Commercial strategy · Alignment programme

Marketing, sales and customer success pulling the same way.

In short: The Alignment programme by STOF to Grow brings marketing, sales and customer success into line in eight to twelve weeks: one goal, one ideal customer profile, one story and fixed agreements on leads, handovers and meetings. The programme is done when the teams run the rhythm themselves and discuss the KPIs monthly without us.

The Alignment programme takes eight to twelve weeks and gets marketing, sales and customer success pulling in the same direction. With one goal, one ideal customer profile and one story, and a management team behind it.

It's the logical step when a Growth diagnosis or your own analysis shows that teams are working at cross purposes. Not because people don't want to, but because agreements, definitions and meetings were never set up together.

When to choose the Alignment programme

Marketing steers on volume, sales doubts the quality of the leads.
There's no shared definition of a good lead, or of a good customer.
Teams report different numbers and so have different conversations.
Opportunities get lost between marketing and sales, or between sales and customer success.
Each team has its own plan, but there's no plan for the whole chain.

Many commercial problems are collaboration problems

What looks like a marketing problem or a sales problem often turns out to be a collaboration problem. Marketing delivers leads sales doesn't want, sales sells customers customer success can't keep, and every team is right according to its own numbers. Another campaign or a new dashboard won't fix that.

What does help: choosing together which customers you're there for, one story for the whole chain, and agreements on who does what and when. Written down, and practised in the meetings that already exist.

How the programme works

Look and listen — we sit in on meetings, look at the CRM and talk to people from marketing, sales and customer success. Where do opportunities get lost, and why?
Make a sharp choice — together we set one goal, one ideal customer profile and one story, with a list of priority accounts if that suits your approach.
Align — we set up the handovers and meetings: what a good lead is, who follows it up, and how the teams talk every week and month. The team leads sign the agreements together.
Follow through — we support the management team and team leads in the new way of working, until the rhythm runs without us.

What you'll have at the end

An ideal customer profile and, where it fits, a list of priority accounts.
Collaboration agreements between marketing and sales: lead definitions, handovers, meetings and responsibilities.
A KPI set: a handful of numbers per team, and how they're discussed every month.
A sales enablement kit: pitch, conversation guide, objections and answers, and customer stories.
A 90-day plan, with actions, owners and dates.
A handover, so you can carry on yourselves.

When it's done

The collaboration agreements have been signed by all team leads.
A regular commercial meeting runs with a fixed agenda.
The KPIs are discussed every month, without us.

What it asks of your team

A sponsor in the leadership team, and time from the team leads of marketing, sales and customer success. Access to the CRM and the meetings where the work happens, so we can see for ourselves rather than only hear how it's going.

And then?

If you want to embed the new way of working, that's possible with support from one quarter. And if you want to use the shared customer profile to actively reach the right customers, Market activation is a logical next step. Also read ‘Marketing and sales work hard. Just not always on the same thing’.

Want to sharpen the profile first? The guide Ideal customer profile shows in six steps how to choose the organisations that deliver the most, and who doesn't fit.

For an example of agreements between marketing and sales, see the guide The marketing-sales SLA: what a good lead is, when to hand over, how fast to follow up and how to adjust together.

Cases

What that looked like at Driftawave

Driftawave

First a complete brand, then a route to market and the systems to run it every week. In two months the account database grew almost tenfold and visibility in Google more than doubled.

Frequently asked questions about the Alignment programme

What does an Alignment programme cost?

We work on a project basis, not by the hour. If STOF is a good fit for your challenge, you'll receive a proposal after the introductory call with a fixed price, a clear timeline and what you'll have at the end. Longer-term support is agreed per month, all-in.

How long does it take?

Eight to twelve weeks. The exact length depends on the number of teams and how quickly the agreements take hold in practice.

Do we need a Growth diagnosis first?

Not necessarily. If your own analysis already shows that teams are working at cross purposes, we can start straight away. If it isn't clear yet where things are stuck, a Growth diagnosis makes that clear first.

Does it work if we don't have separate departments?

Yes. Even in a small team there are marketing, sales and customer roles, often held by the same people. Then the agreements are about moments and responsibilities, rather than departments.

Who will we be working with?

You'll work with both Nona and Carlijn. We're a team and look together at which expertise and experience fits your challenge best. You have one fixed point of contact, unless we agree otherwise together, and we both know what's going on in your organisation. Who leads the project depends on the project: we bring in the right expertise and always spar with each other. Our approach is documented, so the project keeps moving during illness or holidays.

Who is the programme not right for?

If you're only looking for extra hands to execute, a standalone website or a new logo without the choices behind it, or someone to keep managing it forever, we're not the right partner. We do build brands and websites: as a translation of your positioning, in sprints, with a trusted technical partner when it gets technically heavier. We do need to be able to sit in on the teams and conversations where the story is told.

Is the Alignment programme right for you?

In a free 45-minute introductory call, we look at where marketing, sales and customer success work at cross purposes, and what a good first step would be.

Discuss the Alignment programme

Challenge