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 CUSTOMER FOCUS
 Introduction
Those readers who have been following this series will recall that the
underpinning ‘Star Model’ is as follows (for those interested
in research into the Star Model please go to www.tls360.com/research).
Star Performing Team Model
Broadly speaking the top half of the model maps the ‘hard’
or ‘performance’ factors necessary in teams whereas the bottom
half of the model is more concerned with the ‘people’ factors.
The fourth Factor in the Star Model is now introduced.
Background
This is the second article in a three part series on ‘Customer
Focus’.
As we were developing this series of three articles on ‘Customer
Focus’ it was determined to consider the concept from a number of
perspectives. In the first article we took an organisation ‘intervention’
approach aimed at improving the client/team/organisation interface.
Co-incidentally since then we have had approaches from organisations
to improve the relationship between Sales and Marketing teams such that
there is a seamless customer/market experience.
Before summarising how an attempt to improve this Sales and marketing
team connection could work we have called upon a world renouned Author
and Consultant, Dr. James C. Makens in the Marketing/Sales field to give
us his perspective on this often seen Sales and Marketing interface problem.
Jim provides consulting and management seminars in Sales Planning, Strategy,
Marketing and Corporate Strategy. He has worked with over 150 clients
in many countries. Jim also served in the Breakfree program sponsored
by The Royal Bank of Scotland. He is the author of eleven books and has
four university degrees, including the Ph.D.
 “Put Sales in Marketing”
Marketing plans that exclude sales are like chicken soup without the
chicken. Inexplicably, we have seen an evolution of marketing departments
and marketing managers with no interest in or interactions with sales.
In far too many cases there is open hostility between marketing and sales.
At best, this state of affairs is ludicrous; at worst it is an open invitation
for competition. There is little reason to wonder at the success of those
foreign and domestic companies that continue to steal market share from
those that remain oblivious to the fact that bread and butter belong on
the same table.
An Umbrella
Think of marketing as an umbrella. The top consists of marketing planning
and control. This is the section that protects the user from the elements.
The spokes of the umbrella represent parts of the marketing mix, such
as advertising, publicity, marketing research and sales promotion. Break
one of the spokes and the umbrella will tilt to one side. It won’t
work as it should and will probably allow water to drop down one’s
back. It won’t work well – but it will continue to function.
The stem represents sales and distribution. Break that part of the umbrella
and there are only two choices: fix it or throw it away.
Sales/distribution is the steam of marketing in any company. Consumer
or industrial, service or product – the type of company makes no
difference. Ignore sales/distribution and disaster won’t be far
behind.
Enormous advertising budgets won’t replace sales/distribution.
A few years ago, a U.S. company felt it had developed a product that could
compete in the U.S. with Gatorade. Unfortunately, the new guy on the block
lacked a sufficient sales/distribution system. The product was introduced
with heavy newspaper advertising in markets where many stores didn’t
have it in stock. The strategy was to “pull” the product into
and through retail stores. Consumers were supposed to enter their favorite
store and demand the product, which the grocer would then be obliged to
stock and display. Something went wrong. Consumers read the ads and even
asked their friendly grocers for the product. Since the grocers weren’t
carrying it, they saved the sale by directing consumers to -- you guessed
it!
Am I knocking the power of advertising? No. I’ve seen its strength.
However, that power works best when it supports and enhances a solid sales/distribution
program.
TOP 
Misnamed Marketing Planning
Marketing planning in some companies consists primarily of analyzing
trends. That’s important, but it isn’t marketing. It’s
simply part of the marketing pie.
Far too often, marketing planners speak with a vocabulary that the sales
department finds unintelligible. Multi-variate analysis, R2, cognitive
dissonance and linear programming are not daily expressions of the sales
force. Failure to communicate can result in more than frustration. At
times it leads to lost opportunities in the marketplace.
The sales manager of an industrial company related how his department
had looked forward to getting customer demographics from the marketing
planning department. When the information arrived the sales manager was
dismayed. It was of little practical use in directing members of the sales
force toward target prospects. Demographic characteristics of prospect
firms were described in terms such as net worth and current ratio. “How
do they expect my sales force to determine potential customers from that
kind of information? Maybe the best prospect does have a certain net worth
or current ratio, but I wouldn’t have time to search for such data
in a library even if I knew where to look.”
Sales Plans from Marketing Plans
Sales plans should be extensions of the marketing plan. They are not
appendages that sometimes fit. Marketing objectives cannot be reached
without sales. Sales objectives cannot objectively be determined unless
they support marketing objectives. The sum total of sales force activity
in all regions, territories and areas must equal annual marketing objectives.
In far too many companies, marketing and sales objectives are created
independently and coordinated only by accident.
Simple mathematics remains the rule. Twelve months or 52 weeks of selling
equals a year. Sales results come in day by day. The sum of all sales
equals the total of the salespeople’s daily results. In the absence
of a sales plan, 12 months won’t equal a year. Planning and control
are essential to ensure that the results of each sales day lead to desired
weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual objectives.
Unfortunately, these ABC’s of marketing and sales success are too
often overlooked. A building products company complained that the industry
was losing market share. When asked about the frequency of sales meetings,
the spokesman replied that one per year was felt to be sufficient. “Our
sales force consists of commissioned salespeople, so we feel that a social
gathering once a year is all we can ask.” Upon further inquiry it
was revealed that there was little or no system of control. If the salesperson
had problems he or she called the office. Otherwise communication between
the office and the sales force was random and conducted on a need-to-know
basis.
Working with independent, commissioned representatives presents different
challenges than does the use of a salaried sales force. It doesn’t
change the basics. Sales reps require sales objectives and marketing assistance.
Controls must still be employed to ensure that 52 weeks of selling effort
equal the annual marketing objectives.
Professional sales reps will respond to a well-developed marketing program.
Companies that offer informative and helpful sales meetings and seminars
find that reps will attend at their own expense. If sales meetings are
poorly planned and do not offer promotional enrichment in product knowledge
or sales skills, don’t blame the reps if they find other uses for
their time.
Rename the Sales Department?
So what’s the solution – to rename sales as marketing? That
approach has been tried by more firms than I can count. Call a mountain
a lake and see how many fish you catch.
Marketing is more than sales, and yet it is no greater than last week’s
sales results. Profits result from earnings. Earnings result from sales
and sales are the result of planned and coordinated marketing. Professional
management requires marketing objectives for each product line. Each objective
must be achieved with strategies. In turn, the support areas require such
objectives.
Advertising, sales promotion, marketing research, public relations and
all other parts of the marketing mix require objectives. If these areas
of the marketing mix fail to support product line objectives, start over.
Burn the midnight oil but make them fit; coordinate their timing so they
support sales; coordinate them so they support product line objectives.
TOP
What are Marketing Objectives?
Marketing success depends upon the establishment of objectives. Unfortunately,
slogans are often substituted for objectives:
“To Be the Best”
“To Treat Our Customers as Kings”
“To Maintain a Leadership Role”
All of the above statements are slogans. They are not objectives. A solid
marketing objective will be determined by three and sometimes four criteria.
A marketing objective must be:
- Time Specific. Normally a marketing plan is written
for a calendar or fiscal year. The annual objective should be broken
down into quarterly, monthly, weekly and even daily objectives.
- Quantity Specific. Expected sales must be quantified
in actual numbers of items such as cases, dozens or tons. It is also
necessary to specify expected dollar value. During inflationary periods,
it is always a mistake to specify objectives solely in dollar amounts.
- Bottom Line Specific. The expected sales volume will
be reached at a return of “X” or a loss not to exceed “X”.
Market development sometimes requires a loss for the first few periods.
The acceptable loss must be specified just as the desired gain must
be described.
- Market Share Specific. Large companies are normally
interested in market share. A market share of one percent within certain
industries can amount to sales of $250 million or more. A word of warning:
dependence upon market share objectives – without the control
of strict profit or loss and time objectives – has led more than
one follower to the corporate graveyard.
Marketing objectives must be established for brands and product lines.
They must also be established by geographical region.
Sales objectives and sales quotas emerge from marketing objectives. If
the sum of sales quotas for region, division and individual salesperson
does not equal marketing objectives, then the entire process is out of
alignment. If advertising, sales promotion and public relations objectives
don’t support marketing objectives, these activities are of questionable
value and probably reflect internal power struggles rather than a solid
marriage between sales and marketing.
Send rugby players onto the field without training and someone will be
hurt. Send salespeople into the field without objectives and marketing
support and the company will suffer.
Marketing includes sales. It always has. Separate them and corporate
empire building and game playing will ensure that sales objectives and
marketing activity come from different planets. Separate them and you’ll
have butter but no bread.
 Jim may be reached
at jim.makens@mba.wfu.edu or in the U.S. at 970-875-1342
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Inter Team Development
Over the years at least on a dozen occasions TLS’s client organisations
have recognized the need to improve the Sales/Marketing team interface
such that it is coordinated and integrated together, and with the needs
of its market and customers. A really useful process is to have a joint
meeting (ideally facilitated) and to cover the following sequence:
- Start with clarifying the separate functions of each team.
- Each team to create flip-charted key points about the other team i.e.
What things they would like the other team to do more of or do better.
- What things they would like the other team to do less or stop doing.
- What things they would like the other team to begin to do that they
don’t do now.
- What things the other team currently does which you would like them
to continue.
- The teams share these lists and begin to discuss how their co-operation
can be improved.
- Then appeal to an overall joint team concept and Team Charter.
- Use Action Learning Activities to reinforce inter-team co-operation
A simple one day agenda was used as follows only this week with a Sales
and Marketing team in an FMCG organisation:
Overall Purpose
Review our important team interactions, and agree the way we should work
together, to move us forward as an even higher performing organisation.
Course Objectives
- Spend some ‘out of office’ time together.
- Develop a common purpose statement.
- Develop a strategy to best work together.
- Review and reset our current meetings.
- Have some fun as a team through experiential learning exercises.
For further information on inter-team workshops contact TLS at paul@tls360.com or Ph +64 9 836 5317 to speak to one of our team.
Next Issue
The next article in the series, also by Jim Makens, will take an organisation/market
perspective to encourage team’s to make sure that they are appropriately
targeting the right market segments in their quest for Star Performance.
Some key Marketing planning tips will be presented.
TOP
Dr Paul Robinson
Managing Director
Team Leadership Services
P.O. Box 21-194, Henderson, Waitakere 0650, New Zealand
Tel: +64-9-836-5317 Fax +64-9-836-5318
email: paul@tls360.com
Website: www.tls360.com
© 2005 Team Leadership Services
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