Sales is often perceived as the revenue driver in organizations, but behind every successful sales team, lies an effective marketing function.
Recently on B2B Revenue Acceleration, we spoke with Florence Broderick, VP of Marketing at CARTO, about the role of marketers as revenue drivers.
Florence leads marketing and sales development for CARTO, which specializes in software for location intelligence. “Our sales team can go from a call with a growing cannabis firm in North America…to the New York government about overcrowding in metro stations during COVID-19 and how our software can help them with that, so very diverse and interesting,” she said.
Florence gave us her take on the fundamental role marketing plays in revenue generation, and the link between sales and marketing.
Let’s dive in!
A viewpoint shift about marketing
In the past, marketing was often associated purely with branding, PR, communication — and not revenue generation. Now, however, we see marketers making a direct impact on company growth and development.
Companies now are looking for make-money marketers, not make-it-pretty marketers. “It’s a really important shift,” Florence said.
In short, marketers should not only be able to generate sales, but also be intentional about selling.
“The key and most important thing when you’re hiring marketers is that you find people who are going to have a level playing field with the sellers at your company,” Florence said.
Marketers need to be able to pitch and handle objections as well as the sellers without hiding behind all the tools. They need to be customer-centric and be just as familiar with the different numbers relating to the sales cycle as sales reps themselves.
Honestly, marketing should be able to pitch, if not as well as, then even technically better than sales. And they should be able to tell the company story while they’re doing it. Marketers should really have passion in this process too, ensuring they know their company inside out.
Granted, finding high-quality marketers who align with that philosophy is not always easy. Florence has seen people reaching out to her or on Revenue Collective looking for a marketer with a philosophical match and…there’s just a limited pool of talent.
The key and most important thing when you’re hiring marketers is that you find people who are going to have a level playing field with the sellers at your company.
Florence Broderick – VP of Marketing at CARTO
Do sales teams value marketers?
First of all, they certainly should — but of course, marketing should also make themselves valuable.
There are 2 things to mention related to this question.
- Relationships matter
It’s great news if your VP sales and your VP marketing get on well. If they don’t align, there could be a toxic clash.
“I have a great relationship with both of our VP sales,” Florence said. “It’s very easy to plan things with them.”
- The science of sales
“The science side of sales has ramped up immensely,” Florence said. Sales teams are the technology evangelists: young, digital, and eager to build and use new tools.
Budgets are shifting from external events to digital tools. Everyone’s trying to get our digital attention. You need to find a way to cut through the noise, whether that’s loom videos, LinkedIn poll’s, you have to try these things and adjust too.
“It’s a new era for sales now, and you need those evangelists within your company to push those technologies,” she added.
It’s a new era for sales now, and you need those evangelists within your company to push those technologies.
Florence Broderick – VP of Marketing at CARTO
Marketers with sales experience
Who performs better, marketers who have been sellers or sellers who have marketing experience?
Both, actually.
One of Florence’s mentors advised her to go and do a rotation in sales. It helped her to empathise in the sales team, by doing this first hand. “It got me to be customer-centric and oriented in a way that I might not have if I hadn’t done that stint in sales,” she said.
Organizations should strive to build a development path from sales into marketing and vice versa. SDRs might move into a CSM role, or the SDR lead could become a content marketing manager.
That way, these advocates can evangelize for the skills of the others on the team. The SDR’s might help you start using sequences or new technology. At the end of the day they are the people who are faced with the most prospects in a day.
At CARTO, they’ve implemented career path options that blend both teams, particularly the sales reps who are pioneering digital. “If you can have that great little circle of development, that’s highly beneficial for the company,” she said.
Marketers who understand sales both sell better and communicate better with sales teams.
Reach out to Florence on LinkedIn or by email at flo@carto.com.
To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe to The B2B Revenue Acceleration Podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or on our website.
