In this third instalment of our Zone of Genius Q&A series, Becky Jones, Managing Director of Sales and Marketing Alignment, tells us about her Zone of Genius and shares some top tips for using empathy in understanding, and working with, sales.
What would you say is your Zone of Genius?
My Zone of Genius is working in symbiosis with sales – creating the conditions necessary for all to be the best that they can be. I’m empathetic and it’s natural for me to put myself in sales’ shoes. I’ve worked directly with sales teams since the start of my career, I even had sales targets myself in some roles. So, naturally, I put myself in their place and communicate in their language as I plan, execute and measure marketing activities. I like to take time to understand their obstacles and challenges so that, as the marketing expert, I can figure out what marketing can do to remove such barriers – rather than asking sales to explain what they need from marketing. For example, rather than saying “we need you to convert these leads to show the marketing value” I say “if we can demonstrate the success of our partnership we can get more investment for your customers”. For me, sales and marketing isn’t a ‘them and us’ thing, it’s a joint entity and if we can show what we can do together, we can do even more!
Why do you think that’s your Zone of Genius?
I enjoy it! I love working this way, and seeing the results. When you work on a campaign together and you see what is delivered, it’s incredibly rewarding. For example, I was pulling some figures on a client project recently and it had generated over $10 million US dollars worth of pipeline with less than a $10k marketing investment. It shows that you don’t need to spend tens of thousands on fancy or expensive campaigns if you get the basics right – ask the right questions to understand the sales team’s challenges and learn what the customers really want – so you can craft the right marketing activity to smash targets.
When did you realise that working in symbiosis with sales is your Zone of Genius?
Although I’ve always done it, I didn’t realise I was doing it until I was told I was! That’s because it was so instinctive to me that I thought that’s how everyone worked. I really only noticed what I did when Alex, our founder, started pointing it out.
And what’s your Zone of Excellence?
I would say planning and delivering events is my Zone of Excellence. Having a list of clearly defined tasks and managing stakeholders to get events delivered is easy and enjoyable for me. I know I’m really good at it because of client feedback and results achieved, but there are other people who love the buzz of in-person interaction more than I do.
Finally, what are your top tips for building more symbiotic sales relationships?
- See yourself as a sales person – Talk to sales, ask them what their typical day is like and understand their language. Showing them you understand their environment and want to help them to be more successful is vital in order to help you figure out the best ways to get them to take the actions you want them to take. Think about when to contact them – if it’s the end of the quarter they might be more concerned about closing deals, even if they’ve already hit their target.
- Treat sales as a customer – Understand the different personalities to get the best out of them. I recall a sales leader who only wanted to communicate with me via WhatsApp, and I found that one of the best times to get him was in the early evening. It was my ability to map out who was (and wasn’t) available where and when and tailor my communication to individuals – rather than use blanket communications – that made a big difference.
- Nothing’s personal – Don’t take things to heart when working with sales, nothing’s personal and relationships can change dramatically. On one long-term project, we had a senior sales leader who didn’t even want to speak to marketing, no engagement at all but I knew it wasn’t personal and as I drew on my symbiosis skills he began actively coming to me and asking ‘How can I do this?’, ‘How are my team doing?’, ‘What’s happening with the leads?’. That relationship changed and evolved the more he engaged with marketing.
Each Zone of Genius looks at a different skill but our combined success comes from the empathy we use in the way we work and communicate. If you want to learn more from Becky and what she can do for your organisation, please contact us.
