Unless you’re
a consumer goods firm, your marketing manager
probably shouldn’t manage marketing!
The problem is, the
definition of marketing is so far- reaching
that the word loses all relevance.
Michael Porter (the
patron saint of marketing) defines marketing as the
entire organisation, as viewed from the customer’s
perspective.
So, is it practical to
give your marketing manager responsibility for your
whole organisation as viewed from your customer’s
perspective? I suspect not.
Even if we view
marketing in terms of its core functions, its reach
is still very broad.
First-year marketing
students are taught about the four Ps of marketing: product,
price, place and promotion (place
refers to distribution).
My guess is that, in
your firm, it’s really the last of the four Ps (promotion)
that concerns you the most. (I suspect that your
product design, pricing and distribution strategies
are not in a constant state of flux!)
Accordingly, it would
seem beneficial to restrict your marketing manager’s
role to the management of promotion.
But the word promotion means too
little!
However, in the context
of a service-based firm, promotion should consist of
so much more that simply getting your name out
there.
Let’s face it, you
can’t sell professional services, information
technology, mining equipment or construction
services with the kind of promotional campaign that
a consumer goods firm would use to sell cornflakes.
You need a process —
often a complex, protracted process — that starts
with the identification of a potential customer, and
ends with the acquisition of an enduring and
profitable relationship.
This means that, if you
want your marketing manager to manage promotion,
he should manage your entire sales process (and
not just your advertising and public relations
activities).
The role of a
sales process
manager
Okay, the title’s
not so sexy! But, remember, what we’re concerned
with here is the role behind the title. (You’re
welcome to continue to refer to your sales
process manager by the arbitrary title of marketing
manager.)
The reality is that,
while technically you’re restricting the scope of
your marketing manager’s role, in practice, you’re
likely to provide him with considerably more
responsibility.
Your sales
process manager should be responsible for the
three components of a (relationship-centric) sales
process:
-
Relationship
acquisition. (The acquisition of relationships
with a constant stream of potential clients and
centres of influence.)
-
Relationship
management. (The ongoing management of these
relationships and the generation of sales
opportunities.)
-
Opportunity
management. (The management of the sales
pipeline — the process that stretches from the
identification of a sales opportunity through to
the winning or losing of the sale.)
In practical terms,
this means that your sales process manager
should be responsible for managing:
-
the regular
advertising or direct mail campaigns that
acquire relationships;
-
the automated
communications (newsletter, seminars etc) that
maintain and develop those relationships;
-
and the various
steps in your sales pipeline (maintenance of a
communications log, dispatch of proposals and
scheduling of appointments with sales
consultants).
While many firms
do not give their marketing managers responsibility
for the entire sales process, this is dead wrong.
What is the purpose of advertising and public
relations activities if it is not ultimately to
generate sales?
We frequently come
across organisations where marketing managers are
busy running ‘branding’ campaigns, and
salespeople are out in the field ‘turning over
rocks’ looking for sales opportunities. Go figure!
If your organisation
does not have salespeople, your sales process
manager should be responsible for the
sales-related tasks performed by partners or
managers.
Do you really need a sales manager?
Now that your marketing
manager is responsible for the entire sales process,
do you really need a sales manager?
Well, good sales
process design will reduce the complexity of the
opportunity management process and, accordingly, the
demands on your salespeople.
In a perfect world,
your salespeople should do nothing other than
conduct meetings with preappointed, prequalified
prospects, who have indicated a propensity to
purchase.
If you have a large enough sales team, you may be able to justify a sales
manager. Just be sure that your sales manager spends
his time managing salespeople, and not your sales
process. (In other words, if your salespeople spend
their time in the field, that’s exactly where your
sales manager should be.)
‘Managing’ doesn’t mean ‘doing’
While we’re in the
process of reengineering your marketing manager’s
role, it’s worth reminding ourselves that ‘managing’
doesn’t mean ‘doing’.
I often take a walk
through our clients’ manufacturing facilities. In
the process, I seldom see production managers
operating machines.
Why then, do these same
organisations have their marketing managers doing
data entry, creating advertisements, writing
brochure copy, designing PowerPoint presentations,
and so on?
The issue is not
whether or not your marketing manager is skilled in
these areas, but whether or not they can manage your
entire sales process if they have their sleeves
rolled-up, doing process work.
Tell me, have you ever
seen an orchestra where the conductor plays first
violin?
A rewarding career
If you compare the role
of typical marketing manager with the role of a sales
process manager the differences are profound.
-
The former has
little authority and no process to oversee. The
latter has authority over the entire sales
process — and is in a position to manage this
process, from relationship acquisition, through
to the conversion of opportunities into sales.
-
The former has no
way of quantifying his effectiveness. The latter
can demonstrate a clear return on marketing
investment — by relating marketing activities
to the sales they produced.
-
The former makes
decisions based on intuition and data of
questionable relevance (can anyone really
demonstrate a linear relationship between brand
equity and sales?). The latter (to quote Alfred
Sloane) ‘manages with the force of facts’.
I mentioned at the
outset that I’d hate to be a marketing manager in
a typical service-based firm. Tell me, if you
had the choice between being appointed marketing
manager or sales process manager in your
own organisation, which would you choose?
Me, I’d take the role
of sales process manager along with the title
of marketing manager. Why would I want to be
called a marketing manager? Well marketing managers
get invited to more free lunches of course!
[Agree?
Disagree? Drop me a line and let me know.]
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