Transcript The Yin of Sales, The Yang of Marketing

The Yin of Sales
The Yang of Marketing
Managing your enterprise for revenue today
and growth tomorrow
Presented to Renaissance Executive Forums (Chicago)
December 2, 2008
Don Drews
President, Courageous Marketing
A chronic question:
Why don’t these folks
play well together?
The concept of yin and yang describes two opposing
and, at the same time, complementary (completing)
aspects of one phenomenon . . . yin and yang are in
dynamic equilibrium.
Wikipedia
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The Yin of Sales; the Yang of Marketing
Sales = Today
Marketing = Tomorrow
Sales = Revenue
Marketing = Growth
Sales = Local
Marketing = Global
Marketing = Planning
Sales = Execution
Marketing = Strategy
Sales = Tactics
Marketing = Optimism
Sales = Pragmatism
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The Eureka:
Every business needs both—
Revenue and Growth
Planning and Execution
Local and Global
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Back to our question . . .
Why don’t these folks
play well together?
Part of the answer:
They’re wired differently.
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How good sales people are wired:
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Operate in the present moment. Now. Today.
Action oriented—”Ready, fire, fire, aim.”
Listen. Find opportunity, then react, create, improvise.
Verbal.
Hungry. Determined. Persistent.
Relationship first, profit second.
Instinctive. Impatient with administrivia.
Local: “My customer is the market.”
How good marketing people are wired:
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Operate in the future. Tomorrow.
Planning oriented—”Ready, aim, aim, fire.”
Listen. Synthesize lots of data, then formulate a plan.
Visual.
Diplomatic. Persuasive. Take the long view.
Profit first, flexibility second.
Curious. Analytical. Have a restless, probing mind.
Global: “I am the voice of The Customer.”
Yin and Yang:
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Sales
Today.
Action oriented.
Listen, then improvise.
Verbal.
Persistent.
Relationship first.
Instinctive.
“My customer is right.”
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Marketing
Tomorrow.
Planning oriented.
Listen, then synthesize.
Visual.
Diplomatic.
Profit first.
Analytical.
“My plan is right.”
Traits good sales & marketing people share:
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Self-confident.
Self-motivated.
Goal oriented.
Want to be accountable for results.
Positive outlook.
Creative.
Externally focused.
Play offense vs. defense.
Part of the answer:
They’re measured differently.
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How Sales and Marketing are measured
Sales
• Concrete
• Binary: “Win/Lose”
• One-dimensional
Revenue vs. Quota
Marketing
• Abstract
• Complex
• Multi-dimensional
Share Growth
Profitability
New Products
Lead Generation
Growth Strategies
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Part of the answer:
They’re led differently.
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Leading the Sales function
If the leader of your Sales Department came up through
the sales ranks, he or she is wired like a sales person.
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Today
One dimensional emphasis: Revenue vs. Quota
Instinctive. Opportunistic.
Lots of little locals usually don’t add up to “tomorrow”
Leading the Marketing function
If the leader of your Marketing Department came up
through the marketing ranks, he or she is wired like a
marketing person.
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Conceptual, analytical, abstract
Emphasis is on orchestrating a growth plan
May be perceived as detached or arrogant
Focus on tomorrow may not link to “revenue today”
One last time . . .
Why don’t these folks
play well together?
A big part of the answer:
We promote Either/Or thinking.
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The costs of Either/Or are high:
• Ambiguity and tension drain organizational energy
(Do we want revenue today or growth tomorrow?)
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Focuses attention inward instead of forward
Disjointed, piecemeal selling
Wasted marketing spending
There is a winner, and a loser
There is another way . . .
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The Advantages of Yin and Yang
• A bigger idea: cooperation and collaboration multiply
energy
• Team play—everybody wins
• Everybody gets to be who they naturally are
• Everybody is valued for their unique contributions
• The business takes off
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So how do we get there?
The Goal:
• Cooperation
• Collaboration
• Mutual respect
• A powerful, integrated offense
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The basic building blocks:
• Role clarity
• Hire the right type of people for each role
• Promote mutual respect
• Formalize interdependence
• Measure differently
• Lead differently
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Building blocks of Yin and Yang
Role Clarity
Role clarity—Sales and Marketing
• The role of Sales
Everybody thinks they know what Sales is, but . . .
• The role of Marketing
Nobody knows what Marketing is, but . . .
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Role clarity—Sales and Marketing
The role of Sales
• Make personal contact with the prospect or customer, when they
are ready, to jointly develop a specific, customized solution.
• Develop and grow the company’s customer relationships.
The role of Marketing
• Develop a growth plan for the company based on evaluation of
the company’s market, customers, competitors and capabilities.
• Generate demand and qualified leads.
• Develop tools for each stage of the selling conversation.
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Yin and Yang:
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Role of Sales
Today.
Revenue.
Listen, then improvise.
Build relationships.
Add—
• Team Play
Role of Marketing
• Tomorrow.
• Growth
• Listen, then synthesize.
• Build profits.
Add—
• Feed Sales
Building blocks of Yin and Yang
Hiring for each role
Putting the right people in each role
Sales people and marketing people are wired
differently . . .
. . . but you want it that way—their tasks and
contributions are different.
Implications for hiring—Sales People
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Confident. Self-motivated. Wants to produce results.
Bias for action—”Ready, fire, aim.”
Relationship focused. Listens. In the present moment.
Positive outlook. High likeability. Sociable.
Strong service orientation.
Hungry. Determined. Persistent.
Instinctive. A simple, pragmatic approach.
Implications for hiring—Marketing People
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Optimistic. Self-assured. Wants to challenge the market.
Strong growth orientation.
Conceptual thinker. At ease with complexity & ambiguity.
Good communicator. Can simplify & clarify ideas.
Curious. Analytical. An eagerness to engage problems.
Creative. Brings new ideas & solutions.
Organized. Persuasive. Diplomatic. Persona of a leader.
Implications for hiring
Add one to the list of sales qualifications:
• Team Player
Add one to the list of marketing qualifications:
• Customer contact experience
Involve both sides in the hiring process.
Building blocks of Yin and Yang
Promote Mutual Respect
The dynamic equilibrium of Yin and Yang
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By focusing on the bigger picture
By recognizing everyone’s contributions
By helping each understand how the other is wired
By helping each deliver value to the other
By reinforcing teamwork
The company can move from Either/Or to Yin and Yang
Promoting mutual respect & appreciation:
Where Marketing provides value in the view of Sales:
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Generating high-quality leads
Providing effective selling tools
Incubating prospects while they “ripen”
Bringing new products and service improvements
Preparing analyses of market trends and competition
Promoting mutual respect & appreciation:
Where Sales provides value in the view of Marketing:
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Carrying the message to the far corners of the marketplace
Moving customers through any desired change
Managing & growing customer relationships
Gaining distribution for new products
Collecting feedback from the channel
Collecting competitive information
Building blocks of Yin and Yang
Formalize Interdependence
Opportunities for interdependence:
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Team selling (customers actually prefer it)
Key account management
New product development & introductions
New Business Development
Planning and executing price changes
Responding to competitive threats
Improving the lead generation and qualification process
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Building blocks of Yin and Yang
Measure Differently
Measure for the role, and for Yin and Yang:
Sales should still be measured on
• Today / Revenue / Building customer relationships
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• Team selling—getting the rest of the company involved
Marketing should still be measured on
• Tomorrow / Share growth / Profitability / Strategy
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• Lead generation / Selling tools / Contact with customers
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Building blocks of Yin and Yang
Lead Differently
Role clarity for leaders of Sales & Marketing:
• Promote mutual understanding & appreciation
• Formalize more interaction and mutual dependency
• Coach Sales leaders for more “tomorrow” and strategy:
vision and a plan for improving sales effectiveness
• Coach Marketing leaders to deliver value to Sales “today”
and have more direct touch with customers
• Joint responsibility for New Business Development
• Model Yin and Yang vs. Either/Or
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Access points for change:
Given how marketing people are wired, explain
• Sales is a component of the chain between your idea and
the consumer. In effect, they are another audience.
Given how sales people are wired, they will accept help
• When they are behind quota
• When their customer is mad
• Generating new leads and incubating slow prospects
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Moving forward:
Encouragement for those
beginning the journey
Thank you!
Don Drews
708.528.0925
[email protected]
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