you become both sales and marketing.

You have to learn two completely different disciplines and understand when to apply which. It depends on where your customer is throughout their customer journey.

You have to morph back and forth between two things that are fundamentally different in their objective.

Information: Your Competitive Advantage

• People
• Process
• Products

Get information on these three and it will keep you ahead.

Major Takeaway:

Revenue fixes all problems. At the end of the day, focus on revenue and it will tell you the story and what you need to do.

Episode Resources:

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

The Profit (TV Show)

The spark that will change your view on Sales and Marketing Alignment

One of the things that I've thought a lot about was when did I take a stand to say that "Sales and Marketing not only should work together better but they must for the survival of the business." After much thought, the catalyst event came to mind. This event was so pivotal for me because I not only experienced a change in myself but I witnessed a change in my colleagues as well. So what happened?

I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things. --Mother Teresa

Many years ago I was attending a typical sales meeting. These meetings usually were put together to talk about the state of the business, allow people on the team to network, share best practices, etc. Sometimes these meetings were fruitful and allowed for colleagues to think about the business in a different way; many times even energizing folks to get out there and sell better. More often than not however, they were too frequent and a superfluous repetition of the same stuff we talked about in the last meetings.

This meeting, however was different - little did I know. Our manager had invited someone from the Marketing team to come talk about a new initiative that they were launching aimed at helping Sales become more efficient in selling to customers. While the strategy was not groundbreaking for most marketers it was a concept that wasn't really common in Sales. What this marketer did so eloquently was explain why the Marketing team thought using this framework was important for the company, how it would help Sales sell more efficiently, and how it could be implemented by each individual in the room as soon as the next day.

That's when it hit me.

This wasn't just some new strategy mandated from the Ivory Tower of Marketing because they didn't have anything else better to do, No, this was a tool that could actually help me do my job better. Now it made sense. And not only did it make sense for me but I could see it also made sense for my colleagues. There was an excitement after the presentation that was not typical for a sales meeting. My colleagues were asking questions and trying to figure out with which customers they were going to target first with this new tool. And the questions weren't those "I just need to seem engaged so my boss thinks I care and that I'm a leader" questions. These were genuine questions to gain better understanding.

From this point on, I recognized the power of open dialogue between Sales and Marketing. What an opportunity to take advantage of! Each group has skills that are uniquely theirs and they should be celebrated, however when each group is able to understand more precisely how their actions impact the other group it creates a powerful synergy that leads to success.

Beginning the journey to Sales and Marketing alignment doesn't have to be a huge undertaking. It can begin with something as simple as a conversation to share ideas.

Empower people with knowledge so they may excel at what they are good at.

Hey, CEO! Alignment is worth it.

Getting CEO support for a Sales and Marketing Alignment effort can be difficult. Although embarking on this journey to better alignment can be a large undertaking, it is worth it. The effect that better alignment has on long-term revenue growth is invaluable. Because of this, leaders must look at SMA as a long-term business improvement strategy. Even more important, you must learn to communicate the benefits of SMA so that the executive team clearly understands why it's worth it.  SMA is not a Sales or Marketing thing - it's a revenue thing. 

Sales and Marketing leadership cannot implement a successful SMA initiative alone. They need the buy-in and support of the CEO because the effort many times will require the way the organization does business to fundamentally change. Arguably, the key to achieving successful alignment is changing the way Sales and Marketing see each other. This is not about simply adding a sales enablement technology. No.  This is about helping people see the value of their colleagues on the other side of the house. It's both a people and technology issue.

The Research Shows

Aberdeen Group recently released a report titled "Marketing/Sales Alignment 2016: Who is Agile Enough to Win?" In the report, they argue that Best-in-Class enterprises (top 20%) understand that "B2B success today requires changing the traditionally combative relationship between marketing and sales."  A lot of this change is because of the wealth of digital information available about products and services. Conservative estimates have shown that customers are 57% through the purchase process before they approach a supplier [CEB]. However, other sources have estimated the amount to be as high as 70%. This is why companies must react with a highly coordinated response when the customer eventually reaches out.

The Aberdeen Group study shows us that among a variety of metrics that were strong indicators for success for all companies included, those enterprises with a strong internal sales/marketing relationship show a stronger annual performance improvement. One of the outcomes that should concern the CEO and marketing leadership is that the percent of sales-forecasted pipeline generated by marketing actually decreased. So even if a marketing team increases the volume of leads to Sales, if they are not quality leads it may end up in Marketing doing more work for fewer sales wins. This is a perfect example of learning how to work smarter, not harder.

Is SMA worth it?

I would say "yes" if things like revenue, average deal size, and team attainment of sales quota are important to you. The conversation to the CEO must be broader than just helping Sales and Marketing get along. The conversation with the CEO should focus on all the business performance parameters that are negatively affected by the current state of misalignment. Then the appreciation for how many metrics will improve with better alignment can be seen. Share this vision with the CEO and you will more likely achieve support for SMA in your organization.

Show this video to your CEO about why you are missing revenue goals. It will help. Promise.

Getting support for a Sales and Marketing Alignment effort can be really hard. I found this funny video that explains in very simple terms what Sales and Marketing Alignment really is all about. I think every CEO of a company that is experiencing misalignment should take a look. Although it's very comical, it highlights the fact that you can begin the journey to better alignment with some common sense stuff. And...the negative impact of misalignment on revenue is worth taking on an effort like this. [Tweet "Hey CEO! Sales-Marketing misalignment is killing your revenue growth"]

Once you have your CEO convinced, take a look at my article "Together at Last: How to Achieve Sales and Marketing Alignment" to create a game plan on what to do next.

Hope you enjoy!

What I learned at the first Sales and Marketing Alignment Summit

I had the pleasure of launching the first-ever Sales and Marketing Alignment Summit right here in Chicago. Its goal was simply to help professionals learn how to make Sales and Marketing work together.  Creating this type of business community has been a passion of mine for some time. Thus,  it is exciting to see it actually coming together. I was compelled to create this type of event series because I was frustrated with Sales and Marketing not understanding how to leverage each other's skill set. They need each other to focus on the most important thing for any business - growing revenue. In today's consumer-driven economy, it is more important than ever that Sales and Marketing be able to work together effectively. [Tweet "Sales and Marketing can no longer survive without working together better. The buyer has changed."]

Gaining a better understand of the current research available is one of the key components that I will ensure each summit focuses on. It is critical as more research is conducted and we better understand how to make this alignment work that we share those findings with companies struggling to generate sustainable revenue growth. This will help avoid implementing short-term strategies that many times don't really benefit the business. Instead, companies can adopt sustainable strategies that will make lasting change in the organization. This is my personal goal for all those that choose to be a part of the unique community that I am building.

The knowledge shared from the expert panel

After I had a chance to reflect on the Summit, I was able to understand the invaluable amount of  knowledge that the expert panel shared with the audience. Not only that, but because we had such an open forum and the audience was able to have a dialogue with the panel, we really got to explore some interesting topics.   For those that were not able to attend the Summit, I hope you will join us in the future. Below are some of the key learnings that I came away with:

• Variable compensation tied to quality of leads could motivate marketers to a better partnership with Sales
• A shared dashboard makes accountability easier and can avoid finger pointing when goals are missed
• A unified dashboard should contain at least 4 metric types - % to Revenue, Lead Generation (Top of Funnel), Service Level (Middle of Funnel), and Revenue Generation (Bottom of Funnel)
• A new book has been written about this topic - "Aligned to Achieve: How to Unite Your Sales and Marketing Teams into a Single Force for Growth" by Tracy Eiler and Andrea Austin
• The perception that marketers are superior to salespeople still exist
• Lead scoring can be difficult and must be revisited often to ensure the parameters are still relevant for salespeople
• Organizations of all sizes can benefit from Sales and Marketing Alignment. The process becomes more complex the larger the organization.
• Alignment has become more of an issue because the consumer has significantly changed with the proliferation of digital information
• The CEO must be the catalyst for an organization to be able to move toward Sales and Marketing Alignment. Sales and Marketing leadership can only do so much if they don't have the support of their leader.

Final Thoughts

This event has been a great start to a conversation that has needed to happen for a long time. Sales and Marketing can no longer survive without working together with the economic pressures on most B2B companies today. I encourage you to join us in Chicago for the next Sales and Marketing Alignment Summit in March 2017. Let's continue to push the conversation forward to help achieve more.

[Press Release]: The Sales + Marketing Alignment Summit has officially launched in Chicago!

CHICAGO - Oct. 17, 2016 - PRLog -- The Sales and Marketing Alignment Summit was created because of the need for Sales and Marketing professionals to join collectively to unlock insights on how to work together better and focus on generating revenue. The goal of this community is to become the go-to place for business professionals focused on growth by aligning Sales and Marketing. The Summit will focus on finding the best Content for its members, establishing a connected Community, and fostering Collaboration so that we can facilitate real change for businesses everywhere. The evening will include discussion about topics such as:

• Why Sales and Marketing misalignment still exist • Financial impact of this misalignment on the business • Key barriers to alignment for leaders to understand • Strategies that can be used for alignment and a focus on revenue generation • Skills Sales and Marketing can learn from each other to become more productive • How leaders start the process of moving toward alignment in their organization

Join the community!

Purchase tickets today - http://www.SMAsummit.com

Media Contact Jeff Davis jeff@smasummit.com

[PR Link]: The Sales + Marketing Alignment Summit has officially launched

Adopt ABM before new B2B technology

I recently read an article in Forbes by Falon Fatemi at Node.io titled "Sales And Marketing Are (Finally) Merging: Introducing Account Based Marketing And Sales". I thought it was interesting because it discussed the importance of using ABM (account based marketing) before diving in and adopting a new sales or marketing technology. The reason I found this compelling was I wrote about a similar idea in my article "How to choose a B2B Sales and Marketing Alignment technology". In my article, I talked about there being many new and exciting B2B tech solutions coming out. However,  before a company adopts any of them they need to take the time to understand what is fundamentally broken in the business. At that point, they can take a strategic approach to fixing it before just throwing a new technology solution at it. I think that ABM is a good starting point in implementing a full-scale Sales and Marketing Alignment (SMA) strategy.

Her article shares that starting with ABM allows a company "to market and sell in a contextual, personalized way". The reason that ABM is a smart way to start looking at SMA is that it forces both teams to sit down at the table and identify the profile of the ideal customer(s). It forces the conversation of what attributes exist in prospects with high potential to close. This type of dialogue helps to build a common vocabulary that Sales and Marketing can start to speak when focusing on the sales funnel and the leads that should or should not go into it.

Make ABM a part of your SMA strategy

Adopting a SMA strategy is a significant undertaking. It requires many people to change fundamental, embedded behaviors that they have done for a long time. Attempting to change those behaviors can cause a lot of resistance. Because of this, making ABM the starting point for that journey is best. It allows the company breathing room to focus on building a necessary foundation - together. Of my 3-part strategy for achieving SMA - Taking a Systems Approach, Establishing a Feedback Loop, and Focusing on Shared Goals - I believe ABM facilitates taking a system approach to targeting new customers.

The article also points out that "too many marketers are relying on mismatched, incomplete data sets. You need a single source of truth for both sales and marketing." Part of taking a system approach is cultivating the most relevant and accurate data available. The best way to do that is to have both Sales and Marketing be a part of the data review process. This gives you a more well-rounded view of the reality of your customers. Sales and Marketing should direct ABM at those select accounts that have high profitability and a high likelihood to close.

The new B2B technology that is coming out is truly exciting and delivering the possibility for companies to create a more personalized buying experience. However, companies must resist the temptation to adopt the most talked about technology simply because they exist. What leaders must focus on is ensuring they have the best processes and strategic alignment in place before trying to accelerate a process that may be broken or deeply flawed.

How to get Sales and Marketing to speak the same language

One of the key reason Sales and Marketing don't work together well is the misalignment of goals/incentives. I feel another one that isn't talked about as much is having a common language. I have found many times Sales and Marketing are talking about the same things and don't even know it. This is why it is worth using common terms for activites and metrics that effect both teams.

“87% of the terms sales and marketing use to describe each other are negative.”

— Corporate Executive Board

I without a doubt find myself using Sales or Marketing-speak often because of my time in both roles. When using my marketing hat I find myself saying things like "robust platform", "synergy", or "360 degree view". These terminologies are fine when we are having marketing conversations but, when I am speaking to potential customers I have to be aware that this is not the language that the customers is used to. So I have to adjust to a language that is more indicative of a salesperson. Should we do away with marketing- or sales-speak? No. I think there is value in creating a lexicon that is understood and widely used within a group. There are just things that salespeople say that marketers don't. And that's okay.

What organizations need to do is help each other understand the vocabulary of their other team members so that when they do need to communicate there is common ground. By doing this, you facilitate a more effective exchange between groups. When people can speak to one another on common ground they are more likely to be able to connect around a common goal. This is good for the business and promotes "Togetherness".

“When people can speak to one another on common ground they are more likely to be able to connect around a common goal”

— Jeff Davis

Below is my attempt (with a little humor) to create a translation for some of the most frequently used terms that I have heard by sales and marketing professionals.

The Sales and Marketing Alignment Dictionary

Why I created the first Sales and Marketing Alignment Summit

Out of frustration! That's the simple answer. Because I spent almost all my career in Sales and Marketing, I saw first-hand the dysfunctional and sometimes combative environment that existed. And for what? Did these groups not understand that they needed each other for survival? This is why the Sales and Marketing Alignment Summit was born. I decided to do something about it. Instead of just saying that's the way things are, Sales and Marketing will always have this relationship, I decided to try to figure it out. I knew there had to be a better way. I'm a believer that many conflicts can be resolved by having an honest conversation, truly listening, and gaining a deep understanding of the other person/group. I don't think this relationship is any different.

What I found through my journey of discovery was that there was a common theme - misalignment of goals/incentives. I believe that until both sides of the aisle make generating revenue the #1 priority, companies will continue to leave a significant amount of money on the table with customers. This is an opportunity to build a business community of professionals all focused on growth through better alignment.

"The goal of Sales and Marketing Alignment (SMA) is to create "Togetherness" where both functions are completely committed to make generating revenue the #1 priority." --Jeff Davis

So...on Thursday, November 3rd the first-ever Sales and Marketing Alignment Summit will be launched. The SMA Summit's goal is to:

• Establish a connected Community
• Find and curate the best Content for members
• Foster mutually beneficial Collaboration that leads to significant business growth

Take a look at my recent interview on AdvisorTV to learn more about how I am changing the way that Sales and Marketing work together. If you are in Chicago you should join us at The Summit on Thursday, 11/3 @ 6pm!

Yes! I want to attend the Sales and Marketing Alignment Summit.

[Press Release]: The Sales + Marketing Alignment Summit has officially launched

Achieving Sales and Marketing Alignment

I recently had the chance to share my passion for Sales and Marketing Alignment at Ignite Chicago. It was a great opportunity to talk about what I feel is a significant issue in the B2B (business-to-business) world. My talk focused on the key reason that this relationship is sometimes toxic and often combative - misalignment of goals/incentives. I urge sales and marketing leaders to work toward creating "Togetherness". [Tweet "Leaders must create "Togetherness" to achieve Sales and Marketing Alignment"]

I also talked about the 3 key strategies that I feel are necessary for any organization to transform to are more aligned business that is focused on generating revenue:

• Taking a System Approach instead of a Functional one
• Establishing a formal Feedback Loop platform
• Focusing on Shared Goals with the central metric being revenue attainment

Take a look and learn more about why I am so enthusiastic about the possibilities for Sales and Marketing Alignment.

Mission: End the WAR between Sales and Marketing

Ending the WAR between Sales and Marketing can happen! It doesn't have to be as complicated as the search for life in outer space. We can take easier steps to change the culture of the business so that these two functions can be better aligned, which has been proven to be critical to the success of the business.

As a professional that has worked in both Sales and Marketing, I have seen the strengths and weaknesses of both groups. And for this reason, I am passionate about finding solutions to help all Sales and Marketing teams work together better.

Companies with strong sales and marketing alignment achieve 20% annual growth rate. Companies with poor sales and marketing alignment have a 4% revenue decline.  --Aberdeen Group

Why is Sales and Marketing Alignment so important? Because it affects the bottom line. Companies that do it well achieve significant growth, while those that don't...see a significant revenue decline.

[Tweet "Alignment is crucial for success in B2B today"]

Last year I conducted an online survey asking sales/marketing/biz dev professionals from very diverse industries their thoughts on why this "disconnect" exists. I wanted to get some insights into what can be done to change this counter-productive culture and start an honest conversation. Most respondents were in B2B or a combination of both B2B and B2C.

And the survey says>>>

Main Reasons for the "Disconnect"

• Misalignment of goals between Sales and Marketing
• Marketing and Sales don't really have an idea of what the other does on a daily basis
• Management taking a functional approach instead of a system approach to achieve business goals
• No established feedback loop to allow Sales and Marketing to iterate strategies based on customer feedback
• Marketing not understanding the need for Sales to establish and maintain long-term relationships with customers
• Superiority complex of the Marketing team and pride of the Sales team

I think the first steps to finding solutions are determining and recognizing what's broken in the system and then talking about realistic solutions that can be implemented.

So what do YOU think? I encourage anyone that has a perspective on this topic to share your thoughts.  Also check outwww.SMAsummit.comfor the latest on the upcoming event series solely dedicated to making Sales and Marketing Alignment work!

Let's end this WAR together!!!

[Press Release]: The Sales + Marketing Alignment Summit has officially launched

Welcome to the Alignment Blog

I am the founder of The Sales and Marketing Alignment Summit.  I created this blog to share the latest insights on the subject. The summit was created because I saw a need for Sales and Marketing professionals to join collectively to unlock insights on how to work together better and focus on generating revenue. My vision is for this community to become the go-to place for business professionals focused on growth by aligning Sales and Marketing. In today's consumer-driven economy, more and more companies are making Sales and Marketing Alignment a stated goal. However, this goal has proven to be extremely complex and challenging. Sales and Marketing leaders must understand that solutions cannot only be focused on technology but must include a fundamental shift in the way that Sales and Marketing interact with each other to drive revenue growth.

The goal of the SMA Summit is to bring together top sales and marketing professionals to discuss the latest insights on Sales and Marketing Alignment, tactical implementation into the organization, and foster a collaborative business community focused on growth through better alignment.

The Summit and blog will focus on

• Establishing a connected Community
• Finding the best Content for members
• Fostering Collaboration among business professionals focused on growth through better alignment.

Welcome to the blog and community! Stay tuned for the next event…