Customer Acquisition Is it a sales or marketing task
Since 2009, we have seen a dramatic decrease in sales performance due to
our economic crisis. Many companies have cut their costs including
R&D and marketing budgets to the bone. And contrary to past
predictions, sales figures are not returning to pre-crisis level as
quickly as anticipated. All the while in every industry, a thinner and
over-worked sales force has been trying to make miracles happen. The
results, as we have seen in the past three years, have been less than
rewarding.
But who is really in charge of customer-acquisition: Marketing or sales professionals? The answer: Both are. Marketing and sales work in tandem, and they need each other support in order to be successful. If your sales force is deprived of marketing dollars and up-to-date tools, it is difficult to predict whether they will be able to perform as well as expected. Conversely, if your marketing department lacks the help provided by a passionate sales team, it will be much more challenging for them to plan and execute successful initiatives.
But who is really in charge of customer-acquisition: Marketing or sales professionals? The answer: Both are. Marketing and sales work in tandem, and they need each other support in order to be successful. If your sales force is deprived of marketing dollars and up-to-date tools, it is difficult to predict whether they will be able to perform as well as expected. Conversely, if your marketing department lacks the help provided by a passionate sales team, it will be much more challenging for them to plan and execute successful initiatives.
Although it is understandable that companies probably need to trim
budgets in order to better navigate our current economic crisis, I would
strongly caution against cutting mission-critical budgets (such as
R&D, marketing, and sales). Without tightly connected teams
communicating customer reactions to R&D, who in turn share key
product features with marketing, a company can quickly lose its
competitive advantage and become stale. Smart and strategic companies
know that in order to be able to thrive in hard economic times, you need
to provide your team with the resources and staffing they require.
But there is another side to the coin: If marketing and development are depleted of funds and are overstretched with administrative work, there is a strong likelihood that all strategic information found by the sales professionals working in the trenches will be archived in a henever we get to it folder, and eventually forgotten. The issue here is one of time and motivation; when professionals become overwhelmed and overworked, they become less productive. For example, marketing folks begin recycling old campaigns and materials to save money, without cross-referencing them with fresh information and data to ensure timeliness. The result is predictable: The organization ends up marketing old ideas in a market dominated by consumers whose tastes and expectations may have changed in the intervening years. Sales drop. Budgets are slashed even further. It is a difficult cycle to escape from.
But there is another side to the coin: If marketing and development are depleted of funds and are overstretched with administrative work, there is a strong likelihood that all strategic information found by the sales professionals working in the trenches will be archived in a henever we get to it folder, and eventually forgotten. The issue here is one of time and motivation; when professionals become overwhelmed and overworked, they become less productive. For example, marketing folks begin recycling old campaigns and materials to save money, without cross-referencing them with fresh information and data to ensure timeliness. The result is predictable: The organization ends up marketing old ideas in a market dominated by consumers whose tastes and expectations may have changed in the intervening years. Sales drop. Budgets are slashed even further. It is a difficult cycle to escape from.
