Marketing & Sales: A Love Affair

The longest lasting love affair is the romantic relationship between marketing and sales. These two peas in a pod rely heavily on each other for results. Marketing creates the channels for sales to obtain leads and conversions. Whereas sales communicates statistics back to marketing, letting them know the needs and wants of the consumers in order to better market the services/products that align with their needs. Just like in any relationship, the two should serve and support each other, and as you’ll see marketing and sales do this through many facets.

It’s Not a Romantic “Fling”

It’s the real deal and requires commitment for the prosperity of a business. Marketing and sales will have their differences from time-to-time, but in all reality they need each other.  They are equal partners in a business and must find a way to serve each other. There may be bumps in the road, but what relationship does not experience a few bumps? We must all understand the roles and value of both in order to cultivate a successful relationship. Marketing is analytical and sales is interpersonal. Marketing focuses on the long-term goals and sales centers in on short-term results. The fun game of “push and pull” is often rehearsed in the marketing and sales relationship. Marketing loves to pull and sales prefer to push. The two actually work well in tandem with a unified focus on the most value to their customers.
 

A Relationship That’s Meant To Be

The combination of sales and marketing is vital for business success and growth. Through first impressions, daily interpersonal interactions, telephone calls, one-on-one meetings and networking, sales is the heartbeat of the business. Marketing in many ways captures the attention and possibly the heart of the audience through nourishing an ongoing or new relationship.
 
Just like with any romantic relationship, the process from dating to marriage is slow and steadfast. Marketing helps set up “dates” for sales to meet with prospective customers. It may take many “dates” in order to charm them, but it’s well worth cultivating.  Prospects usually move through the sales cycle from cold to warm to finally hot – where they’re ready to take the next serious big step to “close” and become a customer. The process of moving from cold to hot is signified by certain characteristics.
 

The Characteristics of Each Role

First and foremost, before we get into the nitty gritty details of each personality type I would like to emphasize that there are many types of unique traits harbored in the genes of each person. Overall, we respond similarly to certain cues from one another. For example, a “nagging” person can cause their significant other to shut down and ignore their messages. We can all relate to this sore fact when it comes to sales. We are all in the habit of filtering out “nagging-like” or “pushy” messages, and our warm heart may turn cold—risking the loss of a sale.
 
Marketing and sales must communicate and “have the talk” weekly to ensure the right messages are being presented to the customer— a unified and value-adding message. Mixed messages cause confusion and in the end no one is happy.
 
Here are the characteristics that fuel the love affair between marketing, sales, and their target:
 
Respectfully Persistent: Pursue them with respect and don’t lose heart, results will follow those who are persistent yet respectful. Cultivate a healthy relationship through a variety of creative messages through marketing and sales conversations over a period of time can build the foundation of a trusting and valuable connection between your business and your customers.
 
All Ears & Questions: Active listening is the number one thing that will make or break a relationship. If we don’t listen to each other then how will we know how to serve one another, and be successful in doing so? Ask many questions and keep your ears open to responses before sealing the deal. All parties will benefit.
 
Positive & Personal: High-energy, positive vibes are contagious. The moment anyone senses a negative vibe the less likely you are to nurture that relationship you are starting to build. There is so much value in being personal through making someone feel special. People love talking about themselves, because we are naturally selfish creatures and  want to know how a particular service/or product will benefit us. Results follow the magnetic pull of a positive and personal conversation or message.
 
Passionate & Flattering: Who doesn’t like charm? We can all be charming in our own unique way. The art of flattery mixed with the ingredient of passion will assist you in sealing the deal and keeping up with the relationship-at-hand.
 
Entertaining & Inspiring: We all love a good piece of entertainment. Through channels of entertainment, inspire your audience to take action and build trust throughout the marketing and sales process. Inspiration and entertainment can come in different forms from a short funny video story distributed on social media to an interactive “try it before you buy it” events around the country.
 
From first impressions to dating, dating to long-term relationships, long-term relationships to engagements, and engagements to marraige, marketing and sales will ensure the steady heartbeat of your business.  Here at Fahrenheit Marketing, we understand the courtship that takes place between a business and its customers. Let us help bond your passion (services/products) with new customers or clients.