Don't Be Seen In Marketing's Bad Light

We are such quarrelsome siblings, Sales and Marketing.

Those snooty marketeers think all we do is rack up lavishly unjust expense accounts, shoot the breeze aimlessly with random strangers and wait for all orders via email.

Whereas we sellers cannot understand why our marketing chums spend all day on Facebook and playing with crayons when they should be bringing us career-defining, quota-busting leads (every day).

So you can imagine the ammo I thought I’d plundered upon when I heard the esteemed author of The Brand Book, Thomas Oosthuizen, quote some quite remarkable stats on CEO attitudes to their Marketing departments.

Talking to Maggs On Media, he stated that 76% of 600 global chief execs surveyed by a reputable London source were unhappy that their marketing efforts did not seemed aligned to their business goals.

Wow. Three-quarters of Marketing is broken. I can hear the “told-you-so” chorus loud and strong around Sales rooms the world over.

I’m not entirely sure to which data the good Dr Oosthuizen refers, but it could be this;

• 76% of CEOs feel marketing doesn’t have clear role in generating revenue
• 73% of CEOs claim CMOs lack business credibility and the ability to generate sufficient business growth
• 72% of CEOs are tired of being asked for money without explaining how it will generate increased business

Scathing. Times three.

In our water cooler ribbing of our colleagues, it reminds me of the oft-quoted Drucker wisdom I love to frequently throw out there;

the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous.

Ahem. Then I remembered the scores of Board meetings I’ve attended around the world from which I could say, anecdotally, something like;

76% of CEOs feel Sales doesn’t generate the right amount or type of revenue
73% of CEOs claim Sales leadership lacks business credibility and the ability to generate sufficient business growth, and
72% of CEOs are tired of being told by Sales that the product needs improving, the prices need chopping and next period will be a belter

Ouch. Times two and a half.

So the takeaways are obvious. What are you doing to categorically demonstrate that you are, in fact, part of the  24, 27 or 28 per cent?

In other words and for starters, how are your actions revealing your clarity for how you generate revenue? Lay bare your business credibility and growth plans? Or have a rock solid case should you be asking for more cash to work with?