Recognise the difference between marketing and sales.

Most companies operating in the business-to-business (B2B) space have difficulty in connecting their marketing and sales functions. They find that teams often work in silos, each viewing the other as completely separate disciplines. This causes cultural problems and reduces effectiveness. Despite being a B2B business model, I find agencies have the opposite issue. They refuse to see the difference in marketing and sales. They usually choose to lump them together under a banner “new business” or “business development”. To be a STANDOUT agency you need to recognise the difference – and the value – of both marketing and sales. I recommend you separate them as functions to give each more focus. Marketing is about attracting the right type of prospects. Sales is about converting those prospects into clients. I’m not advocating silos here. I recommend sitting the responsibility for both functions under one person and keeping them aligned and working together. But holding a separate marketing meeting and a separate sales meeting is a must. Don’t let it fall under a catch all “new biz” meeting. Spend time talking about what you are doing from a marketing perspective. Is it hitting the numbers you want? Is it effective? Is it delivering leads? Then spend time talking about prospects and your pipeline. Have you qualified correctly? Are you nurturing the leads effectively? What is the value of your weighted pipeline?