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By Christopher Kenton When Sales Meets Marketing, Part III Collaboration and trust are essential if salespeople and marketers are to boost an outfit's bottom line. Here, laid out in simple steps, is a four-point path to achieving it In two out of the three articles in this series, I've been pretty hard on marketers. In Part I, I introduced the epidemic breakdown between sales and marketing as a problem owed mostly to marketing. In Part II, I devoted an entire article to letting sales vent about the shortcomings of marketing without giving equal time to marketers. Why would I be so unfair to marketers? The truth is, I think the solution to sales-and-marketing integration can only come from marketing. And I think the reason the solution has not been forthcoming is that marketers have not accepted the challenge and taken the reins to effectively drive change. I know, I know -- marketers have been savaged in the boardroom, their budgets have been plundered, and their ranks decimated. None of that represents a valid excuse. STRATEGY AND TACTICS. Call it one of the great mysteries of life, but the power to change the status quo often lies with those who appear the weakest. And those who realize the true power of their position are never the ones who complain about their lot or sit idly by and accept what they're given. Instead, they're the ones who perform their jobs with dedication, constantly looking for ways push their profession forward. That's why you'll never hear me coddling marketers. I'd rather shoot straight and move on to explore the tools that can help dedicated marketers challenge the practice of marketing in order to improve it. So let's get down to brass tacks. Successful marketing depends on balancing tactical implementation with strategic direction. Most companies fail in connecting strategy with tactics, leading many to disregard strategy as the fantasy domain of overpaid consultants and tactical implementation as the harmless domain of lightweights. Marketing holds the key to an effective balance, by virtue of its focus on the grand unifying structure of all strategically driven businesses: the customer relationship lifecycle (CRL). CALIBRATING YOUR CUSTOMER BASE. Simply stated, CRL tracks customers from the moment they appear on the radar as the constituent of a target market, into the funnel of lead-generation and sales, through their experience as a customers, and ultimately, hopefully, to their status as loyal customers, even advocates. Your CRL should be clearly documented and tracked, as this is the only way to measure which customers provide the greatest value to your bottom line, and how they were successfully found, closed and serviced as customers. In the context of launching an initiative to integrate marketing and sales, the CRL can be a dangerous distraction -- one that's often wrapped up in a CRM initiative with lofty goals that can never be reached without taking a smaller step first. Before tackling such long-term goals, companies should focus first on the sales cycle, a smaller tactical slice of the CRL that can be easily mapped and measured. This is not only the best way to prepare for tackling a larger CRL initiative, it also keeps your attention on achieving success where it matters most: generating revenue. So if the road to boardroom credibility and strategic marketing leads through the sales team, let's build on what we've discussed in my last two columns and establish a plan. Successful initiatives in sales-and-marketing integration are based in a strong relationship founded on collaboration and trust. Among the few studies I've found that take a critical look at the issue of sales and marketing collaboration, nearly all conclude that cross-functional teams lead any other mechanism, including monetary incentives, for improving cooperative performance. Step 1: The Sales Call If your business is starting from a position where bridges have been burned between sales and marketing, marketing needs to take the first step by taking a proactive interest in the sales process. Every sales person with whom I spoke while preparing this series said the first change that needs to be made involves having marketing staff participate in sales calls, including both telesales and field visits. Participating in the sales process gives marketers direct contact with customers, opening a line of communication with the sales staff based on common experience. The frequency of participation depends on the structure of sales-and-marketing programs. Some outfits have an integral process that keeps marketing constantly in the sales loop, and some even reward marketers with commissions. Others have a periodic schedule for including marketing in sales calls, often on a quarterly basis. Whatever the method, it should be designed to perform less like a training program to introduce the sales concept to marketing than a natural and continuous part of the sales cycle. When a sales rep can call on marketing at any time to assist in a sale, it's the right balance. Do you have your own impressions about sales and marketing integration? Take my online survey. It's short, to the point, and I'll share with you the results.
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