By Do Qui Minh
Marketing and sales teams are both essential to the operation of a company. Although both teams has the same goal to enhance the revenue of the company, when they have to work together, they don’t always get along. In the case when the revenue go down, marketing blames the sales force for not having sufficient efforts. The sales team, in turn, complains that marketing sets prices too high and not doing any practical thing, or not even realize what is actually going on with customers. Marketing believes the sales force focuses too much on individual customers rather than big picture of the larger market.
When both teams are equally important, finding a way to enhance the collaboration between the two teams is essential.
One of the solution is to let the two team understand the role of the other, and that the function of the two team is to support each other rather than competition. This should be through communication with both teams. Marketing focuses on customer behavior of the whole market, branding to raise awareness for the initial sales potentials. They try to determine the preferential products and services, the right features and price. Sales can help marketing to identify the actual needs of the customers, which may not be reflected through market research.
Clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of the both teams is the first step to solve the conflict.
The second solution is about communication. It is essential to keep sales in the loop of a marketing plan, and vice versa. Organize regular meetings to discuss mutual opportunities and issues. Disciplined processes and guidelines should be used to operate
The third solution is about KPI. Although the two team shares the same goals to improve revenue, their KPI are usually different. In order to measure the effectiveness or productivity of the two teams, there can be mutual factors in the measuring of the two
Success of a company relies both on the contribution of marketing and sales team. The Improving the collaboration, reducing conflict between the two teams needs to be carefully considered by the managers and leaders.
