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Monday mornings can be challenging at the best of times. Cranking this song by Lenny Kravitz is bound to get you moving and motivated for a brand new month! Listen with me as we explore some takeaways from the past week:

Sales vs. Marketing – Are You Gonna Go My Way?

According to HubSpot, fewer than half of marketers would describe their sales and marketing teams as “generally aligned.” Is that a problem? Heck yeah it is!

Sales and marketing alignment has been a topic in B2B for many, many years. And there are research firms that have had incredible success helping companies align their sales and marketing functions. (Hint: See webinar promo at the end of this post.) So why is this still an issue within organizations?

I find that a Service Level Agreement (SLA) between sales and marketing can be an effective way to bridge this gap. Traditionally, an SLA defines exactly what a customer will receive from a service provider. But SLAs can serve internal operations as well, and sales and marketing agreements are among the most crucial.

HubSpot tells us that a successful SLA should include the following elements:

1. Summary of agreement
2. Goals of both parties
3. What’s needed by both parties
4. Points of contact
5. If goals are not met
6. Conditions of cancellation

Feel like you spend most of your time engaging and re-arranging? Download their template and see if it can help you in your organization!

“Pivoting with Urgency” – Music Instrument Sales

As we can all imagine, online music instrument sales skyrocketed last year. Seems like everyone picked up an instrument or re-ignited their love of playing music at home in 2020. In this article, music retailers explain how they were able to quickly pivot to address the online needs of their customers.

And of course, guitar manufacturers are also claiming their strongest sales in recent history. Makes sense, right?

But what about those other ‘adjacent’ industries and products? Sure – online retailers have thrived, and instrument manufacturers have had a banner year. But what about the other ‘stuff’ that’s not as glamorous? Guitar picks, cases, strings, drum sticks, tuners? We don’t really think about them as much (and they don’t get the same press attention) but it stands to reason that all of these other products will also have a successful year based on the pandemic.

So, what lessons are here for B2B?

Even if you’re not able to pivot and take full advantage of current trends, perhaps you are ‘adjacent’ to an industry that’s thriving. Is there a product or service you have that can help to support those industries as they pivot and grow? Perhaps being the guitar manufacturer isn’t the ideal situation – maybe you want to be the guitar string manufacturer! Would you rather sell the guitar, or sell the strings to ALL the guitar brands? It’s all about perspective.

Webinar – Speaking of Sales and Marketing Alignment…

We’re hosting another What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? event this month! Join me and Forrester SiriusDecisions as we discuss sales and marketing alignment and the best marketing strategies to hit your 2021 numbers!

But what I really wanna know is… are you gonna register?

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

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