Comments on: Sales vs. Marketing – Who Wins?

By: Mandatory Thick Skin » The Buzz Bin

Mandatory Thick Skin » The Buzz Bin — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:40:55 +0000

[...] they should work together seamlessly, sales and marketing departments often end up in adversarial relationships. Guess who usually wins? That’s [...]

By: Jay Ehret

Jay Ehret — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:59:58 +0000

The ages old battle between marketing and sales thrives because each department has a different purpose. Marketing is to come up with cool and creative marketing ideas (or create leads), sales is supposed to sell stuff. Neither department is directly compensated for the real purpose of the business: to serve the customer.

All wars have a flashpoint, sales vs. marketing began at the top of the business. A truce may be achieved if CEO’s and owners would take time to identify and articulate what Michael Gerber calls the ‘Primary Aim,’ and then build business strategy around that aim.

By: Becky Carroll

Becky Carroll — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:00:49 +0000

Daniel, thank you for the compliment! It is amazing how adversarial sales and marketing are in some companies. The customer doesn’t care – they just want to have their needs met.

Thanks again!

By: Becky Carroll

Becky Carroll — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:59:03 +0000

Jill, I agree that open communication is key to a successful product/service launch. I might add that includes communication with the call center, who more often than not is forgotten. Customers call in on something new, and the call center sometimes is unaware of the launch.

Thank you also for sharing your resources.

By: Becky Carroll

Becky Carroll — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:57:05 +0000

Lewis, a business based on shared responsibility makes the most sense. Unfortunately, so many businesses look to the short-term and operate in “silo thinking” that they can’t pull together for the customer.

By: Daniel Sitter, Idea Seller

Daniel Sitter, Idea Seller — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 02:36:19 +0000

I’m glad that you came to this conclusion Becky. Marketing and sales certainly share a synergistic relationship and must work together in order for companies to grow. I appreciate Jill’s comment too, as I have personally witnessed this lack of communication myself. Sales and marketing sometimes feel at odds with each other, but they must learn to work together. Good post!

By: Jill Konrath

Jill Konrath — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 17:42:03 +0000

I worked in the gap between sales & marketing for over 15 years, helping B2B companies successfully launch new products/services into the marketplace. Both groups were well-intentioned, but their lack of communications created virtually ensured that their new offering would be slow to take off.

I’ve written a number of articles on this topic that your readers might find useful. Here’s the link:

http://www.sellingtobigcompanies.com/saleslibrary .

Make sure to scroll to the bottom to find the articles on JumpStarting New Products/Services. But also check out anything related to Value Propositions.

Jill Konrath
Author, Selling to Big Companies

By: Small Business Marketing Ideas - Marketing Idea Blog » Weekend Reading #5

Small Business Marketing Ideas - Marketing Idea Blog » Weekend Reading #5 — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 17:36:26 +0000

[...] Becky Carroll over at Customers Rock! takes a moment to offer a quick (and needed) reality check on the war between sales and marketing. [...]

By: Lewis Green

Lewis Green — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 12:39:26 +0000

Good post Becky. Those of us motivated to break down the walls and to create businesses based on shared responsibility and just good old sharing, need to continue writing on this subject.