Anybody could tell that they were meant to be together. They shared the same passions, wanted the same things, but something or other just kept getting in the way. Both of them wound up feeling misunderstood, unsupported, unappreciated; they wondered if the other ever really knew them at all.
The relationship between Sales and Marketing can be a heart-breaking tale: a romance waiting to bloom that never quite seems to get off the ground. Both value content, both believe in social selling, both want to generate leads, sales and ROI more than anything. But their instinctive desire to make each other happy is all too often undermined by bad communication.
Now, you have the chance to add a happier ending to Sales and Marketing's love story. Relationship counsellors LinkedIn and HubSpot have come together to produce the ultimate eBook guide to getting the chemistry right. Our relationship guide is rooted in unique research amongst sales and marketing professionals. It reveals why this crucial relationship tends to go off the rails, what the two sides think they're doing wrong and believe they're doing right - and how clear, open communication can make all the difference to how they work together. Shockingly, only 59% of marketing people have a formal agreement with sales to determine both teams' responsibilities - and put their relationship on an agreed, transparent footing.
So if you think you already know the other half of your business well enough, here are a few stats that might surprise you about what you have in common - and what can push you apart:
- On LinkedIn 63% of people who identify themselves as sales professionals are male, whereas 57% of marketers are female* Tweet this stat
- 25% of sales professionals list marketing as a skill on LinkedIn - and 21% of marketing professionals list sales as a skill* Tweet this stat
- 95% of marketers say that lead quality is important to them - but 40% of them admit they don't even know what a qualified lead is** Tweet this stat
- 87% of sales people think they do a good job of following up marketing leads - but only 64% of marketing people agree** Tweet this stat
- 81% of sales people share relevant professional updates on their social networks weekly* - and 72% used social media to source a deal in 2013** Tweet this stat
- Marketing professionals' LinkedIn networks are 16% larger than those of their sales teams - and marketing people engage on LinkedIn 21% more each month* Tweet this stat
- Marketing profiles get 41% more inbound views on LinkedIn per month than sales profiles* Tweet this stat
Original post made by Amy Miller of LinkedIn on the LinkedIn Sales Solutions blog.