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SALES & MARKETING - ARE THEY COMPATIBLE FOR MARKET SUCCESS?

Guest post by: Michael Heah

Article Overview: Are you facing a common dilemma of sales manager where sales are poor and sales team are not bringing in the expected results? Read on....

SALES & MARKETING - ARE THEY COMPATIBLE FOR MARKET SUCCESS?

A sales manager asked me this poser: "What would you do with an unproductive sales team? Sales leads are few, sales are coming in trickles, and targets are grossly off the mark. I see them making cold calls, sending email blasts, faxing, writing and sending countless proposals, and going out on sales visits everyday. Despite all these, we are not getting a fair share of what they are putting into their work. As a business coach, how do you read this situation and what can you advise? My response to him is as follows: "You are not alone in this kind of dilemma. The many clients that I have worked with have similar problems - busy sales people but little results. One key reason is they expect their sales force to do everything! Let me give you a very common example: Combining sales and marketing as one function. Let's get the roles clear - sales people sell, and marketing people generate sales leads. When you combine these 2 roles, you end up with a mixed bag of activities, doing both the short term and the longer term ones at the same time. You need to note that selling has become more complex these days. Why is this so? Because within an organisation, there are more "decision makers" making "buying decisions" which have inevitably lengthened the sales cycle. It is a sheer waste of time and energy if sales people have to do many follow-ups without knowing how the selling-buying landscape has changed.

Tips for Business Success : Separate the sales and marketing functions. Make marketing responsible for developing sales leads where they find ways to match buyers' needs and their readiness to buy from your company. Leave sales people to act on sales leads after they have been generated. In this way, they are more clear headed and focused to convert leads to sales revenue.

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Article Tags: dilemma, market success, sales coach, sales manager, sales marketing



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