What tactics foster collaboration and cooperation?”

by Eric Britten

From a Q&A on FOCUS.

The original question had specifically to do with issues between the sales and marketing functions within an organization.  But, sales and marketing are not the only two functions that suffer from a lack of understanding, teamwork and cooperation.  My response is applicable to any areas in an organization where these issues exist.  Here's the post and my response:

"Sales and Marketing Alignment: What tactics foster collaboration and cooperation?  What do you do or have you seen done that works?"

There are two activities that have been successful for me in situations like this.
First, a strategy planning session composed primarily of sales and marketing staff (but including other stakeholders also) serves to get both groups focused on the same corporate goals. Once the common goals and vision are established, the group can then begin to discuss strategies. Often the discussion unveils the dysfunction between the groups. But, good facilitation can help the group work through their divergent perspectives and begin building a collaborative environment. Once the groups are working together, ongoing effective communications and teamwork toward executing the plan can keep the synergies in place.

A second effective activity that I have used is process improvement. Engaging either the sales or marketing group in process improvement requires that their internal stakeholders/customers be involved in the activity, so you can start with either group. Mapping out the sales and/or marketing process will lead to the identification of pain points and problems within the process, which will point to the dysfunction between the functions/departments. Employing normal process improvement procedures will get the groups engaged in working together to resolve the issues.

I have found both of these practices effective in starting a collaboration, but the key to sustainability is in not letting procedures revert to the old ways. Collaboration is everyone's responsibility, so everyone from the exec's on down need clear direction that retreat is not an option. Adding a couple of items in everyone's annual performance plan that addresses this is also helpful in motivating the groups to keep working together and working to resolve problems, issues or conflicts when they occur.

Some Q&As from FOCUS

If you're not familiar with it, FOCUS (www.focus.com) is a business social media site where owners, entrepreneurs, managers, executives and others share their experience with each other.  Here are a few of the recent Q&As that I have participated in:

Adam asked: "How can you train employee empowerment?  It is important for employees to feel ownership and empowerment in their jobs, but can you train those traits? If a new employee is meek, can I train them to be a confident salesperson?:

My response:  Empowerment isn't something you train an employee to do. It is something their boss, organization and organizational culture allows and encourages. As others have pointed out, there are activities that can encourage and enhance it.

Elements in an organizational culture that help instill and reinforce empowerment are things such as rewarding risk taking, leadership development, openness, encouragement, rewards, recognition, teamwork, incentives, and continuous process improvement. The list goes on.

You digressed a bit from empowerment when you asked, "If a new employee is meek, can I train them to be a confident salesperson?" Confidence is one of the things that can come from empowerment, but empowerment is not what makes a good salesperson. Empowerment is a state that, if in place, allows a salesperson to be successful.

Craig asked: How can I effectively drive people to myblog?” In addition to search engine traffic, how can I effectively drive people to my blog/content in my day to day marketing activities?"

My response:  

1. Be sure there is a link to your blog from your website
2. Include your blog URL as well as your website URL in your email signature.
3. Make your blog, website and electronic newsletter interactive and share content.
4. Put your blog URL on your business card and other POS material
5. Advertise your blog on the back of your business card
6. Refer to items you have posted in your blog when using social media (and give the URL for it)


Bill asked:  “What are some of your strategies for retaining customer loyalty?” Customer loyalty is definitely a necessity in order to get a competitive advantage. What are some things that you do to retain customers?


My response: Your profile doesn't tell us what business you are in, so I can't target my response to your particular situation. But, I'd like to point out a few things that many folks might not consider under the heading of "building a relationship".

When you place an online order with a company you have not done business with before, how does that company build a relationship with you? Well, you're not talking with anyone, so there's no relationship building going on there. You haven't asked any questions, so it's not that they're building a relationship there. But they are building a relationship with you. How?

They build a relationship with you in a number of ways:
1. They make your online experience pleasant. By that, I mean it's a user-friendly experience.
2. They make it easy to find the information you're looking for quickly.
3. The price is probably reasonable.
4. They tell you if what you want is in stock or if it's on back order.
5. They make the checkout experience as fast and efficient as they can.
6. They probably don't gouge you with their shipping & handling costs.
7. You receive a prompt order confirmation and a thank you note for ordering.
8. You are notified when your order will ship and when you can expect it to arrive.
8. You are notified when your order actually does ship.

..... and all this without anybody talking with anyone else or even exchanging email messages. But, your experience can make you a loyal customer - or send you to another company the next time you want the same item.

Now think about these same type of attributes in a situation where the customer is physically in your place of business. All of the points are not applicable, but most of them are - and you can build customer loyalty by just running a "heads up" business. John (the previous poster) has a good point, too - know what "heads up" means to your customers.