Marketing and Sales - Two islands, no bridge?

Last week I was in Minneapolis speaking at Confab and attending AA-ISP. It's the first time I've gone directly from a conference focused exclusively on content strategy to an inside sales conference. Can I just say, Whoa!

It was like hoping from one island to another without a bridge.

First, a snapshot of my impressions of Confab:

• Wonderful conference with a tight focus on a topic that's my passion
• Commaraderie that spawned comments such as "I found my people!"
• Inspiring conversations with people who actually "get" content
• Met a number of people I've been watching/stalking from afar
• Had a great crowd at my presentation that asked very thoughtful questions - bless all of you!
• Cake (lots of CAKE) and our own cocktail - the Lorem Sipsum - and it was GOOD!

Overall, it was inspiring! I thought, WOW, marketers are making a lot of progress. In a number of conversations, I met marketers who were rocking it, but weren't sure they really were. Yes - all of you, take note - you're on the right track.

I felt great - cake not withstanding.

Then I went two blocks down the street to sign books and attend the AA-ISP conference.

As a marketer, it was like walking into a foreign land. And I say this having worked and collaborated wtih a number of inside sales organizations on successful projects. I actually knew as many people at this conference as I did at Confab. Many of them on board with the alignment imperative between the two professions.

Unfortunately, what I found in several of the presentations that I attended was either a total lack or respect for marketing or no mention of them at all. In all fairness, many marketers don't mention sales much, but it does come up more often since marketing actually serves sales (or they should be).

Here's the part that really sets me back. There were a number of really terrific ideas presented at AA-ISP. Really good, with the potential to be great collaborative efforts with marketing in order to create higher efficiencies and greater momentum in the sales process. Wonderful opportunities for overlays.

But the emphasis was on sales owning, controlling and keeping all of these ideas on their island. No sharing.

I can't help but wonder that if this is what salespeople are learning at conferences, no wonder the subject of alignment is still as controversial today as it ever was. And going nowhere fast.

Which brings me to a question that my friend, Trish Bertuzzi (@bridgegroupinc) posed in a recent Focus roundtable we did together:

If prospects are spending up to 70% of their buying process with marketing, why is it that only 50% of sales reps are meeting quota?

Seems to me that both marketing and sales need to bridge this gap and work together if we're going to improve the prospects' experience during their buying process to the point that objectives are met on both sides of the equation.

I'm not placing blame on sales, I'm just noting that something's gotta give if we're going to reach higher levels of success for our companies. It really shouldn't be this hard. Ultimately we're all working toward the same goals...aren't we?

On the high side - I watched Anneke Seley (@annekeseley) receive her Lifetime Achievement Award and was proud to be there clapping and cheering for her. Congrats, Anneke!

Comments

[Advertising Directory]

One more interesting article. Much of us were wrong and thought that both marketing and sales shares a same strategy. But now we are clear that Marketing is everything that you do to reach and persuade prospects and the sales process is everything that you do to close the sale and get a signed agreement or contract. Both are necessities to the success of a business. You cannot do without either process.

[trish bertuzzi]

LOVE this post Ardath and my question stands..."If prospects are spending up to 70% of their buying process with marketing, why is it that only 50% of sales reps are meeting quota?" Is sales now waiting too long to engage and letting the buyer sell themselves?

Was great to see you and thought provoking to boot!

[Ardath Albee]

Thanks, Trish! Was great to see you, too! I always love our conversations. And this one definitely deserves more attention. To your point, buyers aren't going to sell themselves - not most of them. Sales still plays a key role in complex sales. The trick will be adjusting what both sides do to embrace the new style of buying more productively.

[Kate]

I am a B2B marketer in a mid-size chemical company. I love the work, but there needs to be greater communication and clarity between marketing and sales i.e. what is a qualified lead and so on. Do you have any tips on working towards a more "open" relationship with sales, or at least starting the conversation? Thanks, and great post!

[Ardath Albee]

Hi Kate,

You are not alone! Every company is different, but it helps if you can find a way to help them help you to help them. The problem many companies have is that marketing has never been seen as "helpful" to sales. Therefore it's hard for us to get their attention.

We need to prove value. Sometimes that means taking small steps to inch our way closer. What if you could find a couple of salespeople willing to help you define a qualified lead? What if you then focused on developing leads just for them and get them to give you feedback? Maybe if you could execute on a small pilot program, then you can showcase some quick wins - get the salespeople to chime in and take the next step of creating a universal lead definition.

Just a thought, but think of something you can do to help a key salesperson and take action. Maybe it's even simpler such as helping them create a killer meeting presentation or developing a collateral piece they can use to help win a deal they're currently working on.

Does that help?