Sales and marketing are meant to be on the same team, so why are they so often at war?
One level, it’s completely understandable. The two departments have different goals and missions. Sales is tasked with closing business — getting people in and getting them to sign on the dotted line. Marketing on the other hand tries to help attract customers to the organisation. It gives them differing worldviews and different ideas about what is important. It’s that kind of friction that causes conflict.
Sarah Mitchell says sales and marketing are factional groups who often not only don’t understand each other but don’t respect each other either.
“Sales and marketing are usually at odds with each other, if not at full-blown war against each other,” Sarah says.
So, how do you get them on the same page? Is it possible to get your sales and marketing teams working together? In this week’s Brand Newsroom, Sarah, James Lush and Nic Hayes suggest that it is. But how do you achieve such glorious harmony?
The Brand Newsroom team has some tips to help get everyone on the same page. It all starts with getting everyone in the same room and helping each team understand the other’s pressures and purpose.
Sarah says marketing needs to get to the bottom of what the sales team “are hearing when they’re going out there and hearing ‘no, no, no’ from the customer”.
“If you’re delivering something — a podcast or video or case studies — that doesn’t help them close business then I think as marketers we’re not doing our job,” Sarah says.
