Father O'Malley answers the phone.

'It is.''Hello, is this Father O'Malley?'

'This is the IRS. Can you help us?'

'I can!'

'Do you know a Ted Houlihan?'

'I do!'

'Is he a member of your congregation?'

'He is!'

'Did he donate $10,000 to the church?'

'He will.'

The Smarketing Lesson(s)

Sales and marketing alignment isn't just about aligning sales and marketing together to share common lead generation and new customer acquisition objectives. Nor is it just about creating a numeric language that keeps both accountable to each other.

It is also about a promise to the client or customer that is delivered on. It is about understanding the buying motivation, making a marketing promise that sales enforces and service delivers on.

It is about doing what you said you would, and then some, to create delighted customer and clients that become brand evangelists. When they start telling everyone how wonderful you are, you don't have to tell everyone that you are 'market leader', the 'only XYZ you will ever need', 'an innovative thought leader', or how important 'customer service' is to you.

How to Apply the Sales and Marketing Alignment Lessons

• Let sales have ownership of social media. Developing real world, individual relationships is a sales activity. Marketing can act as the match maker, and even a dating coach, but sales will always need to do the dating.
• Create customer centric teams that includes marketing, sales, and service/support. Talk numbers, but also share individual stories- both good and bad. Learn and collaborate how to delight the customer and tell their story, in their language.
• Do what you said you would! Whether it is a follow up from sales and marketing, a timeline when something will be resolved, or even keeping appointments on time. It's the small details, on a regular basis, that tell customers how much they matter to you.
• Be accountable to one another. Get over your ego and take constructive criticism as a way to improve. Be able to give constructive feedback that can be received without fear of judgement. If the focus is truly on the buyer and customer, and not the shortcoming of your counter-part, then this should happen naturally.