Leveraging The Sales And Marketing Matrix

Many companies have salespeople running all over the country while the right hand (sales) does not know what the left hand (marketing) is doing. Marketing usually operates in one area, sales in another, and never the twain shall meet. The two never talk to each other. They are not in sync. They are not aligned. When that occurs in a crowded marketplace, your sales will flounder. The sales staff has to carry the marketing banner. There has to be consistency. When the two are aligned, the resulting consistency always produces improved sales. As a survey conducted by Learning International revealed, alignment is a real challenge for sales managers to address.

Any sales or marketing strategy can be either focused or diffused. The key to alignment is for sales and marketing to both work from the same focused strategy. Success cannot be expected if a misalignment occurs between two departments with ineffective, diffused strategies. Here are the distinctions between focused and diffused strategies:

FOCUSED STRATEGY

• Clearly defined
• Well-known
• Accepted

DIFFUSED STRATEGY

• Unclear
• Unknown
• Not accepted

Of course, any strategy has to be customer-focused to succeed, but it also must be plainly identifiable and be complete with training mechanisms for your staff.

Identifying a successful, clearly-defined sales strategy will naturally be of no use if it is not known, or accepted by your sales force. Once you train your entire sales force, then your strategy will have the second element of being well-known.

An important third element is that your sales staff also accepts the plan you use. That means you need to be able to demonstrate the successes of you system so your salespeople will be convinced of its value. Once your staff accepts the system, you will have all three elements of a focused sales strategy.

The Strategy Alignment Matrix

The possible strategies a company’s marketing and sales departments may employ can be depicted in four ways. First, both the marketing and sales strategies can be focused. Clearly, this is the most effective combination. It is also possible for either one to be focused while the other one diffused. Finally, the worst case scenario, both strategies can be diffused.

Here is a matrix that graphically illustrates the four possible combinations of marketing and sales strategies:

On the left side of the Strategy Matrix chart you see the two possible sales strategies. Then, across the top of the chart, we have placed the two possible marketing strategies. The intersections of each heading in the matrix correspond to the predicted outcome of using one of the four possible combinations. We will now individually examine each of these four possibilities, providing anecdotes to illustrate each situation.

Diffused Marketing And
Diffused Sales Strategy
Result: Failure

Box number one shows that if neither your company’s marketing strategy nor its  sales strategy are clearly defined, well-known and accepted both inside and outside of your organization, then your company is DOOMED to failure. Your company will disappear in the crowded marketplaces of the 21st.

Finding companies to study where marketing and sales are both diffused is difficult because they don’t last long. We won’t bother including examples of that lose-lose combination. If you want to read about some on your own, check your local courthouse for the latest Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings.

Focused Marketing Strategy And
Diffused Sales Strategy
Result: Conflict And Low Sales

In greater abundance are companies where their marketing strategy is focused while their sales strategy is diffused. The most notable characteristics of this common situation are internal, corporate conflict and low sales. They may plod along for years, but their misalignment will ensure they never prosper.

In these companies, marketing has done a terrific job of identifying prospects and may well have developed strategies that bring customers through the door in droves. Their problem, which they usually cannot understand, is why sales are not being closed. Internal corporate conflict develops and relations between sales and marketing rapidly deteriorate to finger-pointing and accusations.

The well-focused marketing department in one of these companies usually believes they are saddled with the worst sales department in the world. While it may appear that way from their side of the fence because the right customers are being reached, the real problem lies with upper management. They have not ensured that both strategies are aligned.

Diffused Marketing Strategy And
Focused Sales Strategy
Result: Marginal Success

Let’s examine box number two on the grid and describe another type of company that floods the ranks of the bottom 80 percent group, and as such merely gets by.

When marketing and sales are out of alignment in this direction, we always find marginal success and marginal profits at best, but little or no growth. A company in this category may stay in business for years and be a well-known brand name because they will usually maintain moderate success. Still, their lack of alignment will never allow them to enter the top 20 percent.

The obvious question, “Why do these companies survive better than when the misalignment is in the other direction?” That question has a simple answer: good salespeople can sell anything! When you turn a good sales staff loose with a good product and good product training, they will make sales. Salespeople who are well-trained can make things happen.

Companies that rely on the natural instincts and capabilities of its sales people will experience limited success, but continually fall short of their long-range goals. Eventually customers tire of pushy sales pitches. Or worse, one of those customer-focused, “top 20 percenters” arrives on the scene.

Focused Marketing Strategy And
Focused Sales Strategy
Result: Long-Range Success

This is the master key to long-range success in the crowded marketplaces of the 21st Century and beyond. Your marketing strategy and sales strategy need to be developed in tandem from the ground up, with both focused squarely on the needs of your prospective customers.

Your sales strategy has to be linked with marketing to leverage the advantages and opportunities that develop as a result of the advertising of your products or services. Linkage will be difficult unless the two strategies are developed concurrently.

A final step to this process is an outstanding, unquestionable service record. If your marketing promises a great experience, and the salesperson delivers it, likewise, a truly customer-focused service department must also be in place.

Here’s a truism you can bank on: price alone is rarely a key factor in buying decisions. Instead, the key factor in any buying decision is the perceived value to be gained by the buyer. Perceived value is why companies with the highest priced products and services in many industries often garner most of the market.

We continually see lower-priced competitors scratching their collective heads in amazement at how they are continually beaten, though they offer the same product at a lower price. People rarely buy products; they buy value and most are willing to pay a fair price for the value they receive.

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