Sales and marketing alignment is a hot topic these days and many companies are realizing the value of aligning their sales and marketing efforts to achieve a higher, integrated revenue pipeline.

Loop Demand Gen specializes in sales and marketing alignment, and yesterday, it held a Lunch and Learn with Arizona Technology Council. It was a great success! More than 45 local technology-industry experts attended this educational event.

Those who attended learned about bridging the gap between sales and marketing, and more specifically, defining a qualified sales lead. Many times sales and marketing departments have completely different views on what makes a good lead. It is important for both parties to understand lead scoring and B.A.N.T.- (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing) qualified leads.

Attendees learned that developing a joint marketing and sales strategy around lead scoring and B.A.N.T. is just part of the battle—technology is the next piece of the puzzle. Technology helps with sales and marketing alignment. Loop was able to show a real-world example, using the latest technology tools, of how a company has the ability to capture leads, score opportunities, automate follow-up, track prospect activity online, and in the end, increase ROI and sales.

If you want to lunch while you learn about topics such as this, be sure to visit Arizona Technology Council for upcoming events.

Recently well known retailer Gap revealed a new logo for its brand. Scrapping its iconic white typeface on blue box logo:

Gap launched a new black-on-white logo with an off-set blue box:

This week however Gap announced it will discontinue all print advertising and in-store uses of the new logo and will return to its logo of old. Why? Because its customers hate it and Gap gave them the perfect platform to voice their distaste by launching this new logo using social media. When the logo was launched, Gap created a Facebook Fan page & Twitter campaign. And, much to Gap’s dismay it learned quite how much the Internet can influence a company’s brand messaging.

That being said, Gap did have the right intention. By using social media as a platform for audience feedback, it opened up the conversation about the logo, engaged its customers to weigh in and, ultimately, Gap listened and is making changes—which is what social media in business is intended to do.

The lesson learned? Social media can be a great, low-cost, marketing tool, yes, but be prepared as to the power it can give your audience and do your homework as to how to handle this. Sometimes the results can be great, but other times, as Gap learned, the money you ‘save’ by utilizing these free tools can cost you far more.

Fall is my favorite season. While most would think this is due to the swift drop in extreme Arizona temps, I actually love this time of year for the other season that simultaneously starts—FOOTBALL SEASON! Don’t let the love of all things pink, sparkly and girly fool you. I’m a diehard Oregon Ducks fan and will cheer, yell and devote my every weekend to all things pigskin for the next four months.

My team’s having a great year and has given me a lot of media content to enjoy. But last weekend I read an interesting article about how my beloved Ducks might be missing out on a top 2 ranking—not because of their play but because of their…marketing, branding and external messaging?!

‘The cutesiness surrounding the Quack Attack, Team Nike, and The Duck’s hundreds of pushups might actually be holding back Chip Kelly’s team and could cost them a shot at the national championship.’

I’m here to argue that nice guys won’t finish last and marketing yourself as the ‘nice guys’ is a refreshing change. Who doesn’t want to work, interact and talk with nice, fun people? And when you have the excellent portfolio of skills and customer service to back you up, people will take notice that nice guys actually finish first. Do you want to work with nice people? Then you’ve found the right place because at Canyon we follow the ‘nice guy’ rule every day.

Because I’m so excited about Oregon’s game this weekend (and I love a NICE giveaway) I’ll send a Canyon/Starbucks ‘buzzcard’ to the first person who can tell me the Ducks opponent this week.

Is there a sales and marketing lovefest going on at your organization? Do your sales and marketing departments go together like ham and cheese or oil and water? Are you using the perfect combination of technology tools and strategies to find new customers?

If you answered no to any of these questions, please join our strategic partner, Loop Demand Gen, for a Lunch and Learn on Sales and Marketing Alignment presented in conjunction with the Arizona Technology Council on October 12^th. Here’s why you should attend:

1. You’ll learn about the best practices in sales and marketing alignment
2. See why aligning technology tools and strategies are critically important for business growth
3. Learn how to automate lead capture, opportunity scoring, e-mail follow-up and online prospect tracking
4. Experience a live demonstration of marketing automation and CRM technology

Best of all, one lucky attendee who requests and downloads the ‘What is Demand Gen?’ white paper prior to the Lunch and Learn will win an iPod® Shuffle and have the opportunity to participate in the marketing automation technology demonstration.

Click here to find out more and to RSVP. We look forward to looping in with you.