Why can’t we be friends?
I’ve sat on both sides of the fence and really don’t get it. Why is their friction (and not just friction, unproductive friction i.e. finger pointing) between marketing and sales in a relatively high percentage of organizations? It comes down to a difference of opinion.
Marketing’s perspective: Why can’t sales close the leads we give them?
Sale’s perspective: Why can’t marketing give us some decent leads we can close?
In good times this attitude will slow you down, in tough economic times it will kill you. Let’s face it, there’s enough external competition without having internal competition - that’s a recipe for disaster that will get you nowhere fast.
So what’s a sales and marketing leader to do? First of all call a truce. Admit that in the past you haven’t always seen eye-to-eye and going forward that needs to change. If you need to purge to get past it, do it in your own time and space. Write down every frustrating experience you’ve had with your former “enemy” and make a vow to forgive and forget.
Next, schedule a half-day off-site – just the two of you (and perhaps your CEO/President) to get clarity AND alignment on your goals, values and strategy. Consider bringing in a third party to facilitate to provide fresh eyes and a perspective that helps to bridge the gap. Here are some ideas on how to structure the session:
Goals: Identify both short term (1 year) and long term (5 year) goals i.e. revenue targets for your organization. Use SMART goal setting techniques (Specific, Measurable, Action Oriented Realistic and Time Bound) to ensure you’ve covered all of the bases. Here’s why goal setting works – 98% of what we do is ruled by our unconscious brain. When we consciously set a goal our unconscious brain kicks into action doing everything it can to make that goal a reality.
Values: What is it that you stand for, what are your core beliefs (for a list of values right click on this link www.wemeanbusiness.com/values.xls and choose save as).This serves as your foundation, your pillar or rock that remains strong in a sea of change, in even the stormiest waters. Great things can be achieved when people are coming from the same place. Where are the two of you coming from? What are the commonalities? What is it you value and how do you live it day in and day out? Having this kind of insight into yourself and others helps to bridge communication gaps that inhibit results.
Strategy: What is your go to market strategy? Where is your path of least resistance? How can you focus your efforts to maximize your return? A good way to narrow your focus is with The Big Easy. Take a piece of paper, draw a quadrant table. Put Big on the top of the first quadrant, Small on the top the second quadrant. Along the side put easy on the first quadrant and difficult on the second quadrant (for the Big Easy Table click on this link www.wemeanbusiness.com/bigeasy.xls and choose save as).Having accomplished this, list everything you can do that is easy and provides a big return. Do not even entertain doing anything in any other quadrant until all of these activities are completed. This makes sure you are quite literally on the same page and focusing on what matters most. Simple and effective.
Now that you’ve kissed and made up (not literally of course) it’s time to present a united front to your teams. Host a joint meeting sharing your new found insights and invite your teams to brainstorm tactics and ideas as to how you’re going to get there.
Here’s the secret to achieving your goals – you need to do it yourself AND you can’t do it alone. Very wise words from speaker and writer John Assaraf. With summer here, it’s an ideal time to retrench so you’re ready to hit the ground running come September and achieve, or hey who knows, surpass your goals.
