In your startup should you combine the roles of Sales and Marketing Managers?
There is a common misconception that these are similar roles and can be done by the same person. But that isn't necessarily true.
In my view these are two organisational ingredients that should be kept firmly apart. Sales & Marketing are two very different business functions and it's unlikely that a single individual will be able to do both roles effectively.
To some degree the roles also conflict because one is firmly about the customer seeing the value you're creating, and the other is about the purchase transaction - the nuts and bolts of doing the deal. Both are critical but it makes it challenging for a single person to wear both hats. I do get that when you're in start-up mode, having two people instead of one is more expense - but as quickly as you can you should separate these two critical areas.
Why is this?
Think of a restaurant. You're at a fine dining establishment with your better half for a special occasion. The restaurant is beautifully decorated with low lighting and a gorgeous ambiance. The maître d takes your coats and leads you into the restaurant. Your table has crisp white linen, seating is comfortable, fresh flowers on the table. The menu is richly printed, the food presentation is amazing and the server attends to your every need. You feel very special. And it's expensive. That's the job of Marketing - to set the scene, so the customer appreciates the value of the experience and is happy to pay for it. The server is the salesperson - explaining the menu, being attentive, selling up and ultimately focussed on the transaction.
If Marketing had created a restaurant that dropped your coat on the floor, had a stained table cloth, three legged chairs, cold tasteless food, dirty cutlery and kept you waiting for half an hour before taking your order, then Sales are going to have a tough time selling the 'experience'.
Your Marketing Manager should focus on the excellence of the customer experience, and set the scene accordingly. Their job is to get the customer in through the front door. Your Sales Manager will concentrate on how to engage with the customer once they're there and getting them to transact with you. If Marketing have done their job, Sales will just take the order and collect the money. And I'd rather have order takers any-day.
In the Vicar of Dibley, Mrs. Cropley created food that challenged the palate; things that just shouldn't be joined together - like chocolate and tarasalamata (sic), or lard and fish paste, pancakes with a hint of liver, or snails in her bread and butter pudding surprise.
You just don't want that kind of surprise on your special occasion. Keep experience and engagement separate.
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