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The 11 Most-Deadly Sins in Sales & Marketing -- and How to Avoid Them

Guest post by: Neil Mahoney

Article Overview: Why are there so few well-trained Marketing Professionals? Three Reasons. Three myths: Myth #1: Multi-tasking increases efficiency. Truth: Research shows it doesn't. Myth #2: Management is a specialty that cuts across all lines. Truth: Good Managers have to be knowledgeable and skilled in the areas they manage. Myth #3: Long-term planning is not necessary. Truth: To be successful, a company must have long-term strategies & plans that are supported, understood and executed by the entire organization

The 11 Most-Deadly Sins in Sales & Marketing -- and How to Avoid Them

Shortcuts to the Marketing process began back in the late 80s when it became voguish to decree that management was a specialty unto itself -- and an effective manager is an effective manager is an effective manager -- irrespective of the business function.

About the same time, corporate management fell into the trap of managing from quarter to quarter instead of decade to decade. That was the second bad mistake. This ultimately denuded the company and the profession of well-trained, skilled Marketers.

That, and the lost emphasis on in-depth planning -- plus the deep thought it takes to develop sound, effective strategies -- has crippled the function and turned much of the craft into a lost art.

Short-term profits are everything. Whatever it takes to look good in the second half is OK. As the not-so-old saying goes, "If it feels good, do it."

Third, the computer morphed from a tool that was great for running payrolls. to a tool that was also great for Design & Development, to a tool that was great for everything. Many of today's Marketing people no longer take the time to learn and analyze situations. They think the computer can do the thinking for them -- the attitude is: "Don't bother me with details." That's why the Elevator Pitch and Value Proposition have become so essential, and that's why the lost art of Positioning has become so essential, and this will be discussed in detail later.

Today's three gods:

* Multitasking increases efficiency

* Management is a specialty that can cut across all disciplines

* Short-term planning, short-term management

have been proven false -- conclusively.

Starting with the most-recent fallacy and working back:

a) a recent study on multitasking shows:

1. Tasks are almost always performed less effectively and efficiently.

2. Inveterate multitaskers have a diminished ability to focus on any one task -- even when working on just one task.

3. Since multitaskers aren't able to focus as well, they don't think situations through as well.

b) Management is a specialty that can cut across all lines:

Truly effective managers MUST also possess skills and professional know-how in the functions being managed for several reasons. An effective manager must be: 1. a good teacher, 2. a good critic who knows good work from bad -- and knows how to help the team member fix it, 3. a good coach who creates an atmosphere that encourages others in the organization to come with ideas, and share them with others, 4. an able defender of good work, 5. a defender of his team who's able to defend it when they're right.

That's not all, a good manager must also be: a) respected and trusted by senior management for skills and effectiveness, b) a visionary thinker and planner, c) a good judge of what's best for the company, d) a good salesperson for the department.

To be an effective and respected teacher or critic, the manager has to have mastered his craft. There's no substitute for this.

In the next installment, I'll cite some real-world examples of what I call "Miscast Management."

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Article Tags: Management, Marketing, Sales



Related Forum Posts
Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing
Re: Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - [quote="ltrahan":31w9r2iz]Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing[/quote:31w9r2iz] I second the request...
Re: Search Engine Friendly Web Development - I would like to add some more things in search engine friendly web development. 1. PPC campaign 2. Viral marketing 3. Social Media Marketing Avoid flash in website and other use CSS files to shows the content style.
niche forum categories - I think Kevin just touched on the point that I was going make... and that is developing 'categories' that stick. Sales and Marketing may be too broad for example. However I can almost guarantee you that you would see many more sign-ups if you tailored a category to 'internet marketing' for newbies. I've seen this work on other forums, however, [i:1i903wkn]it can get a little frantic[/i:1i903wkn]... Fine tuning the categories, or expanding the scope should be effective. I think a lot of IM folks are surfing right on by because they're not finding what they're looking for here... Just a few thoughts: Better Blogging Developing Info Products Internet Marketing Presentation Skills More How to's Another point is... a lot of people don't know that they can benefit from participating in forums. The signature links to their site - if they have one - can / should be motivation enough to get more involved. The more internet savvy members that have signatures seem to stick around more... Don't you think?
Different Hats - CEO Sales & Marketing & Leadership Development Company Strategic Vision 10 Alliances & Growth Strategies 10 Hiring & Managing People 8 Mentoring 8-9 Strategic Planning for Clients 10 Execution of Marketing Campaigns 9-10 (i have great people who do the nitty gritty) Financial Management 9 Bookkeeping 3 (outsourced as I really hate the fine details like GST0 Administrative Follow Up 6-7 (again have great staff) Writing & Publishing 9 (getting better all the time!) Speaking 10 (so I have been told) Self Promotion 9-10 Web development & Promotion 6-7 (learning more and have brought on players who are 10+) Babysitting Employees (1 - wont do it, that's why I work so hard to hire and motivate the people I have) Great topic Kevin!! Jude


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