If you look at it from the customer’s point of view, this continuum is obvious. Indeed, the less tangible the demarcation between marketing and sales is to the customer, the better the customer experience and the more likely they are to buy. Viewed through this lens, corporate politics and finger pointing seems childish. However, there must be some truth to the complaints, or this dysfunction would not be such a constant feature of sales and marketing survey results. So why is the problem so prevalent?
If one was to attend a sales conference and then a marketing conference and identify a sales person and a marketing person based on the predominant traits of the attendees, two very different personalities might emerge. The sales person would be an extroverted confident male, probably with more ‘street smarts’ than ‘book smarts’, willing to take a punt. The marketing person would be a well-groomed, well-educated female likely to have an eye for detail and a preference for order. These two individuals would see the world very differently, and attempt to tackle problems very differently. Despite both having excellent people skills, both would struggle to either convince the other that they are right, or arrive at a compromise. Have each recruit a team that sees the world as they do and it is easy to see how sales and marketing battle lines are drawn. The common corporate solution is to make one the support team for the other, through either a sales-led or marketing-led Sales and Marketing Department.
In certain types of businesses this can make sense. At one end of the sales and marketing continuum, marketing is so successful at generating demand and the offer is so streamlined that the sales process is little more than order taking. In these instances, having the marketing team dominant makes sense. At the other end of the continuum, the offer is so customised and the number of customers so few that every sale is to a market of just one customer. In these instances, being sales-led makes sense. Many other businesses however, sit along the continuum and need a united, integrated partnership between their sales and marketing professionals.
The Integrated Approach
The first step in creating the integrated approach is to acknowledge that the customer’s buying journey does not start in the marketing department and finish in the sales department, having crossed an invisible border between the two along the way. This avoids potential customers ending up in. No man’s land before continuing their journey with your competitor.
With the delineation put aside, the next step is to take the journey from the customer’s point of view. In doing so, remember that no one wants to be ‘sold to’. What you are looking for is, ‘How can the buying journey be made easier?’ Then the question becomes, ‘Who are the best people to make this happen?’ The outcome of this is usually to have a blend of sales and marketing activity through the entire length of the buyer’s journey.
Perhaps an example would help illustrate the point. In this case, a business sells a complex product to a niche market. The marketing professionals have assessed the market opportunity and identified a blend of marketing activities to raise awareness of their product. All of the out-bound communications are personalised and sent on behalf of the local sales reps. All of the conferences are selected and arranged by the marketing team, but attended by the local sales reps. All of the leads are followed up by the sales reps and reported centrally, (ensuring marketing adjust their activities appropriately). The sales reps establish the customer’s requirements, calculate the pricing, and brief the marketing team who produce a tailored proposal. The sale rep presents the proposal and completes the negotiations. The marketing team then ensure that the customer receives post sale follow-up and ongoing communication, (all presented as though it is from the sales rep). The result of this real-life example – a business which had its competitors gaining on it, but accelerated away from them, winning two out of every three competitive bids against multiple suppliers and more than doubling in size in just four years to have a turnover in excess of $100 Million.
Conclusion
Marketing and sales are a continuum. The less tangible the demarcation between marketing and sales is to the customer, the better the customer experience and the more likely they are to buy. Having an integrated approach is a distinct competitive advantage for any business. In a competitive environment, siloed marketing and sales teams will lose, first to their competitors, and eventually their livelihood.