One Half Down…

We all know the old adage “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”  While in some circles that may be true, in the world of marketing and sales “if you can’t beat ‘em, complain about them until it seems like you are beating them” seem to be a more common sentiment.

Yes, the ever present gap between marketing and sales isn’t going away. It continues to plague a number of companies.  For example, 59% of attendees at this year’s Sirius Decisions Summit said they do not believe their marketing and sales teams are aligned.  Another of the many statistics that indicate the great divide between marketing and sales.

In thinking this through and even writing about it in the past (see We Don't Talk Anymore! – June 2008) I have come to believe that lack of alignment between the two groups is not really the core issue.  Lack of alignment is only a symptom of a greater problem.  The fundamental problem that creates the misalignment is lack of process.  Marketing and sales groups are misaligned because they lack common understanding, definitions and protocols.  As a result we have a modern day Tower of Babel in most organizations with each group speaking their own language and following their own plans, regardless of what the other thinks.

The first half of 2009 has already passed us by.  If you want to improve the value of your marketing and sales investment for the second half, start now by looking at any broken marketing and sales processes that currently exist.  Bring marketing and sales together to identify the gaps and fix them. Develop a process based approach where common terminology and standardized methodology is used.   Do all of this and perhaps by the end of 2009, you’ll be poised to hit 2010 with an aligned marketing and sales team that will lead to greater productivity.

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