In an increasingly crowded global marketplace, the competition for sales has become tighter with many sellers believing that aggressive sales and marketing strategies translate to higher revenues.
However, two management professors stress that while sales and marketing share a common aim, which is sustained revenue generation, they are two distinct activities that require different mindsets if they are to be effective.
Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Frank Cespedes, in an article for the Harvard Business Review in 2014, warned businesses about flawed sales and marketing designs.
He stated that many organizations fall into the trap of C-suite planning without thought for the people who must execute these plans: “Strategists, years removed from customer contact, often have an obsolete vision of the company-customer interface.”
Instead, his research reveals four steps to improve alignment between strategy and sales:
1. Continually improving sales productivity
2. Improving human performance
3. Communicating the strategy
4. Making the strategy relevant
The 7 Ps of Sales and Marketing
Meanwhile, Prof. Eduardo Morato, DPA, who chaired Ateneo de Manila University’s ACE Center for Entrepreneurship, broke down the concept of strategic sales and marketing into 7Ps:
- Positioning – Sales and marketing must both embed positioning in their main strategies to establish the unique selling points of their product.
- Product/Service – Businesses must ensure that the product is compatible with the market and meets its expectations of quality and value.
- Package – This refers to the right combination of service delivery, processes, and steps.
- Place – Products and services must be sold at the right location. This gets a bit trickier with the emergence of online platforms. Profitability, viability and attractiveness of each location must be clearly identified.
- Price – Sellers must find the price tolerance level of their market if they are to maximize profit.
- People – Businesses must ensure their employees are properly trained, motivated, and rewarded fairly.
- Promotions and Advertising – All promotional activities should deliver the desired sales objectives.
