Sales is from Mars and Marketing is from Venus – a CEO’s Perspective
Nothing focuses the sales force on sales like a quota. But what does a CEO use to focus Marketing? Can Marketing really begin to source leads for Sales? And how can you really optimize the relationship between Sales and Marketing?
This podcast is the first in a series we’ve set up along with B2B marketing software provider Marketo to examine the classic sales vs. marketing debate. To start things off, we’ve brought together Marketo’s chief executive officer and his VP of Marketing to discuss the differences in Sales and Marketing as seen from the perspective of a CEO whose company is focused on aligning sales and marketing to create a single revenue funnel, as well as what that looks like day to day from the marketing trenches.
Nothing could be scarier to a marketer than having to answer to the CEO. So I give a lot of credit to Jon Miller, who sat in the hot seat in front of his company’s top executive just for this podcast! Enjoy …
Sales is from Mars and Marketing is from Venus – a CEO’s Perspective
About Phil Fernandez
President and CEO, Marketo
Phil is a 26-year Silicon Valley veteran and has the scars (and a couple of successful IPOs) to prove it. Prior to Marketo, he was President and COO of Epiphany, a public enterprise software company known for its visionary marketing products. Before this, Phil was COO and SVP of Products and Services at Red Brick Systems, a pioneering data warehouse vendor. Earlier, he held leadership positions at Metaphor Computer Systems, Stanford University Medical Center, and Masstor Systems. Phil holds a BA from Stanford University.
About Jon Miller
VP Marketing, Marketo
Jon has the unique challenge of leading Marketing for Marketo, a company whose mission is helping other B2B marketers drive revenue and improve accountability. Jon explores best practices in demand generation, lead management, and online marketing in his popular blog, Modern B2B Marketing, and is a frequent columnist and speaker at industry events. Before co-founding Marketo, Jon was a vice president at Epiphany, a CRM strategist at Exchange Partners, and a strategic consultant for Gemini Consulting. Jon graduated Magna Cum Laude in Physics from Harvard College and has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
I found this really interesting.
I have spent 25 years in both marketing and sales in (primarily) B2B and I have seen these scenarios played out many times and from all perspectives.
My observation is that even in successful companies marketing and sales often have a low opion of each other. Much of this is down to internal politics and career jostling. But there is also an steady undercurrent of sales not valuing marketing. Now I am a marketeer and advise on marketing, so you might be surprised to know that I think the prime culprit is, all to often, marketing.
To many marketing departments and their heads hide behind obscure targets based upon activity or perceptions. Bottom line impact is what is required – always.
Martin – So true! If marketers want the respect of the CxO suite, they need to use the same language and metrics as other CxOs.
Thank you for reminding me that I’m not crazy because I absolutely see the value of marketing and branding–not just as a marketer but, I feel, simply as a person with common sense. As Phil said, without branding, all the lead gen in the world will under perform. Sadly, I work for a CEO who disagrees and believes that name recognition and customer satisfaction are irrelevant to increasing sales and revenue. Obviously, this is probably one of those situations where I just need to move on because I seem to be the only one in the organization who sees a value in marketing. It is so frustrating though that someone could be that closed-minded.
Hi,
An interesting ‘take’ and certainly very useful. However, you talk as if Marketing and Sales were not fully connected and thus talk of Marketing and Sales Executives needing to work together; this is a rather old-fashioned pre-Kotlerian view that sees Sales as primary and Marketing as some sort of ancillary function.
Marketing is the whole management function concerned with finding out what people want and anticipating what they will want in the future. It is then responsible for overseeing that what is produced actually does satisfy the customers needs and wants (want = how the need is fulfilled). Finally it is charged with the task of raising awareness of the product in the market and promoting the benefits of the product, and the benefits of the product over those of competitors.
All promotional efforts should strive to be measurable and Selling is just one of the many parts of the Marketing Communication Mix; which also includes Advertising, Direct Mail, Telesales, Point of Sale, Sales Promotions, Sponsorship, Public Relations, etc.. Face to Face Selling is thus part of Marketing; as it is entirely interactive allowing for adjustment in the approach and message, it is the most powerful component of all of the Marketing Communications Mix and thus part of the fourth ‘P’ of the overall Marketing Mix. However its use is expensive and this is of course why it tends to be used only for high value products or large quantities of products as in ‘B2B’.
A modern company will have a Marketing Director responsible for the whole Marketing function and to whom the Sales Manager reports. The idea that Marketing is something that you only do when you can’t sell what you make, with Marketing simply being an aid to selling via Advertising etc. is long obsolete. A successful organization should not have allowed itself to be in the position of having to sell what it makes rather than what customers want!
Mike Cudzich-Madry,
Chartered Marketer and Senior Lecturer in Strategy and Marketing,
Sheffield Hallam University
Another great event for Marketing enthusiasts. Tangence Inc Presents Webinar On Strategies To Accelerate Your Marketing In 2009. The live webinar will discuss issues such as the latest marketing trends, prioritizing the marketing programs, and making the most out of your marketing strategies and plans. The webinar is scheduled to be on 21st November 2008.
To register for the live webinar log on to – http://www.tangence.com/webinar-signup.html
Telesales is actually good for promoting your affiliate products both online and offline situations.*-*