Anthony Bilby on How Sales and Marketing Work Together

There are varying skills involved in marketing and sales, but they should not be separated. While they differ in departments within a company, they can work together to guide prospects and customers to become paid customers.

Sales

In sales, the goal is to guide the customer through a process that involves talking to them about a product or service and then making a purchase. This can be done in person, over the phone, or through social media. The process can take several hours, depending on the situation’s complexity. The salesperson also learns about the customer’s pain points and how the product or service can help them solve them.

Marketing

Marketing is a more holistic process focusing on increasing consumer brand or product awareness. Usually, a marketing professional only interacts with one customer at a time.

The marketing department’s methods, tactics, and channels are very different from what they were 15 years ago. Digital marketing is still a part of the process, but not always.

Working Together

Despite the importance of both departments, they should not be separated. Together, they can be more powerful than ever.

The nature of sales allows salespeople to gain first-hand knowledge of their potential customers’ sales objections. This is very beneficial as it will enable them to identify areas of their sales that they can improve.

Unfortunately, many companies don’t have the proper alignment between the sales and marketing departments. This is a huge missed opportunity as these departments are so much more than their parts.

Three Levels of Sales and Marketing

• The emotional level of the sales and marketing teams should be high. They should be able to stand together without pointing fingers or fighting.
• The process level of the sales and marketing departments should also be high. This should involve having clear communication channels and procedures in place.
• The feedback level between the marketing and sales teams should be high. This is because, while both departments can produce great leads, they can also make mistakes. A feedback loop is crucial to ensure that both teams work together seamlessly.

Takeaway

One of the most critical factors that the sales and marketing teams should consider when working together is having the necessary knowledge and ideas. This is because both sides can easily reach a common ground if both sides have these.

About Anthony Bilby

Anthony Bilby is the Founder and General Sales Manager at VegaTech Commercial Group. As an IT consultant, Anthony brings a creative and solutions-oriented approach to sales. He listens to customer challenges, fully understands customer needs, and develops strategies around what can better transform the enterprise, increase efficiencies, decrease costs, and increase security. Anthony brings a consultative approach; designing what customers need in order to achieve the ideal infrastructure for their business. Anthony Bilby is well versed in core sales methodologies and combines them with his real-world working experience.

Anthony started selling door-to-door when he was seventeen. While most are intimidated by the moment the door opens, that first moment of uncertainty, Anthony adapted and began honing his entrepreneurial spirit at a young age allowing him to thrive in this boiler-room-type atmosphere. Tony takes the time to fully understand not only the product he is selling, but the myriad of ways it could be useful to a potential customer. His in-depth and diverse industry experience gives him the ability to provide real-world examples and analogies to fully explain technical capabilities to non-technical decision-makers.

It is very important to listen, truly understand customer challenges, and then provide as much value as possible. It not only shows the customer that a consultant is knowledgeable about the product, but that they can also be relied upon and trusted. It’s also important to stay with the customer for the long haul, never give up, and stay positive. Sales, in the end, is a contact sport, a numbers game, and the best person to provide the most value, consistently, wins.