Sitting in on Sales Calls: Marketers, Learn More About Your Buyer’s Pain Points

Sales and marketing alignment continues to be a difficult venture for tech companies. Activate’s State of Demand Gen 2019 survey revealed that the biggest challenge for marketers is collaborating with sales to convert leads effectively. One way to improve sales and marketing alignment is to have marketers sit in on sales calls.

There are three clear advantages to having marketers attend sales calls:

1) Gain a better understanding of products/services

The B2B tech landscape is more complex and hypercompetitive than ever before. To demystify the complexity around the technology the company sells, marketers should immerse themselves in sales calls. Differentiation is harder to uncover, and succinctly articulating what the company offers to your prospect base has become a significant hurdle. Listening to a salesperson describe the company’s products or services on a regular basis will create greater understanding for the marketer. With this knowledge, marketers will be able to better comprehend the pain points of the prospect. Marketers can then craft a pertinent message, bettering the chances of converting leads.

2) Firsthand knowledge

By listening in on sales calls, marketers also discover the challenges that prospects and buyers face – directly from the source. What marketers hear firsthand will be most authentic to them. There is no substitute for listening to problems and pain points directly. On top of that, tech buyers are sharp these days, having done their homework. Each prospect’s needs are unique, which means they quickly tune out marketing or sales messages that are not specific to their niche. It’s especially important to pinpoint prospect needs when employing account-based marketing programs. Use sales calls as an opportunity to listen firsthand to the challenges faced by your prospects.

3) Increased communication with sales

Since marketers are busy with projects and generating leads, there’s little time to communicate with other divisions such as sales. By joining sales calls, the communication barrier can effectively be shattered. Hopping on a call 10 to 15 minutes prior to the prospect joining the call is a great way to quickly catch up with the salesperson and prepare for the upcoming meeting. Doing so creates better communication and a more aligned sales-marketing function.

Conclusion

Attentive listening enables greater learning.  By sitting in on sales calls, we are better equipped to craft content that will speak more effectively to prospect pain points. Not only do these opportunities help us gain a better understanding of the products we market, they also go a long way toward solidifying the sales-marketing relationship while driving more opportunity through the pipeline.