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A Smarketing Fairy Tale

Posted by Cheri Gaudet on 8/29/11 11:00 AM

Feuds between sales and marketing are as old as fairy tales. Well, okay, maybe not that old. But it's well known that traditionally, sales and marketing haven't always been happy partners.

Each side thinks they're the princess - and the other guy is the frog.

If only they would kiss and make up, they'd see the royalty inherent in the other side.

A Smarketing Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Marketing. (Of course Marketing is the princess - MiM is a woman-owned marketing agency!) Marketing was not only beautiful, she was adept at matchmaking. If anyone needed anything, she knew a guy who could get it for them. If anyone wanted to do something for someone, she knew a girl who needed it done. She knew the value of relationships - how to build them and how to leverage them when the time is right. And because she was a progressive, modern woman, she knew that virtual relationships are just as important.

In this same kingdom lived a handsome prince named Sales. Sales also knew the value of relationships - how to deepen them and make them mutually beneficial.

One day, Princess Marketing knew a guy who needed something that Prince Sales could get for him. She struck up a conversation with the Prince, but by the time it was over, neither of them were sure it would work out.

"What a hag!" thought Prince Sales. "She's not connecting me with the right people! She isn't telling me what I need to know. She doesn't understand me at ALL!"

"What a frog!" thought Princess Marketing. "I give him phone numbers he doesn't call. I give him stacks of fancy brochures to give out, and he's never satisfied. He just wants to blame me for his lack of initiative. He doesn't understand me at ALL!"

Enter the Fairy Godparents

If any of this sounds familiar, your business needs an intervention. Sales and marketing need to work together to establish relationships - especially virtual relationships - in order to make money in the 21st century.

For example, LinkedIn for marketing is about finding prospects and getting found by prospects. LinkedIn for sales is about engaging people and closing sales. When sales and marketing work together on the same platform, marketing works to talk about the business, and sales works to talk about the prospect. There's a beautiful feedback loop - marketing talks, sales listens to the reaction and talks back to marketing, who reassesses the message.

Live Happily Ever After

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Topics: sales and marketing alignment, social media, internet marketing