Sales professionals are a curious lot.
The personality traits that enable a rep to effectively identify, woo and close prospects often make them a challenge for the marketing organization to collaborate with on programs. High energy and brash can be perceived as ego-driven with a lack of discipline or focus. Engaging can be viewed as shallow or flighty.
Yet, effective lead generation, nurturing and account based marketing campaigns demand communication and collaboration between sales and marketing.
There’s an operational component to marketing/sales alignment, as well as a technical one via shared participation in a CRM and/or a marketing automation platform, such as Oracle Eloqua, Marketo, Pardot, Hubspot or eTrigue.
The starting point and ongoing foundation for sales and marketing team integration is shared expectations. Sounds basic enough, yet that’s a tough one because marketers can be reticent to ask and sales often are unable to articulate priorities.

It is with this in mind that I encourage you to join me on Wednesday, February 25 at 11 AM ET for an exclusive online Q&A with Kurt Gastrock, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Sales at Neustar (NYSE: NSR). Kurt is unique because he carries exceptional qualifications in both strategic marketing and tactical sales execution.
Entitled “Confessions of a Sales Leader: What I Expect from Today’s Modern Marketer,” Kurt will take on a number of issues you may find helpful as you plan out your 2015 campaigns. These include:
-What sales leaders really expect from modern marketers
-The benefits of marketing and sales alignment
-Future view of the marketing/sales relationship in today’s dynamic enterprise