Connected Planning in tech hardware: Bridging the gap between marketing and sales for optimal performance

In the tech hardware industry, aligning marketing and sales is essential for optimal go-to-market (GTM) performance and increased profitability. In a sector where products are complex, accounts are high-value, and technology advances quickly, precise forecasting and budgeting are especially important.

So, it's no surprise that when planning processes are disjointed, organizations experience inefficiencies and miss opportunities.

In the second of our blog series, we explored how accurate sales forecasting can improve alignment with marketing to drive efficiency in GTM motions. For the third blog in the series, we’ll look at how Connected Planning can make this a reality in an industry where innovation and rapid developments create the need for quick pivots.

What is Connected Planning and why is it important?

Connected Planning is a holistic approach that integrates every facet of your business — finance, sales, marketing, supply chain, HR, and operations. For GTM teams, it aligns marketing initiatives with sales objectives to drive business growth, ensuring that both teams are synchronized and effectively targeting the right accounts to move them through the sales funnel. This approach allows you to stay agile, adapting your GTM strategies and budgets in real time to respond to new opportunities or challenges. 

As the name suggests, Connected Planning allows you to connect the dots between marketing activities and sales motions at a granular level, increasing your understanding of what works and enabling you to optimize accordingly. This means you can focus your attention where it is needed, from targeted marketing campaigns to personalized sales pitches, maximizing the chances of conversion and retention.

Forrester emphasizes the need for marketers to be constantly aware of planned, forecasted, committed, and actual budgets, highlighting the importance of real-time visibility into financials. This constant awareness allows for timely pivots in investment decisions as GTM strategies evolve. Moving away from manual processes and spreadsheets to systematic and controlled approaches is crucial for effective Connected Planning. 

This approach is particularly important in a B2B tech hardware context, where understanding the multi-touch buying journey is critical. Rather than just examining individual tactics in isolation, Connected Planning enables you to analyze multiple activities to see exactly which combination are driving outcomes. For account-based initiatives, Connected Planning helps identify everyone in the buying group and which engagements are influencing buying decisions.

Five steps to creating an integrated planning process

Effective Connected Planning integrates data from both marketing and sales to provide comprehensive insights. This approach helps to accurately forecast demand, understand customer behavior, and make informed decisions about where to allocate GTM resources. 

Creating an integrated planning process involves these key steps to drive collaboration between marketing and sales:

        1. Align marketing and sales goals

A Forrester study found that companies integrating sales, marketing, and product functions grow revenue 19 percent faster and are 15 percent more profitable. Aligning marketing plans with sales goals ensures both teams work towards the same objectives.

        2. Optimize campaign investments

Instead of relying on outdated data, connect marketing budgets to sales account segmentation and scoring. This directs investments to potential or existing customers most likely to buy, making marketing efforts more effective.

        3. Allocate budgets efficiently

Content creation budgets might be managed centrally, while distribution budgets are handled by specific business units or regions. Being able to adjust the budget dynamically during a campaign ensures resources go where they are most needed.

        4. Plan resources consistently

Create a resource forecast to identify busy and slow periods throughout the year. This helps use third parties or freelancers strategically during high-demand times, ensuring campaigns run smoothly.

        5. Set success criteria to boost ROI

Embed benchmark metrics into your planning to understand the expected revenue from campaigns. This helps prioritize activities and make improvements that significantly boost marketing ROI and sales revenue.

Benefits of Connected Planning for tech hardware organizations

The benefits of Connected Planning for marketing and sales are significant. According to Ernest & Young, 81 percent of finance professionals and 88 percent of marketers agree that stronger collaboration between these functions results in more effective investments and better returns. Deloitte’s research further supports this, showing that companies with connected marketing processes can achieve:

• Faster speed to market: Connected Planning can cut planning cycles in half, allowing organizations to respond more quickly to market changes and opportunities.
• Optimal marketing outcomes: Companies can see up to a 45 percent increase in revenue by aligning marketing and sales efforts through Connected Planning.
• Reduced marketing spend: Efficient planning processes can lead to a 1.5 percent reduction in marketing spend, as resources are allocated more effectively.

How does Anaplan help you achieve these outcomes?

Capabilities of Connected Planning solutions like Anaplan

Anaplan’s Connected Planning solution smooths communication across your organization by integrating core marketing and sales platforms, ensuring everyone is on the same page.

• Top-down budgeting: Helps optimize high-level budget allocations across various strategic areas, aligning planning processes with overall goals and giving you flexibility in managing different scenarios.
• Bottom-up spend management: Focuses on detailed and agile spending management at the campaign or project level, with tools for accurate forecasting, efficient approvals, automation, and comprehensive cost visibility and control.
• Real-time scenario planning: Enables you to create scenarios and calculate outcomes in business terms, facilitating real-time discussions about what’s working and what’s not for agile decision-making.
• Always-on planning motion: Allows you to continuously reshape strategies based on actual results, keeping marketing and sales efforts aligned and effective.
• Enhanced collaboration: Facilitates better teamwork between marketing and sales with a single source of truth and increased transparency across the organization.

Build the bridge between sales and marketing

Integrating planning processes and leveraging advanced platforms like Anaplan enables tech hardware companies to speed up market entry, achieve better marketing outcomes, and reduce spending. With strategically aligned marketing and sales efforts, companies can expect sustained growth, increased efficiency, and a strong focus on customer needs. 

This integrated approach ultimately drives success and profitability in a highly competitive industry.