During my 25 years as a management consultant, few things have troubled me more than seeing an organization whose sales and marketing departments have a very poor relationship, with little to no communication or teamwork. Unfortunately, this silo mentality is an all-too-common phenomenon, and one that any CEO must take steps to correct if his or her organization is to function effectively. To examine how to fix this problem, or how to prevent it in the first place, allow me to cite a personal experience from my past.

One of the most frequently asked questions by our revenue performance management clients is, "How do you identify and hire great sales people?".

Before attempting to answer that question, it is important to identify and analyze what characteristics almost all great sales people share that makes them outstanding performers.  When combined with a solid understanding of the habits and techniques of your company’s top performers you can develop the ‘ideal hiring profile’.  When examining the ‘best practices' of your company’s top sales people you should identify product or service specific sales techniques that they follow that will benefit the entire sales organization, and help you develop your sales hiring profile.

Planning to Fail?  Most people don't....it just happens.  

For many attempting to do business, the same way they used to do it is yielding second-rate results. When was the last time you addressed and reworked your business plan, or more precisely your revenue plan? How long has it been since you have referred to your sales and marketing plan? Do you have a business, sales or marketing plan? As the age old mantra goes, “Failure to plan is a plan to fail”. 

Peter Drucker, the business and quality icon, said it a bit differently in his book, The Practice of Management: “Any organization in which marketing and sales is either absent

Sales channels can be both an asset and a liability. They are an asset from the stand point of leveraging product sell through volume into the market place, and at the same time, channels present a major liability when the channel marketer closes his eyes to the end user, or succumbs to the pressure of end of quarter revenue pressures: Inventory build up in the channel leading to returns, or lower than anticipated revenues in the follow up quarter, all become a financial liability.