Last week, I interviewed Kieran Flanagan to learn about marketing and sales alignment in B2B. Kieran, visiting The Netherlands in March to speak at our B2B Marketing Forum, shared how HubSpot, a US-based company, a US-based company, created a love story between marketing and sales. This collaboration has led to 82% annual revenue growth.
Kieran explains: “The best way to break down walls between sales and marketing is to create a process and metrics that align both departments around the same goals. Best-in-class companies don’t measure marketing by the number of leads it generates, nor do they measure sales by the leads converted. Instead, they measure success based on how the two teams collaborate to achieve company goals – usually revenue.”
HubSpot generates approximately 60,000 leads per month. To align marketing and sales, Kieran shares key insights for B2B marketers:
1. Buyer Personas: aligning sales and marketing
HubSpot developed several buyer personas and created various types of content for each persona. Kieran explains: “It might look like we’re creating a lot of content, but we’re really tailoring it for each persona we target.” Sales and marketing worked together to define their ideal customers and understand how they move through the buying journey.
2. Align sales and marketing: revenue generation as a goal
All HubSpot marketers are accountable for part of the company’s revenue. Kieran says: “In this alignment process, we defined 5 lead types, each with a corresponding value in USD.” A demo request lead is different from someone downloading content in the awareness phase.
Every month, marketing is measured by how many leads it generates for each type and how many of those convert into business. Kieran continues:
“It’s not about how many leads we generate, but about creating the right leads that will drive revenue for the company.”
Kieran adds: “We know the closing rates for leads requesting demos. Based on this, we know exactly how many demo leads we need to generate for the sales team to meet their targets.”
3. Marketing & sales synergy: how to align sales and marketing in B2B
“Working closely together benefits both teams,” Kieran says. “It fosters more interest and involvement, which ultimately leads to a stronger focus on achieving the end goal.”
Sales teams are now more interested in how marketing’s traffic and tactics will help them generate enough high-quality leads. Marketing helps sales improve close rates. The better the close rates, the higher the value of the leads.
4. Marketing becomes indispensable
As a result of this collaboration, marketing now has a significant seat at the revenue table, alongside the CEO, CFO, and CCO. Kieran emphasizes: “Most B2B marketers are not involved at this level because they often present fluff metrics, like brand awareness or general traffic. But to have meaningful discussions with the Board, you need to present meaningful metrics related to marketing’s revenue contribution.”
Kieran will speak at the B2B Marketing Forum on March 13th, where he will share HubSpot-LinkedIn survey results about the state of marketing and sales alignment in EMEA B2B organizations. Kieran will also provide practical examples of how marketing can strengthen its relationship with sales.