Subjected to marketing and sales monologues for the better part of 40 years in the form of blanket advertising, product brochures and ‘your call is important to us’ busy signals, customers have taken the lead and are way ahead of us when it comes to having sales and marketing dialogues. Far more informed and sophisticated, and posting blogs, Facebook ‘Likes’, Tweets and reTweets, customers are engaging in their own sales and marketing dialogues about our products, our sales people, our promise, our customer service proposition and our brands, and they are affecting how we are perceived and valued in the market place.
At its very best, customers can be our finest sales team, advocating our products, services, people and brand with their endorsements. Customers can drive more sales and business to our door or, in this day and age, our online shopping carts. By contrast, the impact of their disapproval of our brand, products, customer service and sales people can be swift and devastating, sending people away in droves with their digital complaints and jibes in cyberspace.
It is apparent that Marketing is no longer in complete control of the brand and how it is represented in the market place – customers are taking our messages, tuning and translating them to suit their own needs while some tech savvy people are even manipulating brand images, emails, websites, Facebook pages and Tweets to their own advantage to potentially misrepresent companies, brands and products for good or for bad. Marketing is no longer static, one way or bullet proof.
Coupled with this, Selling has now become a social enterprise where everyone (employees, customers, suppliers, communities, etc.) can be, and often is, involved in the sales and customer service processes, and in some instances, the procurement process. Smart sales people are using their advocates to engage with their prospects and customers, encouraging and influencing them along the buyer’s journey. Linkedin in the B2B space, Facebook in the B2C space, and in some instances the B2B space, along with Twitter are rich in group conversations which need to be listened and responded to, monitored and used as signposts for new innovations, satisfaction levels and collaboration.
It’s like the Wild West and this new age of selling and marketing is really challenging the way businesses control and represent their image, values and reputation. Like pioneers forging new frontiers, Sales and Marketing teams need to rethink their strategies and start working together if they are going to effectively influence and communicate with their valued customers and advocates. It’s now time for Sales and Marketing to collaborate. For too long, too many organisations have had a standoff between sales and marketing: an ‘Us versus Them’ finger pointing culture of one-up-man-ship to the detriment of customers and businesses alike.
Sales and marketing need a new partnership.
- Is everyone in your business on the same page or are your sales and marketing teams still operating in silos?
- Do you really speak to and actively engage with your customers and relevant communities or is marketing still producing marketing material that is too product centric and the sales team still engaging in product monologues?
- Are your sales people trained in the fundamentals of marketing skills and strategies?
- Are your marketing people trained in the fundamentals of selling skills and strategies?
Get everyone in the same room
Why not involve your marketing team in your next sales training program or at the very least get the sales and marketing teams together for 1 day and discuss what needs to happen to ensure you are all on the same team and working for the betterment of all. Look at your key messages, advertising strategies, discussions groups, websites, social media, product mix, direct and emerging competitors, and your everyday public presence.
Why not go one step further and include all your staff in the discussions: get your customer service, finance, production/operations, IT and procurement teams in the same room and map your customers’ buying journeys. Explore how everyone in your business can affect your brand, customer experiences, sales results and overall business performance.
One thing is clear: Successful selling now requires new and more meaningful collaboration between sales, marketing, customer service, operations, finance, IT, customers, suppliers and communities. We’re all in it together.
Remember everybody lives by selling something.
Author: Sue Barrett, Sales Training at Barrett at barrett.com.au
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