If you’re in Sales, you’ve learned to hate Marketing.
If you’re in Marketing, you’ve learned to hate Sales.
If you’re in management, you’ve learned to hate them both!
It seems as if there are a number of arguments they’ve had with each other. The single biggest reason is because the two sides really don’t understand what the other side does.
If you’re in Sales, when was the last time you spent an extended period of time working with your Marketing counterparts? I’m not talking about a few hours or even a few days; I’m talking about a few years.
My background is Sales. I began my career in sales and spent the majority of my time in Sales, but one of the best periods for me was the nearly 3 years I spent working in Marketing.
Working in Marketing for several years forced me to not just give marketing lip service, but to live and breathe it in order to survive.
The reason I’m sharing this is the goals Marketing and sales have might be different, but in reality they’re the same. The problem that arises is when one side thinks they can do the other person’s work better than they can. Forget it. They can’t.
Marketing can’t do what Sales does best and vice versa. If you work in Marketing for your company and your primary role is to develop leads for Sales, then don’t go so far as to think you’ll be able to evaluate specifically what is a good lead and what isn’t. Let Sales do that. Your job is to merely serve them the leads.
If you’re in sales, don’t go thinking you can write marketing plans and advertising copy. You can’t. Only thing you can do is share with marketing what the marketplace is telling you and what you’re seeing.
When it comes right down to it, no matter how much Marketing and Sales may hate each other, they can’t live for very long without the other. Sales — you need Marketing more than ever. The explosion of web media dictates you have to have people continuously building your company’s presence on the web.
If you’re in Marketing you have to have salespeople who can interface with customers and prospects quickly, because media has such a short shelf life.
Want to know more about how sales and marketing need to get along?
Don’t miss this FREE webinar on March 20. Dennis Van Staalduinen and I will be spending 29 minutes exploring how marketing and sales can accomplish more together. Dennis is president of Brandvelope.
Copyright 2012, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
