In 2012, I was on a plane on my way to a large industry trade show. I spoke briefly to the man sitting next to me who turned out to be in sales for a competing company. When I told him I was a marketer, he said, “Oh, so do you put together the brochures and stuff like that.” I could feel myself getting upset with this man. Instead I calmly replied, “that is a very, very small part of what I do.”
Last time we reviewed the telltale signs when business marketing and sales departments don’t play nice. How do we fix a dysfunctional relationship that may be spinning out of control? Glad you asked. Since I’m in the business marketing function, that’s my point of view. Here are 6 ideas on how to repair a strained relationship:
One of the telltale signs that marketing and sales departments aren’t working well together is finger pointing. It’s the ugly blame game that can spiral down into a no-win situation. Marketing continues to come up with its own lead nurturing campaigns and sales continues to complain about the quality of the leads. Middle ground is sometimes hard to find. Here are some of the reasons why marketing and sales don’t see “eye to eye.”