Sales & Marketing - Friend or Foe?
I've recently become involved in delivering sales training to account managers and sales managers in a large organisation, and I've been reminded of the tension (some would say animosity) that exists between the two key business disciplines of sales and marketing. Strange perhaps, given they are so closely related, but I guess it is their very inter-dependence that means it is easy to blame each other when things are not going well.
When I was running marketing programmes back in BT I was often guilty of cursing my counterparts in Sales, but the truth is that the best results came when we really managed to work together and get the end-to-end process of customer engagement running smoothly. Complex hierarchies and over-inflated egos don't help matters of course.
Marketing's role is to make sales happen more easily: to create an environment in which the customer is informed and convinced of the value of your company's offer and is moved to buy (not once but again and again if possible). I heard once, not sure where, that selling is making people buy what you have but that marketing is selling them what they want. This is a subtle but important distinction - especially when everyone is tightening their belts.
The more significant and complex the purchase then the greater the emphasis on the sales person, but in some cases, of course, customers buy direct without human sales support (not counting the person on the cash register who may, or may not, add additional value). At the end of the day people buy from people and the quality of the interaction with your sales and service personnel will directly affect your success.
In smaller companies the lines between sales and marketing become increasingly blurred, and are often functions performed by one and the same person or people. Hopefully this helps to remove some of the antagonism mentioned earlier, but it emphasises the importance of looking at the end to end customer experience. That means reviewing every touchpoint the customer has with your organisation: in the press, in signage, in signage, on the phone, by email, in packaging, invoicing. Every aspect of your business. At each and every point you need to demonstrate your ability to deliver the value the customer is looking for.
Successful marketing will drive successful selling - but could all come to nothing unless the two disciplines are working in tandem. A healthy tension can demand improvements from both sides, but too much tension can sabotage results. What's the relationship between sales and marketing like in your team?
