The end-goal of sales and marketing organizations is the same: increase revenue. The tactics are also very similar. Find the target audience, get them to listen to what you have to say, help them make a buying decision and guide them to the fact that your product/technology/service is the one that they need.

In the middle of the process the two groups diverge in their approach. This negatively impacts the end goal of revenue generation. The problem lies in how the two teams go about convincing people that theirs is the right product to buy.

In life sciences, marketing tends to be product focused. What the product is, how it works and what it does. Someone visiting a web site or looking at a brochure may be able to figure out how that will help them. But not often. There is too much info vying for their attention and not enough time to dive deeply enough to understand all the technologies.

Sales persons are taught to “sell the value”. This means determining the customer’s pain points and positioning your product/service as the solution. “Sell, don’t tell” is the general rule of sales. Talking about the product is not the way to sell. Meeting a customer’s needs is. So, why doesn’t marketing do that in our industry?

THE SOLUTION: SELL DON’T TELL MARKETING

Sales and marketing need to align. Find your target audience, determine their needs and then Market AND Sell your solution to meet those needs. Make your Web Site, your Message, your Sales Collateral customer-centric rather than product or technology-centric. After all, people don’t buy technology, they buy what is going to help make them more successful. While marketing can’t find out what every customer needs, it is not hard to define the target customer profile, then find them and determine their needs. THEN MARKET TO THOSE NEEDS on a macro level.

Sales will find the the target customers and, through one-on-one or small group meetings, deliver the message and sell the need on a micro level.

When done correctly, with the two groups in “lock-step” the message is consistent, it is clear and it is communicated both to a mass audience and a small one. This creates synergy and helps the customer buy the solution they need rather than forcing them to figure out, “How is this going to help me?”