What came first, the chicken or the egg? Or what comes first sales or marketing? Both seem to be a hot ticket debate just waiting to happen. However, there is no reason it has to be this way because realistically the two should be working together for optimal company growth and success. With all the fuss surrounding this, let’s start with what marketing is.  

In order to understand what marketing is, you must first think about what you do to get leads. Most sales professionals automatically think of things like cold calls, referrals, and lunch and learn. These are things salespeople are used to doing themselves so it’s only natural to have those items come to the forefront of their minds. What about all the other funnels that leads are coming through? Items such as social media, newsletters, blogs, and even website are integral to receiving warm or hot leads. All of these things are done by the marketing team in order to get sales leads.  

Another way to think of sales and marketing is by drawing a mountain. The mountain has several peaks. At the very bottom are the items mentioned above. For example, email/newsletter sits at the bottom of the mountain. The next peak will be a webinar or resource guide. The peak after that begins the sales cycle, 1st appointment, and continues to build peak to peak. Discovery, presentation, and of course the close. So basically, without the marketing foundation, you can’t climb the sales mountain. However, this will also explain why it’s so important to be able to work together. 

What happens if you have a sales team of two, but your receiving 200 leads a day? Is it possible to call and connect with every single one? Probably not, in fact, you’re not just wasting time, you’re also wasting valuable leads. So internal strategy and communication are important to ensure sales get the leads they can handle. Did you know you have a much higher chance of closing a sale if you call the customer within 2 hours of receiving their lead? Ensuring marketing campaigns are within reason allows for far more closes to occur. Having said that, it brings you to active and latent needs. 

Most people you market to will not have a current (active) need for your products or services. In fact, only 21% of your leads will be from an active need. (Another reason why sales need to call the lead as soon as it comes in). That means 79% of leads, may need your services in the future, but not right now. This deals partially with brand awareness and just ensuring your customer base will remember you when they do find themselves in need they remember to look your company up. Basically, marketing generates the curiosity and sales makes the close. As long as the two coexist in some kind of symbiotic relationship, your business is only going to be more successful. So let’s try this again… what came first, the chicken or the egg?