Why is There So Much Conflict Between Sales and Marketing?

by Feyzi Fatehi

Earlier this year I spoke at an event entitled "The Secrets to Successful Technology Sales" for the Southern California Technology Council. During the Q&A period following my presentation someone asked: "Why is there constant conflict between sales and marketing?"

By way of response I asked "What kind of MARKETING?"

Since that question shocked the participant, and seemed to puzzle many in the audience, I went on to explain that one of the most common misnomers in many corporations is the generic use of the word "marketing."

From my perspective, there are at least three distinct categories of activities, skills and functions that make up the broad term of marketing:

1. Corporate Marketing
2. Product Marketing
3. Field Marketing

Corporate Marketing is responsible for corporate branding, communications, advertising, website and matters relating to the perception of the corporation rather than specific product lines in the marketplace. Monitoring major trends in the marketplace and maintaining good relationships with top industry and financial analysts and key media players are also among the responsibilities of this role. This function requires the efforts of an individual who has a broad view of the company, the market and the industry and the position is often filled by the CEOs in start-ups and by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for larger corporations.

Product Marketing is focused on the basic 4 P's of marketing: product, price, promotion and place (distribution channels) as they relate to a specific product or product line. Product positioning, market segmentation, competitive analysis and pricing tasks belong to this team. The inbound part of this function that is more technical and works closest with the developers of product lines - especially during new product development - is often called product management. This function is typically handled by the VP of Marketing who has the required analytical skills, marketing training and education.

Field Marketing executes the outbound programs defined by product marketing. These include PR, lead generation programs, trade shows, e-marketing, direct mail, product brochures, channel marketing and industry-focused programs. This function requires operational excellence and multi-tasking managerial skills and typically reports to the VP of Marketing. However, due to its close tie to sales, it is not uncommon to see a dotted line or dual reporting to sales management.

Given these 3 distinct categories, any conflicts between "sales" and "marketing" can be best resolved by identifying and addressing the root cause of the conflict:

• Are the sales people frustrated with the over all branding of the corporation?
• Do they disagree with the positioning of the product or the pricing which inhibits their ability to sell effectively?
• Are they simply not happy with the effectiveness of the lead generation programs?

The answers to the above questions as well as others, will lead you to constructively begin to engage with the Corporate Marketing, Product Marketing or Field Marketing functions respectively. Your clear understanding and delineation of these functions will translate into the development of more effective position plans, better targeted hiring and efficient organizational reporting structures which will lead to an enhanced bottom line.

In the future we will address an equally pervasive misnomer surrounding the use of the term "sales."

Feyzi Fatehi is a partner and board member of Cerius Consulting with more than 20 years of diverse experience in large and small, domestic and international corporations.

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