One of the interesting things about lead management software is that although the soft benefits (e.g. running campaigns with less manual effort, more time to focus on the strategic and creative activities that improve marketing ROI) apply to the marketing department, the hard ROI benefits (e.g. more and better quality leads, faster deal cycles, and higher win rates) are primarily seen by the sales department (and of course the company as a whole).

At the same time, companies that can get marketing and sales to stop fighting and instead unite around a single revenue cycle can experience explosive revenue growth, a.k.a. a Revenue Revolution.

The ironic thing is that most of the time I've see people talk about lead management, lead scoring, or sales marketing alignment, they've come at it from just the marketer's perspective. I myself am sometimes guilty of this. This is a flawed mindset since success for any of these initiatives by definition requires full cooperation and coordination with the sales department.

Of course, this is easier said than done since as we all know, "sales is from Mars, and marketing is from Venus". Marketing and sales work differently, think differently, and are measured differently. That's why as a marketer, I work hard to understand how my sales counterparts think and what they find important. Getting this right is as important as any other aspect of successful lead management.

That's why I was pleased when Marketo's own VP of Sales and Customer Success, Bill Binch, agreed to participate in our ongoing series of podcasts about sales and marketing alignment with Paul Dunay of the Buzz Marketing for Technology podcast. Enjoy!

Download the full podcast: What Sales Really Thinks About Marketing?