Preventing a “Sales Verses Marketing” Culture
Once upon a time “Sales and Marketing” was a single line item in a company’s operations budget. Oh sure, many had a separate line for a small advertising budget (maybe a Yellow Pages ad), or the cost for some sales brochures, but sales and marketing were generally viewed as a single function of the business, ran by the Sales Manager.
Today, sales and marketing are effectively two entirely separate business departments:
- Marketing focuses primarily on outreach for brand awareness, public relations, consumer targeting, getting the word out about products/services, and lead generation; sales strategy and “pre-sales” if you will.
- Sales teams focus primarily on “now sales”; closing the sale after marketing has provided them with a potential new customer lead.
Most businesses now recognize the need for a separate marketing team, or outsourced marketing efforts, in order to viably compete for customer acquisition and retention. Unfortunately, breaking your sales and marketing into different departments and functions can often lead to a disconnect between the two, causing factional dissent and a “sales verses marketing” culture in your company.
It’s important to remember that, while separate, both departments are intrinsically linked when it comes to a unified purpose: convincing consumers to buy your company’s product or service.
If you have separate sales and marketing teams, here are some quick tips for preventing (or fixing) a sales verses marketing culture:
- Clarify Goals: Both teams need to be working towards the same goal(s).
- Assign Responsibility: Ensure everyone understands which team leads what effort(s) in meeting specific goals. Don’t forget to determine responsibility for pre-qualification of leads. Typically, pre-qualification is a responsibility shared by both teams, but specific responsibilities can vary dramatically depending on your company.
- Encourage (Demand) Communication: Establish weekly or monthly meetings so that both teams stay in communication regarding needs that one team can assist the other with for meeting goals.
- Foster a culture where input from both teams is leveraged when determining overall sales and marketing goals and strategies.
- Ensure your sales department is aware of new marketing initiatives, promotions, etc. so they’re prepared for appropriate follow-up.
- Ensure your marketing department provides sales with sell sheets, brochures, or any other literature to help them close sales.
- Have both teams measure and report on what’s working and what’s not, and discuss ways to improve sales and marketing results.
Want to know more about sales verses marketing? Here’s a great article by
/Chief Outsiders:Have something to say about this article?
Leave your comments below or spread the word socially!