Can’t We A Just Get Along? (Sales and Marketing)

I was working with a company yesterday that just doesn’t get it. They have a fairly traditional relationship between sales and marketing. Sales says that the leads that Marketing produces are worthless (and that’s an attempt to keep this blog family-friendly) and Marketing says that Sales doesn’t work the leads and expects too much.

So, in the end, these departments tend to go their own way, complying with corporate strategic initiatives, but leveraging each other’s strengths to produce a result that is greater than the sum of its parts.

How does this relate to competitive intelligence? Sales and Marketing need each other here more than anywhere else. We see examples of success and failure among our client base often at Primary Intelligence.

Where else is the competitive battle fought more passionately than the sales trenches – deal by deal. The right information delivered at the right time, coupled with the skills of an experienced sales representative can mean the difference between a loss and a long-term client with substantial lifetime value and profitability. But, yesterday, the marketing team was “number-crunching weenies that love their reports and miss the boat.”

And, who can provide marketing with more information about value proposition, messaging, competitive pressures and information specific to different industries or segments? The sales team works in this arena every day. They have their ear to the ground. Sales reps will see trends develop long before marketing hears word one. But, in yesterday’s meeting, sales was “gun-slinging outlaws with more bravado than brains.”

In my experience, the sales and marketing department have to be married (happily) and work together continuously. In some companies, the position of VP Sales and Marketing exists. There are potential problems in combining two roles into one person, but there is less territoriality and conflict.

I recommend that someone from Sales and Marketing stage a love-in, professionally speaking. Create dialogue between the two organizations. Develop committees with leaders and worker bees from each group. Develop communication channels to move information up the chain and around to everyone in both departments.

The benefits will include:

-Stronger market alignment
-Messaging that is much more precise
-Sales reps that are better equipped with competitive intelligence
-A company with pronounced tactical advantages
-Increased sales and higher lifetime client values

I can’t think of any real cons to this arrangement.

If you have ideas on moving Sales and Marketing closer together to leverage strengths and produce synergies, let me know. (cdalley@primary-intel.com, 801-838-9600 x5050)