{"id":5042,"date":"2013-06-03T21:54:13","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T01:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/newvinegrowing\/?p=5042"},"modified":"2019-06-07T13:39:29","modified_gmt":"2019-06-07T17:39:29","slug":"marketing-monday-marketing-and-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/newvinegrowing\/marketing-monday-marketing-and-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"Marketing Monday: Does your marketing plan work with your sales process?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marketing means many things to many people, but the traditional definition generally includes what products you’re selling at what price, in what place and with what promotions.
\nDepending on your business, you might translate that to anything from what your slogan and logo are to what kinds of brochure or website you use to communicate with customers and prospects.
\nHowever you think of marketing, the ultimate goal is likely to make more sales.
\nUnfortunately, in organizations big enough to have separate sales and marketing operations, they often don’t see eye to eye.
\nA recent post on the Sales & Marketing Effectiveness Blog<\/a> said:<\/p>\n

You know the saying \u201cplays well with others\u201d?\u00a0 Well, a study by the Corporate Executive Board<\/span><\/span> found that Sales and Marketing don\u2019t.\u00a0 In fact, they say 87% of the terms Marketing and Sales use when describing each other are negative.\u00a0 You read that right.\u00a0 Almost 9 out of 10 times, we talk bad about the other guys.\u00a0 Pretty amazing when you consider we both play for the same team.
\nSales often thinks Marketing doesn\u2019t understand how the customer buys.\u00a0 Marketing thinks salespeople don\u2019t understand the customers\u2019 problems.\u00a0 Unfortunately, everyone is usually right.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To test this, I asked a few friends who’ve been in sales for years to tell me what’s essential for success in sales.
\nEvery single answer I got was customer focused — things like asking good questions, listening to the customer’s needs, understanding the customer’s timing so you make your pitch at the right time in their planning or budget process.
\nNot a single answer even mentioned prettier brochures, a better email newsletter template or many of the other things we marketers spend a lot of time pondering.
\nThat doesn’t mean salespeople don’t appreciate professional product materials or that they don’t want good content available on an attractive company website. But in my unscientific study, the sales professionals I talked to thought of the customer first and everything else was in support of that relationship.
\nMy suggestion if you’re trying to improve your marketing: remember that you and sales have the same goal. You both want to help the cash register ring.
\nSit in on a sales call to see how that conversation happens. Ask a sales colleague what objections or questions he most commonly hears. Do whatever it takes to understand why your customers do or don’t buy.
\nDo your marketing efforts address what your company’s customers and prospects seem to care most about?
\nMeanwhile, pay attention to how the traditional sales process might be changing and look for ways marketing might need to shift to stay in sync.
\nFor example, in a Harvard Business Review<\/a> article, “The End of Solution Sales, ” co-written by my business school classmate Brent Adamson at the Corporate Executive Board, Brent and his coauthors wrote:<\/p>\n

\n
Under the conventional solution-selling method that has prevailed since the 1980s, salespeople are trained to align a solution with an acknowledged customer need and demonstrate why it is better than the competition\u2019s. This translates into a very practical approach: A rep begins by identifying customers who recognize a problem that the supplier can solve, and gives priority to those who are ready to<\/div>\n
act. Then, by asking questions, she surfaces a \u201chook\u201d that enables her to attach her company\u2019s solution to that problem. Part and parcel of this approach is<\/div>\n
her ability to find and nurture somebody within the customer organization\u2014an advocate, or coach\u2014who can help her navigate the company and drive the<\/div>\n
deal to completion.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But customers have radically departed from the old ways of buying, and sales leaders are increasingly finding that their staffs are relegated to price-driven<\/div>\n
bake-offs. One CSO at a high-tech organization told us, \u201cOur customers are coming to the table armed to the teeth with a deep understanding of their problem and a well-scoped RFP for a solution. It\u2019s turning many of our sales conversations into fulfillment conversations.\u201d Reps must learn to engage customers much earlier, well before customers fully understand their own needs. In many ways, this is<\/div>\n
a strategy as old as sales itself: To win a deal, you\u2019ve got to get ahead of the RFP. But our research shows that although that\u2019s more important than ever, it\u2019s<\/div>\n
no longer sufficient.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
What does that mean for marketing? Maybe it means a greater focus on helping prospects name their problem, rather than on extolling the virtues of your solution.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Just as my friends the salespeople try to listen to their customers to make more sales, it’s probably a good idea for marketing and sales to listen to each other to achieve increased profits.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Colleen Newvine Tebeau is a former reporter and editor who then earned her MBA at University of Michigan with emphases in marketing and corporate strategy.\u00a0<\/em> She is a marketing consultant <\/a>who helps small and midsized organizations with strategy and tactics, including social media and communications.<\/em><\/div>\n
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