I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Gerhard Gschwandtner, CEO of Selling Power to discuss sales and marketing alignment. As you all know, alignment continues to be a hot topic with sellers and marketers who are tired of the tension.
In the video below I discuss how that tension is exacerbated by the shift in power from B2B sellers to buyers, and how marketers and sellers need to connect much earlier in the sales cycle with buyers. ABM can help with that. For more info on how ABM can help bring sales and marketing together, see our on-demand webinar, “Using Account-Based Strategies to Unite Sales & Marketing”.
The truth is, ABM and alignment feed each other. When sales and marketing have the same goals and are working with the same information, there’s less tension. And when there’s less tension, it’s easier to communicate and be on the same page. As I discussed with the ABM experts last year, alignment is critical for a successful ABM program. See our infographic for quick tips on alignment.
Gerhard also mentions our webinar on selecting target accounts in the video. You can find that webinar here.
If you’re looking for more alignment insights to fuel your ABM program, here are some great places to start:
- The Alignment Blog, authored by Jeff Davis, is packed with valuable, tactical advice for putting alignment into action.
- Mary Shea of Forrester Research is a treasure trove of insights. I love following her on Twitter.
- Jonathan Bentz recently wrote an article on alignment for Business.com. The three tactics he highlights for operationalizing alignment are spot-on. I would even suggest scheduling a cadence meeting between sales and marketing leaders, and use his suggested tactics as your first order of business for the meeting.
Have you found ABM to be a productive forcing function for alignment between teams? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!