Know, Act, Close

The Marketing Mind & The Sales Psyche - Where do you Fit?

2012-02-16T14:35:00.000-08:00

As we delve deeper into causes of the divide between salesand marketing, we thought it necessary to take a peek from 30,000ft and define thecharacteristics of a marketing mind versus a sales psyche. Our hope is to uncover the similarities, aswell as the differences between these two very important roles in anorganization. Here are some of our discoveries. Where do you fit?

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What does this meanin terms of the divide?

We need to appreciate our individual skills sets anduse our attributes for the better of the organization; then, we can truly learnwhom, when and why to nurture. Sales and marketing will no longer act as twodisparate minds, but become one cohesive unit.

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Takeaways:

1. Just because sales and marketing minds may work differentlydoesn’t mean that we shouldn’t all play in the same sandbox. This means creatingopen lines of communication between departments, whether it is over coffee, thatmandatory Monday meeting, or just stopping by at each other’s desks.

2. Marketing folks – Don’t think that once youcreated a list full of possible leads that you are done for the day—to reallyqualify leads, you need to know what is happening in your targeted companies. Do your research; we know you are all informationseekers. You may deliver less quantity, but we promise you will deliver better,more qualified leads that the Sales team will be satisfied with, and they mayeven come by to say thank you.

3. Sales folks –Don’t be lone wolves, let marketingfolks join you on a sales visit, so they can really listen to the pain pointsof your leads and clients and create better targeted messaging. Everyone willbenefit from more communication and stronger understandings of what one anothercontribute to the organization.

Sales & Marketing : Can't We All Just Get Along

2012-01-26T09:06:00.000-08:00

I often joke that I spent ten years insales and sales management and then, depending on the audience, I explain thatI went to / or came from the dark side,spending ten years in marketing. Withoutfail I always get a good laugh. Why? Because of the great dividebetween sales and marketing. Thequestion is not whether a gap exists between sales and marketing, but rather,how wide is that gap in your company?

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Whydoes the gap exist? No two organizationsare more aligned on the surface than sales and marketing. But, scratch just one or two layers below thesurface and the issues become painfully clear. The issues stem from myriad places: misaligned goals, dependencies,basic personality differences, compensation differences, action horizon, and aslew of many other reasons.

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Inrecent years, it appears that both technology and process improvements have alignedsales and marketing to be closer than ever. But, the tension seems higher than ever. CRM’s visibility highlights the dichotomy in the distinction between howa salesperson understands a qualified lead and how a marketing personunderstands a qualified lead, and provides each side with the data to supporttheir cause.

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SoundFamiliar?

Marketing: “Are you kidding me? I gave you 100 valuable andQUALIFIED leads; what did you do with any of them?”

Sales: “Qualified leads? Check out Lead #109. All he did was download a whitepaper and he’snot even in my territory.”

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Whentechnology does not add relevant information that further qualifies the lead,then we simply speed up and fuel the moment of contention.

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Stay tunedfor future posts where we discuss strategies and tactics to help diminish thedivide between your sales and marketing teams.

Prospecting: Just Another Broken New Year’s Resolution?

2011-02-01T10:02:00.000-08:00

I belong to several blogs and groups within Linkedin that focus on selling. When discussing cold calling and prospecting, there is overwhelming suggestions for best practices.

Responses range from “Old School” approaches of smiling / dialing, to newer trigger based prospecting techniques. The central theme: Prospecting is a necessity to consistent sales performance.

What is concerning was when asked for metrics and measurements to manage the requisite amount of prospecting occurs, the silence was deafening.

This experience left me with the impression that prospecting is similar to a common New Year’s resolution for becoming healthier. Sales people know prospecting is a key to success. Each year many plan to start “going to the gym” and prospect on a regular basis. However, much the same as many “healthy” New Year’s resolutions, the prospecting gym card goes underutilized.

So what plans / measurements do you have in place for yourself / sales team to prospect?