By Colleen Stanley
The word misalign is defined as "positioning or arranging something improperly in relation to something else." That sounds like too many sales and marketing departments in corporate America. Even though the two departments share the same corporate office, the approach to engaging prospects and clients is often disjointed. Here are six key areas of misalignment that cost companies lots of money each year:
- The marketing message doesn't match the client's need.
Sales managers need to ask the marketing department to join their sales teams on daily calls and meetings. Marketing surveys and focus groups are good for research, but meeting with prospects and clients at their place of business is better. "Ride-a-longs," as we call them in sales, are the best for identifying needs and gaps in a firm's service offering. It's the day-to-day interaction with prospects and clients that provide real-world data for identifying opportunities, challenges, and trends in the industry.
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