How many sales organizations spend a significant portion of their operational budget developing marketing and sales support materials only to have them sit in boxes unused? I recently read that large B2B marketing organizations spend approximately $10K in time and effort, per sales person, producing some 10 to 20,000 documents to support the sales process. However, most of these documents are never seen or utilized by sales! Basically, in these difficult times when organizations need to find businesses opportunities wherever they can, sales reps are not getting or utilizing the materials they need.
As a former sales executive, I am not surprised by this. Nor am I surprised by CSO Insights’ most recent Sales Performance Optimization survey. They reported that in 2008 the percentage of salespeople failing to hit their sales quota rose from 38.8% to 41.2%. In its summary, the CSO Insights survey said that one of the most important steps organizations could take in 2009 and beyond is improved sales effectiveness. Salespeople need to be more effective at selling, and standard CRM tools don’t solve the core issue here. Having managed large sales teams in the past, I can tell you that most sales people don’t need to make more calls —they need to make more GREAT sales calls.
I have seen firsthand the discrepancy between sales and marketing. The problem is that these teams are operating from different sources of data and not collaborating. Sales people are interfacing with clients, prospects and the marketplace –gathering important information to help them pinpoint their pitch. Marketing teams are generally working in a vacuum and focused on finding new ways of presenting the same old information and hoping a new look and feel or gimmick will capture the attention of a prospects. Marketing information is generally not adapting as quickly as the marketplace.
Clients are smarter than that and the marketplace is far too competitive for the disconnect between sales and marketing to continue in an organization that plans on surviving these difficult times. Clients have leaner budgets and are trying to make sure that the vendor they select truly understands them and their challenges. Trust me when I say that clients are looking beyond the gloss!
Like other sales executives, I am always looking for ways to shorten the sales cycle. Given this discrepancy between sales and marketing departments, throughout my career I have had to rely on myself (and often work double time) to reach my quota. I’ve had to work harder but, looking back, I didn’t necessarily work smarter.
Now, when I speak at seminars and conferences, I often share my experiences and propose strategies that can help create sales efficiency with the company and with sales reps. Approaches that make adjustments from the inside out! My experience is one of the reasons I am so passionate about Compendian and, if leaving a legacy of cooperation between sales and marketing makes up the tail end of my career, I will take it.
