What happens to the sales team when you add a marketer to the mix?  No, there’s no witty punchline.  We are working with a company right now with an existing sales team but no one in a marketing position. The sales team is comprised of some seasoned veterans, people new to the company with industry experience, and some fresh, eager faces.  They’re all doing their best but they need some marketing support.  Our client is concerned that a marketer will come into the group and try to re-do everything they’ve built.  We’ve all met those marketers who want to control the brand and messaging to such an extent that they choke out the enthusiasm of salespeople.  So, what’s the balance?

First, I want to share my opinion of sales or business development professionals.  Without question, your sales team should have the opportunity to be the best paid people in your company.  These people make products come to life for customers.  They represent the company with current and potential customers.  They need to reflect your brand and the reputation you want to have in your marketplace.

Unlike most departments in a company, salespeople generate revenue, so they need to be treated differently.  No business can survive without customers so the people who find and nurture relationships with customers need attention and respect.  Yes, they’re often very different personalities but that’s what makes them successful.  They are the conduit to customer insights and feedback and that is something that everyone in the organization needs to do their jobs better.

Many of our clients start developing a sales or business development team before they have a marketer.  We don’t see this as good or bad – most companies evolve as they find people that fit their culture and we all know how hard it is to find great people these days.  The real challenge comes in how to create a marketing function that can support an existing sales team so they can both thrive and add value.  Here are some considerations we make with our clients:

Think Long-Term

Inevitably, sales or business development teams will change.  The biggest mistake we see is companies building both sales and marketing functions around one or two key people.  As you make changes, think about how you would like this team to perform and operate 5 or even 10 years from now.  Create tools, processes and systems that can be used regardless of who is in the role or how many people are involved.  If you want to have 10 salespeople and a network of dealers, when you build your website, consider how the site could support those people in selling your products in the future.  Small investments early on can pay off with the ability to add people to the mix with little runway required.

Set the Tone

When you add a marketer to the sales team, make sure everyone is prepared for the development of a team atmosphere.  The investment of time and energy here will be one of the best that you can make in your organization.  One company I worked with had an elaborate system of creating social media posts that did not include the sales team because the first salesperson didn’t want to learn how to use the camera on his phone or upload photos to a shared cloud drive.  The system was inefficient and ineffective, wasting time and money for everyone else on the team causing resentment and conflict.  Shut down power struggles immediately – one function should not have ‘control’ (real or perceived) over the other function.  At some point, everyone has to be rowing in the same direction so they’re working together to solve their problems.  Marketing and sales have to be a team right from the start and managers/owners set that tone.

Respect the Roles

Both marketing and sales have a role to play in revenue generation.  Sales teams need marketing to find new ideas, support sales efforts and convey customer understanding to the rest of the organization.  Marketing needs sales to identify opportunities, share market and customer insights, and carry brand and demand messages to the marketplace.  These two functions can often operate as silos without mutual respect and cooperation.  Finding the right people is a big part of this equation. Having meetings together, sharing resources like market intelligence, planning together or requiring spending time working together are all ways companies can break down the silos between sales and marketing for more productivity and less conflict.

For our client, we are building a marketing plan that involves gathering information from the sales team.  Our recommendations for who to hire as a marketer will include a job description that connects this person’s work to sales regularly.  We will probably include some interview questions and problem-solving exercises for the recruitment process that will reveal the person’s experience working with salespeople instead of working in isolation.  Most small companies can’t afford to lose great people or to have conflict destroy teams.  Investing in developing a team atmosphere, mutual respect and common goals can go a long way to making sales and marketing a finely tuned revenue generating machine.