A tale of two realities

Yet another lesson of this economy is that it has exposed the stark difference between sales and marketing – the function of selling and the function of cultivating customers. We say functions, when of course we are talking about people. Human behavior. The pressure is on to sell, when the greater need is for stronger and longer-term customer relationships.

In the world of B2B, marketing never did get a lot of respect. But look at it from the sale engineer’s point of view: Marketing is a cost center. Sales is a profit center. Marketing is mysterious voodoo. Sales deals in tangible features and benefits. You know all this because the VP of Sales told you so. And since when did marketing ever help you close a sale?

Marketing has failed you. Or more precisely, your company’s leadership has failed to prove the worth of marketing. So you will continue to do what you get paid to do. Sell stuff. So long as you are recruited, hired, trained and paid to sell what is in front of you, you will continue to sell what is in front of you. There will be no deeper exploration of customer problems and opportunities.

It’s a tale of two realities.
Your company’s leaders can see this clearly now.

JB