Sales & Marketing Integration

How to formulate the optimum organization

Why Integrate Marketing & Sales?

Together, these two functions are almost ultimately responsible for the company’s top line revenue.

These two functions define the company’s relationship with it’s customers

Lack of understanding and respect frequently cause these two functions to be at odds resulting in loss of productivity and market confusion/dissatisfaction

Working together, sales and marketing can maximize the customer’s lifetime value for the company

Source: High Impact Sales Force – Harvard Business School May 22, 1998

Four Goals of a Successful Sales Force

Effective Sales Organization

Sell new customers or group of customers

Increase Customer Satisfaction &

Retention

Create Value & Differentiation

from the Competition

Short term oriented Responsible for sales volumesExecution oriented

Increase Account Penetration &

Profitability

Eight Goals of Marketing

Understand the Market & Competition

Effective Marketing Organization

Segment the Market

Integrate Learnings

Communicate with the Market

Build the Company’s Strategy

Generate Leads

Track Effectiveness

Design Products to Support the Strategy

Long & Short term oriented Responsible for Profit PlanningPlanning oriented

TacticalMarketing

StrategicMarketing

ProductMarketing

Sales & MarketingIntegration

How to Integrate Marketing & Sales

Sell your product/service to a new customers or

group of customers

• Design products/services to support the strategy

• Educate the Market• Generate leads• Track effectiveness

Create Value & Differentiation

from the Competition

• Understand the Market & Competition

• Segment the market• Build the Company’s

strategy

Increase Account Penetration & Profitability

• Design products/services to support the strategy

• Educate the Market• Generate leads• Track effectiveness

Increase Customer Satisfaction & Retention

• Track effectiveness• Integrate learnings

1.

3.4.

2.

Customize Your Marketing & Sales Organization

Any form of marketing and sales integration can be appropriate given the factors effecting your business

The task is to figure out what is the right goals for your marketing and sales organization

Create Solutions

Define the Market &Create Demand

Take Orders

SalesSupport

Role of Role of MarketingMarketing

Role of SalesRole of Sales

2.

1.

3.4.

1. 2.

2.2. 3.

Factors Affecting Sales & Marketing

Size of the Market

Life stage of the Offering

Strength of the Brand

Cost of Offering

Competitive Landscape

Inherent Demand for the Offering

Product Complexity

Lifespan of the Offering

Type and number of Distribution Channels

Importance of Post-Sales Support

Margin

Small Large

Monopoly Crowded

Bought Sold

Low High

Unknown Premier

Small Expense

Capital Expenditure

New Commodity

Consumable Durable

One Multiple

Low High

Low High

Integration to Maximize Your Return on Marketing & Sales

Create Solutions

Define the Market &Create Demand

Take Orders

SalesSupport

Role of Role of MarketingMarketing

Role of Role of SalesSales

McDonalds

iPod

Old IBM

New Pitney Bowes

Old Pitney Bowes

Old EMC

Insurance Co’s

New EMC

What Causes a Shift in the Roles?

From large unsegmented markets to top tier industry verticals

From commodity product (postage meters) to new product (end-to-end mail solution)

From well known brand for postage meters to unknown brand for mail solutions

From monopoly-like position in postage meters to crowded and undifferentiated market

From easily bought and understood product to a complex service that needs to be sold

From individual face-to-face sales specialist to team of sales specialists

From little need for post-sales support (maintenance only) to continuous post-sales specialist support

From limited number of high end products to multiple products at different price points

From premier well-received brand to a brand thought to be overvalued (too big for their breeches)

From monopoly-like position to crowded marketplace

From a product bought as the industry leader to needing to be sold as a result of reduced IT budgets and over-saturated market

From high margin to low margin From captive high end sales force to

multiple distribution points (through distributors)

Pitney Bowes EMC

Four Potential Sales Organizations Internal and External Sales Generalists Teams of Specialists Market segmentation

Industry Size of client

Three Potential Marketing Organizations Product Focused Market Focused Functionally Focused

Source: Aspects of Marketing Organization: An Introduction – Harvard Business School October 1989