The Secret Sauce of Success: Integrated Marketing + Proposals

Aligning for Impact + Growth

When’s the last time you attended a concert?

No matter where you live, there’s likely a wide range of bands, performers, or ensembles you can see perform. Whether it’s your city’s official orchestra at a historic theater, a grungy rock band in a dingy bar, or a hip hop duo at a trendy venue, you’ve probably got some options.

If you’ve been to a show recently or can think of a memorable one, ask yourself, “Was everyone on the same page? Were they performing in sync or just doing their own thing?”

Unless you went to see some avant garde jazz or something that makes you want to pull your ears off (personal opinion), the answer is they were all performing together. The best bands, even when they go off script, have played together so long that they understand how to work together and create a magical experience for the audience.

Working together and understanding your bandmates is the secret sauce to making great music, and you can apply this philosophy to almost anything. Sports, families, and communities all operate better when everyone is on the same page.

So why oh why do we throw this out the window when it comes to our company’s marketing and proposals?

At Summit Strategy, we’ve seen organizations time and again silo these two departments with different philosophies, strategies, and operations. The marketing team has messaging and direction geared toward selling something that doesn’t align with the business plan on the proposal side, while the proposal team is pursuing clients and contracts that are completely unrelated to the marketing folks.

How does this make sense? To put it simply, it doesn’t.

It’s time for these two essential parts of your business to stop walking in different directions and wasting dollars, resources, time, and people. By connecting these two, your marketing and proposal teams can complement each other, build up the other, and move your company forward.

Let’s make this simple to get started.

1. What do you want your company to achieve?

So many businesses move away from their goals because of circumstances, changes in the industry, or new opportunities…. Or quite frankly, shiny object syndrome (you know, those distractions that look appealing but just distract us from our goals). While change isn’t bad, it can put your business in a direction you never wanted to go. But to get all parts of your organization working together, you need to get really clear on what page everyone should be on. That means identifying:

• Your goals (short and long term)
• The clients you’re targeting
• Your must-win opportunities

With this information, you’re now equipped to create a sales plan for your team to use as a guide to move the company forward.

2. How does your marketing strategy reflect your goals?

Once you’ve identified a direction and created a sales plan, then it’s time to tell people about it.

Your marketing encompasses way more than just traditional advertising. Commercials and ads can play a role in your marketing (and they should reflect your sales plan), but your marketing also includes the brand you present when interacting with clients, peers, and competitors.

It’s easy to find a marketing strategy that connects with a client and results in a major sale. That’s great, but have you cornered yourself pursuing one contract? This strategy is like fishing in a small pond because you caught one before while there’s an ocean beside you.

Some potential marketing opportunities include:

• Thought leadership (blogs, white papers, speaking engagements)
• Conferences (attending or presenting)
• Educational materials (workshops, webinars, ebooks, interviews)

All these should reflect your sales plan. If you want to pursue government infrastructure contracts, every piece of marketing you present should clearly communicate that you’re the

best option for government infrastructure contracts. This level of clarity will keep you laser focused on the contracts you want and help you to stop wasting time on the ones you don’t.

Ready to work with an industry leader?

At Summit Strategy, our experienced pros have guided business leaders like you toward more collaboration and communication between their marketing and proposal teams to see increased growth and improved teamwork. Even if your business has maintained the siloed status quo for years, we can get your team working together and moving forward on the same page.

Ready to see the difference reaching the summit can make? Schedule an exploratory call today.

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