How to Align Sales and Marketing Functions Across Generations

Organizational silos between marketing and sales aren’t a new issue. Over the years, dozens of technology solutions have been launched with the specific purpose of smoothing over the traditional friction points, such as internal communication breakdowns and data-sharing. But, at the same time, they’ve exposed a prevailing cause for disconnect: generational divides.

The United States is currently witnessing its most generationally diverse workforce in history, and along with it brings a wide variety of perspectives, behaviors and values to the workplace. With employees’ needs and expectations more complex than ever, it’s mission-critical for organizations to shift their approach to training and technology implementation, ensuring a seamless go-to-market (GTM) function.

With the right tactics at the ready and tools in hand, leaders can effectively break down silos and drive revenue-generating teams forward. Let’s dive in:

Meet generations where they’re at

Analyzing insights from feedback across generations can arm organizations with the knowledge they need to design personalized programs that empower employees to maximize their contributions, effectively navigate the ever-evolving technology landscape, and keep departments on the same page. However, there are some differences in sentiment between the generations when it comes to actually adapting to and learning new technologies. For example, our data shows that Baby Boomers often struggle to master new technologies, but are reportedly more keen to learn.

Meanwhile, younger generations are the least excited about new technologies – perhaps due to fatigue as the market becomes overwhelmed with options. These differences highlight the importance of personalized training and adapting strategies that are tailored to each individual, taking into account generational preferences and learning styles. Doing so can foster continuous improvement and technological progress across all generations and departments.

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When considering each generation’s preferred learning format, for example, all four generations in the workforce favored personalized tutorials except for Baby Boomers, who prefer one-to-one trainings at the same rate.

So how can businesses address these disparities and align sales and marketing teams? Enablement.

How enablement can be a game-changer

The customer journey is longer and more disjointed than ever before, especially in the B2B space. That means leadership across marketing and sales needs to work harder to get in front of their customers, who are not only more distracted in today’s digital-first world, but also have more information at their fingertips and are making buying decisions without ever interacting with a human representative.

In fact, only 5% of the buyer’s journey is spent with a salesperson, according to Gartner. This heightened challenge – coupled with a highly diverse workforce – highlights the need for B2B marketers to work with their enablement teams to drive more impact, break down silos, and enable the entire revenue-generating organization for success.

According to new research, 58% of marketers use enablement technology to get content in front of sellers, train reps on messaging, and track content usage to understand what’s resonating with customers. This proves enablement isn’t just for sales anymore – in the same research report, nearly all (97%) surveyed companies using enablement tech have deployed it across multiple departments, from sales to marketing to customer service.

Simply put, leaders who are not already bought in on their company’s enablement initiatives need a wake-up call. Don’t leave this key partner out in the cold:

• Prioritize their Inputs: Enablement teams deserve a seat at the table with other GTM decision-makers. Their insights are invaluable to a team’s success when executing customer outreach and engagement.
• Drive Alignment: Marketers must meet and align with enablement leaders on key efforts and objectives to help each other meet business goals. If they can’t communicate, they can’t effectively work together.
• Leverage Enablement Solutions: Lastly, bring enablement teams and tools into your campaign launch or message roll-out to amplify its impact — both with internal stakeholders like sales, as well as with external audiences like customers and partners.

The tried and true ways of empowering sales and marketing teams don’t work, as the workplace becomes increasingly diverse. Evolving training and coaching strategies to meet employees where they are allows organizations to foster a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and unified collaboration, particularly as they work to bridge the gaps between their GTM functions.

By breaking down these silos, business leaders can help develop a well-equipped, all-encompassing revenue enablement function for their organization. Doing this successfully will lead to GTM teams that can create connections with customers at a deeper level, drive growth, and achieve their revenue goals.

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More Insights from the SalesStar Podcast

Episode 199: Top Trends in Modern B2B Marketing with Emily Singer, Former Head of Marketing at Drift (acquired by Salesloft) Currently VP marketing, Salesloft