A marketing and sales SLA has a positive impact on how these two key teams work together in your company. It creates visibility into what is going on across your business. Supports a culture of collaboration and cohesion.
The relationship between marketing and sales is often the most difficult one in any company. And yet, achieving seamless synergy between these groups can have a huge impact on your bottom line.
Enter the Service Level Agreement (SLA). It’s almost comparable to a marriage prenup.
But unlike a prenup it’s an agreement on how you will work together, not split things up when they fall apart.
Start with a basic marketing and sales SLA
The most basic of marketing and sales looks like this:
- The marketing team will generate X MQL monthly and will send to the sales team throughout the month.
- The sales team will connect 1:1 with the MQL within Y days, updating the status to SQL if qualified.
Simple right.
But a lot in it. The outcomes are measurable. Time dependent.
As well, it leaves each team with room to figure out what and how. Marketing can choose the channels and tactics to source the leads. And the criteria for determining it’s qualified. Sales can decide the criteria as well and determine who and how they connect with the lead.
Measure and then iterate
The SLA can be as elaborate as you like. Drilling down to specifics on segments, or types of anticipated deals. And yes, even discuss feedback on quality of leads.
SLAs delineate clear expectations, defining lead handoff criteria, response times, and follow-up protocols. They align goals, enhance accountability, and optimize efficiency, ensuring every lead receives timely attention and nurturing.
Start simple, monitor results, and periodically review together to see how you would like to make it more robust.
By setting measurable benchmarks and streamlined workflows, SLAs improve the conversion funnel.
The last word
Think your teams may be too small to implement an SLA. Think again.
Even if you are a small company where marketing and sales seem to merge you can set criteria and timelines for moving through the funnel. As well, as measure it on your dashboards. Make it a part of the culture as these teams and functions grow inside your business.
It creates visibility into what is going on across your business. Supports a culture of collaboration and cohesion.
Embrace using SLAs and watch out for the positive impact.
