Is it because these two disciplines are coming at the same task from such different perspectives, one using science, the other art? Is it because they're insecure of their positions within the organization, like two siblings with an aloof, judgmental parent?
I've observed companies where the head of maketing, often the CMO, reports to the CEO. I've seen others where the head of sales does. I've seen orgs where sales reports to marketing, or marketing to sales. Rarely have I seen heads of both report directly in to the CEO as true peers.
Now, add to this mix head of corporate communications or public relations. Head of investor relations. Chief Customer Officer. If you think that last, CCO, is new and different, here's one that many companies have yet to even consider: Chief of Social Media or Social Networking.
All these folks can't report to the CEO! Seriously, they can't! One leader can only concentrate on so many ideas and projects until the very idea of "concentration" flies right out the window. Aside from all these disciplines, there are the old standbys to consider, such as manufacturing, R&D, supply chain, people (or "human resources" or "personnel" in 20th-Century parlance), IT, finance, legal, and on and on....
No wonder sales and marketing can't get along! They get, intuitively, that the Big Cheese simply lacks the bandwidth to focus on them both. And since their roles are ostensibly so redundant, well, who better to push out of the nest than your closest rival for attention and resources?
Marketing is a cat. Sales is a dog. Both look around and say, "This family doesn't need two pets. I'm all my master needs to feel fulfilled."
It's natural, and it's wrong. There is a profound problem here, much deeper than just making room at the table for two equally-useful disciplines. I have a solution in mind, but before I share it, I'm very interested to hear what you, my reader, has to say. This blog attracts an inordinate amount of attention from some very savvy minds in business, and I always learn a lot from the comments you leave. I don't want to influence your comments now.
So part two of this post is coming. But first, let's see what you experts have to say.
Experts? It's your turn. Fire away in the comments, please!
A perspective: Marketing is now a much more important function than sales (relatively, depending on your kind of organization and what the customers needs are).
ReplyDeleteSocial commerce (media) has opened up the organization to the customer. Sales are no longer in charge of the relationship. Everyone is.
Hence, the marketing function has devolved into the organization – anywhere the customer has contact.
But….we need to stop talking about marketing and refer instead to ‘band’. Now that our people know that brand isn’t just a logo, but what the organization does, everyone is responsible for it. If the organization knows what the brand is (and the sub-brands called sometimes products) they will know better how to help the customer when they seek access the organization about their needs.
Hopefully, with this understanding the sales and marketing functions can understand how to collaborate instead of fighting for control. The customer is in control.
Ted, comparing sales and marketing to two competing pets made me laugh - but only for a second. So true. Here's how I look at these two functions: sales' job is to listen and bring back critical information to the organization. Marketing is the master story teller; they package & disseminate information.
ReplyDeleteWhen the two spend time together it can be beautiful in terms of results. When they work separately it creates an inefficient and sometimes clumsy environment.
Thanks for the opportunity to comment.
Susan
Companies can succeed without Marketing and without Brand. They cannot succeed without Sales. Can great Marketing help sales people get their foot in the door? Sure. Great Marketing can also help get attention from influencers - which is very important in this economy.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Marketing has been over-funded for years, enhancing the egos and the B2C theories of the practitioners - most of whom couldn't execute a B2B sale if their lives depended on it.
The continued push to get sales and marketing to "align" is a truly wasted effort. Dave Stein posits that the alignment effort has been continuing for a couple decades - and has delivered minimal results.
Our focus in B2B needs to be on Revenue Generation and: 1. What does the sales team need in terms of support for landing new accounts and growing the base. 2. How can Marketing help in those two areas. 3. How can HR get the right people in the right roles at the right time. 4. What does CS need to do to make sure current customers are being served appropriately, etc.
Marketing is a Revenue Generation support organization - no more or less important than the other RevGen support orgs in the company.
I'm going to have to disagree with Maureen because sales is insufficient without marketing. Likewise, marketing success is measured in sales. What needs to happen is a structure where sales' success is dependent on marketing's success and vice versa. I don't know how that should be designed, but that is what needs to happen.
ReplyDeleteWhen both the left and right hands see a way of embracing more together, they will work together for mutual benefit. This scenario begs for a mediator of some sort...
I've found that in many instances where S&M are not cooperating it's because the culture really isn't built around the customer. The culture either allows or actually enables groups within the company to put their own well being ahead of the customer. I've seen marketing groups execute campaigns with little to no customer input. I've seen sales campaigns that were more about pressure than benefits. None of this would fly in an organization that was truly committed to its customers. Without listening, engaging in conversation and co-creating value with customers, companies will fail especially after the next five years. Companies will be forced to become more and more social in their sales, marketing, support, branding, etc. What will this social revolution mean for S&M cooperation? If they can't learn to listen to customers and come together to share what they've heard and take appropriate action, they and their company will fail.
ReplyDeleteOk Ted...I'll bite. But, I'm doing this to bide time before hearing your solution which I'm sure will worth the wait (very cheeky of you)
ReplyDeleteSo, before reading the comments, my answer to your original question rests in the strategic focus of the company, its mission and the organizational alignment around that mission and strategy. Ok, so what does all that B-school mumbo jumbo mean in practice? In my mind marketing and sales play nicely in the sandbox if they both are marching to the same beat, if they both are aligned with a common vision and strategy and their success measures and COMPENSATION are aligned with those common objectives. Or to continue your metaphor, the cat and the dog shouldn't be deciding who stays and who goes. It's the human. Thats the problem. Its not a matter of where they report in the org chart, although that helps to clarify things cuz Lord knows, everyone's gotta have the picture. Its a matter of alignment. Are the expectations consistently set and monitored by the CEO (does the human create an environment where the cat and dog know their roles and are both serving the same purpose)? In most large organizations, the goals, objectives and success measures are inconsistent between sales, marketing....and customer service. So, the whole house gets turned upside down with the growling, hissing and cat-fighting.
Now to the comments. After reading them all, I'm going to have to also disagree with Maureen. I appreciate that you are clearly in the sales camp. But, I think that misses the point of Ted's post. Sales, the tactical execution of it today especially in BtoB is actually what the customer can live without.
The empowered, informed, wired, social customer does not need to be sold to, just the same as it doesn't need to be marketed to based on the practices of the Ad Men of the 1950's. We've heard it over and over again in social business circles. Marketing needs to stop shouting and start listening. Well, why hasn't the traditional sales function been put under the same microscope? Sales needs to stop selling and start creating value BEFORE the customer decides to buy.
That's the real issue.
Great metaphor: "the Big Cheese simply lacks the bandwidth to focus on them both." It implies (as you probably intended), that even the CEO is fragmented like a multi-window internet browser. Too busy to human--more Deep Blue than White Collar.
ReplyDeleteSince I'm hardly a dilettante--much less an expert--I'll just look foward to your solution. To go with your metaphor: if dad is absent, the two siblings can construct a family and have a positive upward influence. This cannot be dogmatized; it would take the dog (or the cat), to chat about ways the household can be happier (and not just the god).