Reviewing the sales and marketing conversation

In October 2015 we shared an article called “5 Ways Marketing Departments Help Salespeople Catch Butterflies.” A tenfold article was recently shared with us, titled “What is the meaning of sales and marketing and its advantages?“and, I must say, it does a pretty impressive job of breaking down the differences, responsibilities, and links between sales and marketing roles. Why revisit this now? Because it’s never been more apparent that the relationship between sales and marketing is still as misunderstood as ever, especially with advances in marketing technology.

setting the record straight

Many in the business world, especially those who rely on sales and marketing for success, don’t really have a concrete understanding of exactly what sales and marketing is. are. Yes, the two are linked, but they are not the same. Sales departments rely on marketing; Marketing departments and strategies exist to fuel sales (note that I didn’t say “do” dirty). He wouldn’t be involved in marketing if he had nothing to sell, and his sales strategy would be far less informed and successful if it weren’t for his marketing efforts. Yes, many old school salespeople (or ambitious small business entrepreneurs) are quite capable of launching businesses on their own, and may even have some proven marketing tactics up their sleeves, but few have the time, the skill, or the time. , or technological resources to effectively capitalize on the true potential of your market.

A common mistake that older, more established companies make is to assume that salespeople are good at marketing and marketers are good at making sales. In some cases this may be true, but certainly not across the board. In trying to conserve capital, many of these companies will try to combine their sales and marketing departments, essentially giving their employees two job descriptions, and that’s usually a bad move. It’s no coincidence that more recently established companies, tech giants, and organizations that employ large numbers of millennials are taking their marketing efforts by storm.

break it

As the ten times article explains, some of the key responsibilities of a sales team include:

• Follow up
• Building a relationship
• Closure
• Retention

The mark of a great salesperson is the ability to cultivate a personal relationship. Many consumers who have been loyal to the same brand, dealership or salon for years will say they appreciate the personalized attention they receive there. It is not the responsibility of a marketing employee to follow up with a salesperson’s existing customer once the lead has been delivered, nor is it his or her responsibility to turn a lead into a sale, “close the deal,” or make sure the customer continue to be a customer. for many years. Aside from having an outstanding relationship with a qualified seller, product quality and a great overall experience are the main things that will drive customer retention.

On the marketing side, the main efforts are:

• Awareness
• Commitment
• Conversion (anonymous to known)
• Retention

It is not a salesperson’s job to generate awareness or enthusiasm about their brand, product, or service. If they are expected to use their energy to make sales by nurturing leads and relationships, then how can they be expected to have time to do the legwork that brings those leads to the table in the first place?

The marketing department creates awareness, generates engagement by creating information that will invite audience members to take action, and leads and tracks engagement by motivating audience members to provide contact information or start a free trial or consultation (turning them from a cold prospect to a known customer). potential customer or potential buyer). It’s important to note here that the retention function of a marketing department doesn’t actually overlap with the retention efforts of a sales team.

On the sales side, customer retention refers more to the salesperson’s efforts to use the customer relationship to continually check in with the customer, try to engage them in more discussions about additional products or services they may be interested in. and seek customer references. friends and family. However, from a marketing standpoint, retention refers to maintaining a higher level of consistent engagement (through targeted marketing based on purchase preferences, interests, and history) so that the customer relationship don’t end at the initial purchase. Those email newsletters you get after becoming a customer somewhere aren’t random—they serve a purpose, and are often tailored to things you’ve seen or expressed interest in. A sales team simply doesn’t have the knowledge, time, or often the resources to execute these types of strategic campaigns.

The fine-tuned coexistence of everything

The ideal sales and marketing relationship is symbiotic. Marketers and salespeople work together to determine what consumers need and how to deliver it. Sales and marketing need to motivate, inspire, and feed each other. They must collaborate and coexist. In the corporate food chain hierarchy, sales and marketing should not be seen as rivals or equals, but as counterparts. One really can’t exist without the other, but their skill sets are not the same, especially today where technological advancements require the modern salesperson to have a very specific, honed, and competitive skill set most salespeople do. they just don’t need to. have.

For this reason, many marketers are deep-thinking, analytical, and introverted people. Whether they’re crunching numbers and analyzing data, compiling reports on trends and conversion rates, or writing amazing ads and creating beautiful websites and collateral, they need to focus intensely on what’s working and what’s not, and adjust their creative efforts. Respectively. Typically, a marketing department will have creatives, analysts, and more tech-oriented people (who dive into the numbers and algorithms behind advanced marketing tools).

In contrast, however, many salespeople are extroverts: they light up a room, have excellent “social skills,” can easily relate to others, and have the ability to pick up on social cues that might actually help them close a sale. Salespeople often have a broader focus, preferring to spend their days with appointments and meetings—relationship-building activities—rather than sitting behind a desk doing what a marketing department does best. For this reason, many salespeople have administrative assistants to help with follow-up, paperwork, appointment scheduling, phone calls, proposals, and calendar management. This type of role of functional assistant is less widespread in the field of marketing.

share your thoughts

Be sure to read the full article (and let us know how it compares to our post) for additional insight into the relationship between sales and marketing teams. Join the conversation: Based on your experience, what have been some key components of a successful sales and marketing partnership?