LAS VEGAS—Marketing and sales may seem aligned and share a budget, but the two don’t always work in harmony — the former relies on strategy while the latter requires tactics.
That was the message from Hilary Reed, CEO and chief strategist for EmpowerFi, a marketing agency for financial institutions based in Langhorne, Pa. Reed, who spoke during last week’s CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council conference here, spent 11 years as chief marketing officer at Inspire Federal Credit Union in Newtown, Pa.
Hilary Reed, CEO and chief strategist for EmpowerFI and former chief marketing officer at Inspire Federal Credit Union, Newtown, Pa.
“At a credit union, sales is about business development first,” she said during a breakout session. “This means expanding into new markets and SEG development. The second step is working on the member experience. The sales team works on qualified leads, letting members know about new products and cross-selling.”
Problems arise, Reed continued, when marketing and sales find themselves working in silos. She said the goal is “smarketing” – the perfect combination of the two departments.
“Marketing generates leads, sales closes leads,” she said.
‘Smarketing’ best practices
The three biggest obstacles to a good marriage of marketing and sales, said Reed, are communication, flawed processes and two teams working toward different metrics.
The first step toward addressing these issues is a clear exchange of wants and needs. Reed said what sales wants from marketing is better-quality leads, more leads, competitive information/intelligence, and brand awareness for the organization. On the other hand, what marketing wants from sales is better lead follow-up, consistent use of CRM systems, feedback on campaigns, and for the sales folks to use messaging and tools provided by the marketing side.
“You have to create clearly defined roles and responsibilities,” Reed told the audience. “Yes, there is crossover, but you can’t have everyone responsible for everything. If both sales and marketing are responsible for generating leads, delineate what types of leads each will get.”
Both departments also should have integrated goals and accountabilities, with an acknowledgment of which key performance indicators are important to both sides. She suggested creating cross-functional processes and spelling out clearly where each department falls in the customer journey.
“This will enhance ROI,” she said of the latter. “Know who is responsible for calling individuals about certain products. Get into a rhythm with regular meetings and communication. Consistency is key, so schedule regular communications.”
Typical goals for a sales and marketing team at a credit union could be improving the CU’s brand awareness in a particular county or increasing credit card usage. Reed suggested the two teams break down each goal to specific objectives, and then spell out whether sales or marketing is responsible, or both.
In the case of increasing use of the CU’s credit card, Reed said marketing and sales can collaborate on pre-screened trigger mailings. These should target consumers with a higher propensity to buy using names on new-mover lists or members who apply for loans elsewhere. Credit data then can be used to pre-calculate and provide the CU’s best offer.
“The goal is to send the right offer at the right time to the right buyer,” she said. “After the offer is sent, sales will follow up with qualified offer information.”
Going digital
Reed also advised CUs to embrace digital marketing with a focus on content marketing. She said CUs should have information available to consumers to position the credit union as an “expert” in personal finance. This could include creating blog posts, articles and other web content, including videos, to attract visitors to the CU’s website.
“Use this to gather contact info, which leads to more interaction,” she said. “Host in-person seminars. If you host a first-time-homebuyers seminar, that generates referrals and leads. Adding content to your site helps with search engine optimization.”
Many CUs’ websites feature banners for loans, checking accounts and other products, she noted, but often the only option is an “apply now” button. Reed suggested adding a “more information” button to appeal to those who are not yet ready to pull the trigger.
“Having a ‘more information’ button generates qualified leads.”
One concept to keep in mind with content marketing: Making a pitch without selling builds value.
“The more you do, the more your members trust you,” Reed said. “Almost every credit union is on Facebook, but is it posting content? Create free e-books and guides. Lots of people download those, which then leads to targeted email marketing.”