Winbound has undergone a rebrand. It’s been twelve years in the making, but it didn’t require a new logo, a new color scheme, and a multi-million dollar rollout. Instead, it included the addition of just one word: Sales.
Winbound is now a Digital Sales and Marketing Agency.
Yes, that’s it, folks. Just a single word. And adding the word “sales” to your core service offering and executing it could dramatically improve the amount of sales revenue you generate from your marketing efforts.
Well, how did we get here?
We altered our approach because companies that rely on sales and marketing to work effectively and cohesively are in real trouble. The problem — no surprise here — is a lack of alignment.
According to the 2022 report by Outfunnel and Copper, 58% of sales and marketing professionals don’t feel aligned.
And the same study reveals that those same businesses that aren’t aligned are more than 2X as likely to miss revenue goals.
It’s no wonder that in a sales-dominated industry like manufacturing, only 33% of manufacturers reported generating sales revenue from their marketing efforts in 2021, according to the Content Marketing Institute.
33%!
When I think of this situation, I am reminded of the lines from one of my favorite songs, Once in a Lifetime, by the Talking Heads:
“You may find yourself in a beautiful house. With a beautiful wife.
And you may ask yourself, well…how did I get here?”
Except sales and marketing pros aren’t singing — they’re screaming: “OMG, HOW DID WE GET HERE?”
More importantly, what do we do?
Sales and Marketing teams that “complete” each other succeed
Let’s acknowledge that there are fundamental differences between sales and marketing. I believe the key elements are the ways each discipline communicates:
- Sales pros tend to be interpersonal communicators, who excel at 1:1 relationships.
- Marketing pros tend to communicate more effectively to the masses, and they excel at written and visual messages.
On paper, this looks like a good relationship, kind of like what you’d find in a successful marriage.
In a successful marriage, couples have complementary strengths. A wife might handle the finances and keep an eye on the budget while her husband leads the charges on fun family trips.
When these traits are balanced, the couple is said to “Complete each other.”
So why aren’t sales and marketing teams completing each other? What’s causing the misalignment?
The rise of the specialist, the reduction of teamwork
Misaligned sales and marketing efforts have been around for a long time. But it’s been exacerbated by technology and the rise of digital marketing.
Technology was supposed to improve our efficiency. Instead, we’re busier than ever before simply because we’ve had more capabilities than ever before.
I constantly find myself plunging down rabbit holes right and left: Down the LinkedIn comment chain…then down the Google Analytics conversion path…then down the Semrush keyword research tool.
And with all these digital marketing tools, we’ve seen a huge uptick in a specialized marketing workforce. More specialists tend to lead to more siloed efforts and less teamwork between sales and marketing.
Our rebrand is the next step in the Digital Twin evolution
I’ve touched on how the industry got to its current state, but what about Winbound and its one-word rebrand?
Winbound is composed of marketers, and we would never have thought of the one-word rebrand if we hadn’t developed the concept of using content to create a Digital Twin of your sales team.
The Digital Twin concept is simple to understand. With 80% of sales interactions expected to take place in digital channels by 2025 (Gartner), sales-driven organizations need to reach customers with online content.
But that content must align with the sales team, acting as their virtual voice. Or, in other words, their Digital Twin.
When we set out to execute the Digital Twin strategy, it quickly became apparent how little the Winbound marketers actually knew about sales. So we studied sales techniques, read books, and talked to experts in the field.
We found an approach that aligned most effectively with complex sales called The Challenger Sale. We dug deep into the approach and received formal training from the Challenger company.
In the process, we’ve gained a deeper respect for sales. And we’ve also realized how indispensable it is to whatever we do, and needs to be interwoven into our strategy.
What does a SALES and marketing approach include?
Let’s be clear: We won’t be providing sales services or managing sales teams.
But we will work to ensure that sales and marketing are strategically aligned, from strategy to execution. For our clients, it means helping them with the following:
Create a sales and marketing strategy that is created and road-tested in conjunction with sales. Using a Challenger-based strategy, sales and marketing will roll out a beta approach to a few prospects to test effectiveness. We’ll work together on the approach and learn from the results.
Build a sales and marketing alignment structure. Based on the attributes we highlighted in our blog post on sales and marketing alignment, we’ll help our clients create a formalized system where sales and marketing are aligned in key areas such as goals, communication, and responsibilities.
Use the Digital Twin approach to inform ongoing decisions. Once this structure is in place, we can use the online, content-based Digital Twin to inform us of what’s working with our prospects and help sales teams sharpen their approach.
It’s time to move you from here to there.
Ultimately, sales and marketing are in a relationship, and any relationship takes work. It takes a lot of effort, communication, and empathy to be successful.
And frankly, it’s a lot easier just to ignore that kind of work because it can be really hard and sometimes downright painful. (Take a look at how many people you see in group settings looking at their phones instead of talking to each other.)
Yes, it will be difficult, but it’s completely attainable. No fancy-schmancy new tech is needed, no extensive retraining. It just requires a commitment, structure, and strategy to fix it.
And with a single word, we’re setting out to do just that.
Learn how to make a Digital Twin of your sales team. Download our complete Digital Twin Manufacturing Marketing Guide!
