The War between Sales and Marketing

The War between Sales and Marketing (and how to end it).

In too many companies there is a fight between Sales and Marketing. Salespeople accuse marketers of being out of touch with what customers really want or setting prices too high. Marketers insist that salespeople focus too much on individual customers and short-term sales at the expense of longer term profits. The result is poor coordination between the two teams which only raises market-entry costs, lengthens sales cycles, and increases cost of sales.

How to get your sales and marketing teams to start working together? Kotler, Rackham, and Krishnaswamy recommend crafting a new relationship between them, one with the right degree of interconnection to tackle your most pressing business challenges. For example, is your market becoming more commoditized or customized? If so, align Sales and Marketing through frequent, disciplined cross-functional communication and joint projects. Is competition becoming more complex than ever? Then fully integrate the teams, by having them share performance metrics and rewards and embedding marketers deeply in management of key accounts. Create the right relationship between Sales and Marketing, and you reduce squabbling, enabling these former combatants to boost top and bottom line growth, together.

How interconnected should your Sales and Marketing teams be? Determine their existing relationship, then strengthening interconnection if conditions warrant.

Christiaan Janssens
Executive Coach

CRO @ Spa Akwa Belgium