One of my favorite activities to improve marketing and sales alignment is to build the Marketing Operations Playbook [MOP]<\/strong>. The remainder of this post is to share what that is to me and how I build them\u2026 let me know what you think in the comments!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Marketing Operations Playbook is meant to serve as the organizations official document on the processes, procedures, and tools for handling all the people that move through the Marketing & Sales funnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Marketing Operations Playbook should also act as an anchor for the organizations lifecycle program. This means all new and existing employees should be able to refer to the MOP to have a clearer understanding of how a record will move through the lifecycle stages of the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tip: Because every business will have unique departments, roles, tools, and terminology it\u2019s important to build out the MOP with stakeholders from across the organization to ensure nothing is missed.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n One of the reasons I build MOP\u2019s in my organization is to support employees. The Marketing Operations Playbook clearly defines all the tools, systems, and processes a new (or existing) employee should know. The clearer an employee is on the systems and processes that are in use, the easier (and faster) it will be for a the new employee to ramp up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, It\u2019s all about ramping up with speed and efficiency. Any good manager or business owner will tell you to spend time training your employees and get them ramped up quickly. The sooner they are more autonomous the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are some pretty common questions that come up when a company is growing, particularly if you are growing fast. Some of the ways a MOP can help is when employees need answers to common questions like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although every organization is different, I believe there are at least 9 key elements that should always exist in the standard MOP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Below I\u2019ve expanded on what goes into those 9 elements (in no particular order) that I have often placed in my MOP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Use this section to define any and all demand generation tools your organization is using. Include as many tools as your organization has in place and be sure to ask your team and other colleagues if you have missed something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you have them all listed, take the time to individually define what the purpose of the tool is and how your organization is using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tip: If you have multiple tools and managers and maybe multiple stakeholders, it\u2019s also helpful to add the Manager of the tool and the stakeholder(s) involved. Something like this:<\/p> [Name of Tool]<\/strong> Be clear about the tools you\u2019re using in the Sales organization. This is the same methodology used in the \u201cDemand Genration Tools\u201d section but specific to the Sales team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s extremely important to be thorough, so if you\u2019re not sure what tools are being used by the sales team, ask the head of sales and any of the sales reps what they use to do their job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some examples of tools you might list are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tip: Even if you think you\u2019ve covered all the tools, don\u2019t hesitate to ask a few sales reps what they use. You might be surprised and discover some overlapping tools within the organization. Your technology budget will thank you when you find those ?<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Although this doesn\u2019t feel like something that should be in the MOP, I would argue that a full understanding of the ways people communicate is essential to aligning the team (and the company).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I personally like to list the tools used at my company for internal communications. Some of those tools that fall into this section might be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, more clarity around what people should be using for specific actions means less friction between the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be clear, be thorough. Explain each stage of the potential customer\u2019s lifecycle like you were talking to a five year old\u2026. okay maybe not 5, but try to make it really easy to understand. I like the way HubSpot describes their lifecycle stages<\/a> so I often use their descriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every lead comes from somewhere. Use this section to define how you\u2019ll attribute leads to the source they were driven from. Each company will have a different approach to lead source attribution so it\u2019s important to take the time discussing how leads will be counted against their source. You\u2019ll probably want to involve a few stake holders to make sure this is accurately captured. Those involved are often leading Sales and Marketing and a few mid managers from each department.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is a \u201cMarketing Operations Playbook\u201d?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why Build a Marketing Operations Playbook?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s in a Marketing Operations Playbook?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Standard Marketing Operations Playbook Elements:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Demand Generation Tools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Manager: Mike Rizzo, Marketing Person
Stakeholder: Bob Smith, VP of Marketing<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\nSales Tools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Internal Communication Tools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Lifecycle Management<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Lead Source Attribution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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