A common issue that organizations face in today’s fierce business environment is the division between marketing and sales. In recent engagements one of the common observations that SRi Consultants note is that marketing believes that sales are failing to articulate value and prompt prospect to close, and sales believe that marketing efforts are not creating enough opportunities to make the numbers. It is paramount that these two divisions synchronize to be effective in today’s market.

Understanding some of the responsibilities of each role

Marketing

• Determine what products or services may be of interest to customers
• Develop brand and product/service messaging
• Identify target markets to penetrate
• Plan the process of approach, sale and execution
• Evaluate competitor threats

Sales

• Deliver organizations mission statement to customers
• Understand organization messaging and service/product
• Build relationships with both new and existing customers
• Help customer evaluate the most appropriate solution
• Negotiate a win-win situation for the customer and organization
• Manage sales funnels/pipeline

Common issues/obstacles that these divisions face

• Marketing staff lacks sales acumen and experience
• Messaging is NOT synchronized with a step-by-step sales process
• Marketing and sales have failed to communicate and develop effective blueprint of target customers
• Sales inability to drive new account sales due to lack of lead generation

Issues/Obstacles Solutions

• Hire staff that has experience in sales to develop and execute marketing
• Inexperienced marketing staff should spend time going through a sales training program to understand processes
• Marketing and sales executives should communicate to evaluate effective pro sales market messaging
• Sales representatives should determine target market sweet spots and rank prospects on a scale and then allow marketing to blueprint target markets
• Concentrate managing a funnel/pipeline that has a 70% focus on new account sales – funnel awareness is key

Related Links

Paint-the-Picture® sales process is a customized sales process to grab the mind share of your prospect and effectively prompt to your prospect to sign. Proven solution used by thousands of sales reps including the fortune 100.

Eliminating competitor threats – sales blueprinting post

Funnel Optimization – selling to the customer’s process, manage your focus on the right prospects and continue to regenerate new opportunities.

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