Call me crazy, but I love tradeshows. Besides the enticing booth displays, the fanfare on the show floor and the constant buzz of excitement that fills the hall, I mostly enjoy witnessing and relishing in the newfound and rekindled camaraderie between exhibitor and attendee. In the sign and digital graphics industry, tradeshows are strangely akin to family reunions. If you’ve never been to one, you ought to go—if, for no other reason, than to experience the solidarity among fellow business owners who share common goals. The goals of carving themselves a special niche, of building and advancing their reputation in the marketplace and, hopefully, of selling something at a profit.

Therein lies this month’s conundrum. Too many businesses see no difference between sales and marketing when, in fact, they are about as similar as night and day. From time to time, I’ll meet an individual bearing the title of Vice President of Sales and Marketing; and when I inquire as to her responsibilities and the folks she manages, she tells me she works with a staff of outside sales people and customer-service reps... period. Nary a market analyst, product manager or corporate-communications specialist in the bunch. I imagine the marketing department is a one-woman band... and this VP is it.

Before any business can reap the full benefit of each of these vital functions, one must temporarily separate them, define what purpose each serves as a stand-alone entity, and then reunite them at a meeting of the minds so that their respective roles are not duplicated or unfulfilled. In organizations where the lines of responsibility, accountability and empowerment in the arenas of sales and marketing are clearly drawn, the business thrives, customers experience delight and many people become rich. Have I piqued your interest in this phenomenon? Let’s explore.

VIVA LE DIFFERENCE

In our industry, sales and marketing have evolved into a chicken-and-the-egg debate. While academic theorists contend that a business must engage in marketing before a sale can be made, the street-smart entrepreneur will argue “sell something first so that we can then afford to market.” Both are right... but both are also myopic.

Take a moment to study and absorb the chart on the facing page that compares and contrasts the worlds of sales versus marketing.

Is there any lingering doubt why sales and marketing professionals spend more time at odds with each other than in collaboration? When the sales and marketing departments do work in lockstep harmony, it is typically because marketing has developed an acute appreciation for the demanding and delicate work of the salesperson. In my experience, I’ve seen far more people transition successfully from sales into marketing positions than the reverse.

In the absence of frontline sales experience, often individuals with rigidly-structured training and education in marketing find it hard to relate to the art of selling. Somehow, the concept that “people buy from people who they like, trust, and with whom it is convenient to do business” does not compute in the marketer’s mind to market analysis, gross profitability goals and brand equity.

Before the sales veterans among this column’s readership get too pumped up with vindication, rest assured, the sales department is not faultless in this relationship. Far too few sales representatives invest the time or have the desire to learn and appreciate the vital role marketing plays in the success of a business.

Why do so many businesses abandon, under-resource, ignore or trivialize their marketing strategies? Maybe it’s because a comprehensive, up-to-date marketing plan containing all five fundamental components has never been developed or is not routinely referenced when day-to-day business decisions are made. Writing a modest yet meaningful marketing plan should not be a huge undertaking or rob a company of its resources. In fact, failure to have a marketing plan could cost a business more—in missed opportunities and sales attrition due to customer indifference—than it costs to develop one.

BUILD A SOUND PLAN

After reading and reviewing a fair number of marketing plans over the years, I’ve concluded—ironically perhaps—that the longer, more eloquently-written the document is, the less of an impact the plan will make in the overall scheme of things. A marketing plan should be written in plain and practical language. Most important, it should address and give guidance regarding the five “Ps” of marketing—product, price, promotion, placement and people.

The product section of the marketing plan should outline plans and schedules to introduce and launch new goods and services, retire obsolete offerings, review and revise collateral materials such as literature, safety data sheets and product specifications, and assess where flagship products are within their life-cycle—that is, still in growth mode, plateau in sales and/or profitability, aging maturity and so forth.

When a business’s marketing plan addresses the issue of price, typical topics include the size, scope and timing of price increases, alternative strategies to stave off any competitive threats, and setting target gross margins for each product line and the means it will employ to preserve or improve profitability.

Promotion plans should adopt a ready-aim-fire philosophy—make ready the right message directed at the right audience using the most effective marketing vehicle. When and for what reason will you have a sale or special offer next year? What is the specific and measurable goal of the sales campaign? Which delivery method—direct mail, Yellow Pages, monthly e-newsletter, to name a few—has the best chance to reach your key prospects and loyal clientele in order to stimulate sales? This section is usually the most detailed part of the entire plan.

Conversely, the placement portion of the plan is usually the opposite, since most businesses have had their market channels fairly well-established for some time. Still, this part of the plan could explain where new means and avenues to get your goods and services into the hands of more customers might be reviewed. Answers to questions such as, “Should we add an e-commerce option on the Web to supplement our storefront presence in the market?” or, “How would revenues be affected if we were to venture into business-to-business sales—a new market for us?” appear in this section.

The final component of the marketing plan describes the people who are needed to execute the plan. Should you re-assign and train a current worker or hire a new employee to spearhead the marketing effort or does it make more sense to contract an outside agency to do the legwork for you?

For the average-sized business in our industry, the marketing plan can be clear, complete and comprehensive in less than six pages in most cases. Remember, you are not submitting the plan to the Harvard Business School for evaluation. Your plan should be a living, breathing document that can be explained to and understood by every department in the organization... especially sales.

BUSINESS IS TAKING OFF

In many ways, a sign and commercial digital graphics business is like an airplane. Upper management and ownership is the cockpit crew navigating and steering the aircraft. The passengers are your customers and their bags contain their unmet needs that you must check-in (uncover), carry aboard (understand), and deliver (satisfy) to the final destination (solution). The flight attendants are your customer-service and technical-support teams that attend to your client’s every need and keep them safe.

A plane can be made to fly without a pilot, passengers, cargo and crew—albeit, a company is not a successful business without them. But, a plane can’t even get off the ground without wings and an engine. Your sales reps are your wings. They help the plane lift off, soar higher and remain aloft. And, marketing is the engine that provides the thrust of the business. Without an engine, a plane can glide on prevailing wind currents for awhile, but will eventually land or, worse, crash. A business without a marketing effort becomes nothing more than an antique plane in an air museum—interesting to look at, but serving no useful purpose and generating no profit.

If you take the time to divide and define roles of sales and marketing separately, then reunite them to understand, appreciate and leverage each other’s talents, you stand a greater chance of conquering your chosen market and fulfilling the dreams of your business. Good luck!