Three-Way Tug-of-War
The effectiveness of a company often hinges on how well its Revenue Team—comprising marketing, sales, and customer success—functions as a cohesive unit. There is inherent friction between these groups in many companies, leading them to operate in silos. This separation can lead to misaligned goals, inefficient processes, and ultimately, lost revenue. A unified Revenue Team is essential for aligning these functions to work towards a common goal and driving the company’s success.
I. The Challenge: Bridging the Gaps in Your Revenue Team
Aligning marketing, sales, and customer success into a unified Revenue Team is no small feat. Each department often has its own goals, processes, and even language, leading to misunderstandings and friction. Recently, we conducted an eye-opening exercise at an offsite event to uncover the underlying perceptions each group holds about the others. The results were candid and revealing, highlighting the deep-seated feelings that can create divisions within a Revenue Team.
Marketing’s Perceptions
Marketing teams often feel that sales are too focused on immediate results and lack depth in understanding the product and customer needs. Comments like “all ego, no brains” and “impatient” were common, reflecting a belief that sales teams are more interested in commissions than in nurturing long-term relationships. Marketing also expressed frustration that sales teams often resist new ideas and fail to respect the very customers they are trying to sell to.
When it comes to customer success, marketing often questions the necessity and effectiveness of this function. Comments such as “Isn’t customer success really more self-serving than anything?” and “Do clients really want to work with a customer success person?” indicate a lack of understanding of the value that customer success brings to the Revenue Team.
Sales’ Perceptions
Sales teams, on the other hand, often view marketing as disconnected from the realities of the market. They see marketing efforts as “a bunch of fluffy bs” and question the accountability and tangible contributions of marketing to the sales process. There is a perception that marketing doesn’t fully understand the product or its value, leading to poorly positioned messaging and ineffective lead generation.
Regarding customer success, sales teams often feel that they do the heavy lifting in closing deals, while customer success simply maintains the relationships. Comments like “They got the easy job. I did all the work to close them” and “Thank god I don’t have to deliver what I just sold” reflect a sense of resentment and misunderstanding of the customer success role.
Customer Success’ Perceptions
Customer success teams often find themselves caught in the middle, trying to satisfy the needs of both marketing and sales while managing customer relationships. They feel that marketing demands too much in terms of case studies, PR, and other materials, without providing sufficient support in return.
When it comes to sales, customer success teams often perceive them as arrogant and disconnected from customer satisfaction. Comments like “Pricks think they own the world” and “They don’t really care about customer satisfaction, just get the customer to sign the contract” highlight the tension between these departments.
II. The Negative Impact of a Fractured Revenue Team
A fractured Revenue Team can have significant negative consequences for a company. When marketing, sales, and customer success operate in silos, the entire revenue engine suffers. Here are some of the key issues that arise:
- Lost Revenue Opportunities
Fractured teams miss out on upsell and cross-sell opportunities because they are not effectively collaborating or sharing information. For example, a marketing team may not have the insights from customer success that could inform more strategic messaging. Similarly, sales might give extreme discounts for add-ons in order to get more sales up-front, hurting the long-term revenue potential. - Misaligned Goals
Without a shared vision, each team may pursue objectives that are at odds with one another. For example, marketing might focus on generating a high volume of mediocre leads (creating a lot of wasted work for sales), while sales is more concerned with working high-quality deals. When these goals aren’t aligned, it leads to conflicting priorities, miscommunication, and missed opportunities. - Inefficient Processes
Lack of communication and collaboration results in duplicated efforts and missed handoffs between departments. For instance, marketing might develop messaging that doesn’t resonate with what the sales team is hearing in the market or create content that customer success finds irrelevant. These inefficiencies slow down the sales process, frustrate customers, and ultimately lead to lower conversion rates. - Lower Customer Satisfaction
When customer success is not involved early enough in the sales process, the handoff from sales to CS may not go as smoothly as it otherwise could. This can lead to dissatisfaction, increased churn rates, and damage to the company’s reputation. A disjointed Revenue Team struggles to provide a consistent and personalized customer experience, which is essential for building long-term relationships.
III. How to Pull the Revenue Team Together
Creating a unified Revenue Team requires intentional efforts to align goals, foster communication, and build trust. Here are some steps to help pull your Revenue Team together:
Create Clear Responsibilities Based on Company Goals
To achieve alignment across your Revenue Team, it’s crucial to translate company-wide goals into specific, actionable responsibilities for each department. For instance, if the company sets a goal to generate $10 million in revenue next year, Sales must close $5 million in new deals.
To support this, Marketing needs to deliver $15 million in high-quality leads that are primed for conversion. Meanwhile, Customer Success has the responsibility to retain $4 million out of the current $4.2 from existing clients and grow their accounts by an additional $1 million. By clearly defining these targets, each team understands how their efforts contribute to the overall success of the company, fostering a sense of shared purpose and accountability.
Facilitate Open Communication
Regular cross-functional meetings are essential for fostering communication and collaboration between teams. These meetings provide an opportunity for each department to share insights, challenges, and successes, helping to build understanding and trust.
Additionally, implementing tools that allow for transparent communication across departments can help break down silos and ensure that everyone is on the same page.
Create Cross-Departmental Initiatives
Initiating projects that require collaboration between marketing, sales, and customer success can help to build a sense of shared purpose.
For example, creating joint campaigns that involve input from all three departments can ensure that messaging is consistent and that all teams are invested in the outcome. These initiatives help to break down barriers and encourage a more unified approach to driving revenue.
Align Incentives
One of the most effective ways to unify a Revenue Team is to align incentives so that all teams are rewarded not just for individual achievements, but for collective success.
For example, bonuses or other rewards could be tied to overall revenue growth rather than just the number of leads generated or deals closed. This approach encourages collaboration and ensures that everyone is working towards the same end goal.
Invest in Team-Building
Finally, investing in team-building activities can help to break down stereotypes and build empathy among team members.
Whether it’s through offsite retreats, workshops, or informal social events, these activities provide an opportunity for team members to get to know each other on a personal level and build stronger working relationships.
IV. The Benefits of a Unified Revenue Team
The most significant benefit of a unified Revenue Team is the potential for, well, higher revenue. When marketing, sales, and customer success work together towards a common goal, the team becomes more effective, leading to:
- Higher Revenue
A well-aligned Revenue Team is better equipped to identify and capitalize on opportunities, driving growth through cross-sell, upsell, and retention strategies. With each group working towards a shared objective, the team can move more quickly and efficiently, closing more deals and maximizing revenue. - Increased Efficiency
Streamlined processes and clear communication lead to faster decision-making and execution. When teams are aligned, there is less wasted effort, fewer miscommunications, and a smoother handoff between departments. This increased efficiency not only accelerates the sales cycle and improves the customer journey but also reduces costs and improves profitability. - Improved Customer Experience
A unified Revenue Team ensures that customers receive consistent and personalized service throughout their journey. From the first touchpoint with marketing to the final handoff to customer success, the customer experience is seamless and tailored to their specific needs. This leads to higher customer satisfaction, stronger relationships, and increased loyalty. - Stronger Company Culture
Collaboration fosters a sense of unity and shared purpose, leading to higher employee satisfaction and retention. When teams work together towards a common goal, they develop a stronger bond and a more positive work environment. This not only improves morale but also helps to attract and retain top talent.
Conclusion
Pulling together a unified Revenue Team is essential for driving sustainable growth and delivering a superior customer experience. It’s not a simple task. Marketing, Sales and Customer Success are three different types of people that tend to think and operate differently. Seek to understand how they work, and what motivates them, and work to unite them into a single team. This is where the experience of seasoned executives leading the revenue team will yield tangible results.
If you’d like to learn more or would like to talk over a current challenge with our team of experts, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re happy to help!
