Integrating the sales and marketing process can lead to annual revenue growth. One study establishes revenue growth of up to 20 percent. Unfortunately, all too often there is friction between sales and marketing.

How aligned are your sales and marketing teams? Are your sales people creating their own marketing materials because the company’s message isn’t on target? Does sales complain about the quality of leads they receive? Is the data in your CRM system up to date and utilized by your marketing team? Start a sales + marketing, or smarketing, initiative and work toward a cooperative alliance.

Effective collaboration starts with establishing a common focus.

• Develop a buyer persona that represents your ideal customer
• Establish the life stages of the buyer’s journey
• Set criteria for qualified leads
• Create message continuity
• Evaluate your CRM system
• Provide an extranet for sales and marketing assets
• Track leads by source and campaign
• Analyze data and provide closed-loop reporting

Cooperation between sales and marketing improves productivity, increases lead conversion and positively affects the bottom line.