Interview
Connecting Marketing & Sales:
An Interview with The Sales Company

When Marketing and Sales comes together, the result should be a harmony of purpose, but all too often, it's a clash of wills. What causes this lack of connection that often plagues even Fortune-ranked companies? What can be done to improve the relationship — and jointly focus on the customer?

To find out, we interviewed sales expert Debbie Mrazek, president of The Sales Company. Having worked with hundreds of salespeople at Fortune 50 companies as well as newly launched start-ups, Ms. Mrazek shared her personal observations on the Marketing-Sales connection.

Debbie, do most companies acknowledge that it's important for Marketing and Sales to be synchronized? Why or why not?

No, they don't — and the main reason is a general confusion about the difference between the two. Marketing is taking a message from one to many to stimulate interest, desire, and need. Selling is taking the message one to one in order to get the business, close the sale, make something tangible happen.

There are also negative perceptions of each. For example, the salesperson stereotype is well known — the guy in a polyester suit who talks to much! And Marketing is thought to be all brochures and advertising.

Additionally, there's no education within organizations about the link between Marketing and Sales — that personal sales is actually a marketing tactic. Even CEOs don't recognize this.

How does the Marketing and Sales function differ in a services organization vs. a manufacturing company?

There is no difference — it's the same across all industries. Sometimes there's a difference in small companies because the same person in these organizations does marketing and sales.

What are some of the problems in companies that suffer from a lack of alignment between these two functions?

The biggest problem companies face is growing the business effectively. There's been significant industry research on what lack of communication costs a company in terms of acquiring new customers. If Marketing and Sales could better communicate and understand each other, they could grow the business much more successfully.

The relationship between Marketing and Sales is often difficult. From your experience, why is this?

There's a lack of communication and empathy from both sides. In general, Marketing is frustrated with lack of feedback from Sales, and Sales believes that Marketing doesn't understand the reality of the customer relationship or the sales process and what needs to be done to satisfy the customer. This sets up an adversarial relationship, and can lead to two sets of mismatched messages aimed at the same customer.

One on the most powerful things I have seen, however, is when a Marketing person moves into Sales, and vice versa. They switch sides and find a whole new understanding from “the other side of the fence.” Often they return to their previous roles and become much more successful and effective.

So then what are biggest complaints Sales has with Marketing?

That Marketing doesn't understand the ins and outs of relating to the customer. Sales believes that Marketing doesn't understand how different industries and customer segments buy and use the product or how salespeople work with customers. They believe that Marketing sees the client from a high level, but misses the mark at the point of transaction because it doesn't come face-to-face with the customer. Sales, on the other hand, has to build the customer relationship and be there every step of the way.

Another issue is pricing — Sales struggles when customers demand different pricing and then pushes on Marketing to change it. Marketing, however, (being aware of the overall costs) wants to maintain margins. Sales needs to better convey to Marketing the customers' objections to pricing so that Marketing can help Sales craft a more effective positioning statement to present to the customer. This understanding can help the customer more easily say "yes" to Sales.

How should the customer sales process affect marketing strategy?

Part of Sales' frustration lies in their belief that Marketing does not understand how the customer buys and uses the solution in different segments, markets and industries. If Marketing is open to this feedback, it could help the strategic efforts of both groups.

Marketing often accuses Sales of withholding customer information that would expand strategic analysis and improve marketing decisions. Is this true? Why?

True, and it's because Sales feels that Marketing will not listen to them.

How can these issues be resolved? What would improve the Marketing-Sales relationship?

Communication, understanding, and trust-building need to happen. Also, open dialogues between Sales, Marketing and corporate management to develop a true customer focus could better align the marketing and sales processes.

Marketing can involve Sales in the strategic planning process. Even at a concept level, they can invite input from Sales about customers and gather competitive insights too. Exchanges of information on objectives, timelines, needs, etc. can only help!

Sales needs to provide feedback to Marketing. Are the messages on target? Are there benefits that Marketing doesn't grasp? Are competitors changing their approach? Sales needs to proactively feed information back to Marketing. That means the communications processes to do this need to be in place.

In the end, Sales wants Marketing to provide insights and collaboration to help them offer the customer an effective solution. They want Marketing to be flexible and open to opportunities that Sales presents. After all, the salesman's motto is that 10% of something is better than 100% of nothing!

As a sales coach, how do you integrate marketing insights into sales messaging, objections handling, and competitive positioning?

I always start with history — asking them what they know, their sales process, how they interface with the customers, and whether they believe that Marketing is supporting them or not. Often, when clients tell me that Marketing does not understand, I counter by asking whether they communicate this to Marketing or just ignore it.

It's critical for salespeople to take Marketing input, modify it with customer and competitive field input, and feed it back to Marketing. From a coaching point, I lift a mirror to salespeople and teach them to look at themselves as to what they are really doing and hold themselves accountable for the results.

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Debbie Mrazek, president of The Sales Company, has a twenty-plus year track record of increasing profitability for clients through custom-designed sales programs. The Sales Company is a consulting firm that unites sound business solutions with sales consulting, sales planning, and sales process and strategy consulting. Her proven step-by-step process for sales success provides business people from all industries with a road map that immediately increases productivity and enhances natural selling capabilities.

Debbie helps clients implement practical, tactical sales training programs that target their strategic sales objectives. She works with companies of all sizes — from sole proprietor to Fortune 50 organizations — and with sales teams of one to 1,000 plus. Both novices and veterans sharpen sales skills with Debbie's interactive format that provides the foundation for individual sales plans that really deliver.

June 2003