By Mark Gibson and Mary Beth Sullivan
We learned in our college classes that Sales and Marketing are related disciplines and that, in fact, Marketing grew out of Sales Management. So why is it often so hard for these groups to get on the same page? For starters, the personalities of those attracted to sales versus marketing roles are often very different. Assertive, individualistic, and goal-oriented status seekers gravitate toward Sales, while more introspective, process and project oriented folks tend to opt for Marketing. These differences in personalities can create tension. The process for collaboration between these groups needs to recognize and address this.
Additionally, the different business languages, goals, and time horizons for each group can get in the way of effective cooperation. Even worse, these differences can lead to either internal competition or even finger pointing when things go wrong. At the very least, a bit of unfamiliarity and even distrust often exists between the two groups.
This disconnect leads to five behaviors that can be detrimental to sales and marketing performance. For instance:
- Sales and Marketing campaign calendars are developed in isolation from one another.
- Marketing campaign goals are developed independently without Sales force insight or buy-in.
- Marketing launches campaigns without leaving time for the sales teams to adequately prepare
- The product focus of the Marketing campaign is inconsistent with what the Sales force is focusing on
- Marketing views its job as “advertising” and does not provide sales tools or sales leads to support the campaign
What Is To Be Done?
Given the performance enhancement that occurs when this is done right, senior bank management can’t afford to let a Sales and Marketing disconnect persist. It’s imperative that executive management work with Sales and Marketing management to get them to collaborate effectively. Putting aside personalities, there is a straight-forward process for getting this done. View our “Six Point Plan” in detail.
