Importance of integrating Marketing and Sales in your business in 2024

Who has never heard the popular saying that unity is strength? In the business context, this maxim could not be more true, especially when it comes to the integration between the marketing and sales sectors.

It seems quite conventional to say this, but it is a fact that even today in some companies these teams are seen as adversaries, each following their own objectives. Marketing focuses on creating attractive campaigns to increase the company’s visibility and generate leads, while sales strives to bring in new customers.

However, this fragmented vision can be harmful to the company as a whole, compromising the performance of both areas and especially the company’s goals. What’s the point, for example, if the marketing team hits the lead target, but the sales team doesn’t hit the sales target? What’s the point of a top, experienced sales team that doesn’t receive qualified leads?

In today’s article, I’ll take you to explore how integrating marketing and sales can be the key to business success. Stay with me!

Alignment of objectives

One of the first benefits of integrating marketing and sales in 2024 is the alignment of objectives. By joining forces, teams start working towards a common objective: the company’s goal.

This synchronization not only increases operational efficiency, but also improves visibility into the company’s objectives. With aligned goals, the business can direct its efforts more strategically, maximizing its growth potential and return on investment, the famous ROI.

Customer understanding

Close collaboration between marketing and sales can provide a deeper understanding of the customer. By sharing insights and information, teams can create more effective strategies to attract and convert leads.

Understanding customer needs and wants becomes a priority, allowing you to personalize marketing and sales approaches. This customer-centric approach not only strengthens the relationship with the consumer, but also drives loyalty, which is essential for long-term success.

Generation of qualified leads

The quality of leads is essential for sales success. Collaboration between marketing and sales in 2024 can improve this process, allowing both teams to define clear criteria for leads to be considered qualified, this is the SLA – Service Level Agreement, where the characteristics a lead needs to be there to be considered good.

Working together, the teams ensure that the leads generated by marketing are aligned with the sales team’s expectations. This results in a more robust pipeline and the maximization of conversion opportunities, avoiding wasting resources on poorly qualified leads.

Efficient automation

Integration can also facilitate the efficient implementation of marketing and sales automation systems. This enables a smoother process, from generating leads to closing deals.

Automation not only saves time, but also reduces errors and increases consistency and assertiveness in customer interactions. This way, teams can focus on more strategic tasks, while automation takes care of operational activities.

Improved customer experience

By integrating marketing and sales in 2024, it will be possible to create a more cohesive and fluid customer experience. This provides a smooth transition from initial interest to purchase, contributing to a more positive customer journey.

Close collaboration between teams allows for the creation of consistent messages at every stage of the sales funnel, strengthening the brand image and building customer trust.

Aligned metrics

Defining common metrics or metrics that are logical to each other is crucial to evaluating the company’s overall performance. Marketing and Sales can, for example, share a company revenue target, with marketing having a qualified leads target defined based on the number of qualified leads needed for the sales team to convert into new customers. Integration between marketing and sales will allow both teams to work together to achieve specific goals.

Aligned metrics provide a holistic view of progress, making it easier to identify areas for improvement and adjust strategies as needed.

What can we conclude about the integration between marketing and sales in 2024?

In short, the integration between marketing and sales in 2024 goes beyond overcoming internal adversities; It is an essential strategy for business success.

Objective alignment, deep customer understanding, qualified lead generation, efficient automation, improved customer experience and aligned metrics are crucial elements of this process.

By adopting this integrated approach, companies can strengthen their market position, drive growth and deliver an exceptional customer experience. After all, the union between marketing and sales not only builds strength, but also builds a solid path to sustainable success.

*Fábio Duran is a Partner at the 8D Hubify Agency. Coordinator and Professor of the MBA Data Driven Digital Marketing at IDP. Postgraduate from the University of California in Business Administration and Project Management, Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Insper, Mentor and Digital Marketing Expert in the Cubo.Itaú and RD Station ecosystems, fellow of the BR +Innovators program and CEO of 8D Hubify agency, Top 1 Change agency in 2020 and Top 3 Result Agency in 2021 and 2022, according to RD Station. Passionate about Marketing, Sales and People.