For our first Highspot Market Pulse survey, we chose to explore the state of sales and marketing alignment within the rapidly growing life sciences industry. According to KPMG, global annual sales for the medical device industry alone will reach nearly $800 billion by 2030. Our research found that there is a clear opportunity in life sciences for process improvement between sales and marketing teams.
We asked survey respondents if they agree or disagree that the sales and marketing teams within their organization are well-aligned on goals, objectives, and processes — and only 34% of respondents answered positively. Not only are sales and marketing disconnected on fundamental strategies that contribute to successful collaboration, but the limited visibility and feedback further silo these two teams.
The challenge of poor visibility and feedback became more evident when respondents were asked if they agreed or disagreed that their marketing team had visibility into sales activities and if sales reps provided marketers with feedback on the impact of assets.
- Marketing has visibility into sales activities with clients: 33% agree
- Sales provide marketing with feedback on the impact of assets: 33% agree
Without visibility into sales activities and the impact of assets, marketing doesn’t have the feedback and context necessary to create content that makes a considerable impact. In order to find success with today’s physicians, practitioners, and healthcare professionals, sales and marketing must be aligned on goals and processes.
How Do You Get Sales and Marketing Aligned?
Survey respondents who indicated that they had a sales enablement department, team, or function were asked how sales enablement was impacting their business. Sales enablement helped with the following tasks:
- Delivering quality content that engages the customer
- Increasing sales rep productivity (reducing wasted time)
- Reducing time to onboard new sales reps
- Improving sales reps’ knowledge and ability to sell
With more engaging content and increased productivity and knowledge, sales reps increase their ability to close more deals. These survey responses indicate that sales enablement in life sciences is no longer a nice-to-have, but instead a must-have.
To learn how life sciences organizations can fix the misalignment between sales and marketing teams, download our eBook, Highspot Market Pulse for Life Sciences.
