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Upsize on Tap: The scoop on M&A

Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.

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by Andrew Tellijohn
April 2004

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Sales management

business builder sales management  

Common goals cut
bickering between
sales, marketing

by Jay Lipe  

“All Marketing does is produce useless brochures,” complains Sales.

“All Sales does is complain about our brochures,” counters Marketing.

In many businesses there’s a growing rift between sales and marketing. Sales sees Marketing as ivory-tower know-it-alls who stay away from the real action. Marketing sees Sales as demanding egomaniacs who are never satisfied with the tools they provide.

The two resemble bickering twins, joined at the hip yet arguing incessantly. They can get along better if they first understand where the other is coming from, and then take some simple steps.

Extroverts vs. introverts. There’s no question that sales and marketing folks are wired differently. By and large, sales people are extroverts who feed off the energy of meeting new people and persuading them to buy. No other person in a company is as motivated to meet and befriend strangers.

Marketing people, on the other hand, are more analytical and reflective. They happily spend time on solitary duties such as analyzing data, reviewing copy or generating budgets. A bigger part of their day involves being by themselves.

Field work vs. office work. Most sales people I know hate sitting at their desks. Their lifeblood activities — making sales calls and entertaining customers — happen outside their office.  Have you ever watched a sales person in a day-long meeting? It isn’t pretty.

 Conversely, marketers must spend large blocks of time in their offices. Their lifeblood activities — gathering and analyzing information, and coordinating projects — necessitates making an office the hub of their daily activities.

Sales thinks in days; Marketing in years. Ask marketers how far out they plan and they’re likely to answer “three years.” Ask sales people the same question and they’ll answer “30 days.”

Because Marketing grapples with strategic tasks like developing new products and finding new markets, its time horizon by necessity is longer. Sales, with its monthly quotas, cares little about events 30 days from now.

Marketing’s view is 30,000 feet; Sales’ is 3 feet. Because marketers concern themselves with groups of customers (segments), they are obliged to view the business from a 30,000-foot perspective. But Sales views the business from just 3 feet — the distance between them and a prospect.

 This sets the two departments up for ongoing conflict. For example, a salesperson in the Midwest region sees nothing wrong with requesting a special, one-time-only promotion for a preferred customer.

But the marketer sees this request as creating an imbalance that could potentially anger customers, prospects and sales personnel in all other regions.

How Marketing can woo Sales
1. Visit sales offices. Whether you’re presenting Marketing’s newest initiatives or just listening to sales feedback, nothing builds bridges faster with Sales than visiting their turf.

2. Schedule ride-alongs. If you’re wondering how customers view your latest initiatives, schedule a ride-along with a sales rep. You’ll hear firsthand from your customers and get some valuable feedback from your sales rep at the same time.

3. Bring Sales in early. Marketers too often bring Sales in at the end of the strategic planning process, expecting their rubber-stamp of approval. Marketing, you’ll save lots of time if you incorporate Sales’ opinions right from the start.

4. Respect their processes. Sales organizations already have their own structures and processes in place. Respect them. Before contacting a sales rep, OK it with the sales manager. Pay attention also to a sales team’s peak periods. The end of a month, quarter or year are particularly dicey times for Sales, so leave them alone. 

5. Leave room for customization. Sales will tell you that every customer is unique, and they’re right. Unfortunately Marketing can’t design programs for every single account, but we can leave room for account customization in sales tools we develop. One Fortune 500 company client of mine designs collateral materials with standardized text, and then leaves sections of the collateral blank. The local sales rep can then “crash imprint” customized information into these spaces. 

How Sales can woo Marketing
1. Provide feedback. Since you’re on the front lines, and Marketing isn’t, you’re a vital information source for them. On a regular basis, give Marketing feedback (both negative and positive). Want a guaranteed phrase to get Marketing to listen? Preface your comments with, “I was just with one of our customers who said…”

2. Recognize that not all your feedback will be acted upon. A good marketer constantly asks questions of sales people, then listens to the answers. But Sales shouldn’t mistake this as a subtle promise by Marketing to act on everything you say. 

3. Let Marketing develop the messaging. The folks in marketing must consider all customers when developing a new product or service. They therefore are best suited to craft messages that appeal to the broadest array of customers and prospects. Let Marketing develop positioning statements, elevator pitches and brochure copy. Sales should provide initial feedback into these efforts, but then back away and let Marketing finalize them.

4. Stop making Marketing the scapegoat. When sales slow down, don’t train your guns on Marketing. It’s easy to fall back on the tired refrain, “We’re not advertising enough.” But ask yourself first, “Am I doing all I can to reactivate dormant leads, sell more to current customers and jump-start stalled prospects?”

Sales and Marketing are members of the same team. The executive staff should work hard to identify goals that both will pursue. Then they should provide incentives to both groups on the same measures, to ensure cohesion.

Jay Lipe is the author of “The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses” and CEO of Emerge Marketing in Minneapolis: 612.824.4833;  li**@*************ng.com; www.emergemarketing.com.

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