In some companies,
sales and marketing operate separately.
They compete over resources.
They don’t communicate the same
company or product branding.
Which is unfortunate
because
a study by Aberdeen Group
reveals that 88 percent of the best companies
have implemented strategies
that align sales and marketing.
In a large beverage company
I worked in,
the salespeople would be responsible for customers
but they would also be responsible for products.
The marketing folks would lead
these cross-functional product teams
with EVERY department represented
(including human resources, finance, IT, etc).
The department representative
would report back to their department.
This aligned the entire company
and it also trained employees
to more easily move between departments
and to possibly lead the entire company.
When an entire company is aligned,
that’s a VERY powerful force.