Having spent the past 12 years speaking to business groups all over the world and writing about marketing, I get ...

How a Lack of Sales and Leadership Buy-in Is Killing Marketing Morale Worldwide By Marcus Sheridan, Tuesday, November 9, 2021 7:31 AM Having spent the past 12 years speaking to business groups all over the world and writing about marketing, I get contacted daily by people looking for advice. You'd think that the most frequent call I get is from businesses looking to increase their traffic, leads, and sales. But, no. That's number two. Number one, by a landslide, is some version of: "Hey, Marcus. I believe in this stuff that you talk about. I believe in They Ask, You Answer. But the problem is I can't get sales and leadership on board, and because of that, I'm going to have to leave the company if nothing changes." It's a sort of Hail Mary outreach. I can feel the frustration coming through the text of what I read, and I know how hard these people are working, how committed they are — and I sympathize with them. Studies show that the average tenure of a CMO today is shorter than it's ever been. There's burnout and there's aggravation, but it doesn't need to be this way. The digital marketers who are really, really good have recognized the overlap that exists today between sales and marketing. They recognize that the buying process has changed and that customers educate themselves about purchasing decisions long before they talk to a sales rep. The problem is, many sales reps don't recognize this. To them, they have phone calls with leads, just as it's been done for decades. However, what they're not seeing is the significant educational journey that lead has taken before having that call. They might not realize that that lead has consumed website content to become a more educated and informed consumer. So, by the time a lead is talking to a sales rep, they're much more qualified than they might have been before. In essence, marketing is doing a lot of the heavy lifting for the sales team. Website content is educating potential customers about products and services and about company values and culture. However, because sales has no concept of this, they still see marketing as that other department — not as a peer and certainly not as an equal. For leadership, it's very much the same issue. The majority of C-level executives still see sales as revenue and marketing as an expense. Therein lies our core issue. Until we start to see marketing as a driver of revenue, companies will continue to be left behind — and marketers will continue to feel underfunded, under-resourced, and under-appreciated. Read more »     Schedule a call with an advisor → Join IMPACT+ for free → How a Lack of Sales and Leadership Buy-in Is Killing Marketing Morale Worldwide By Marcus Sheridan Having spent the past 12 years speaking to business groups all over the world and writing about marketing, I get contacted daily by people looking for advice. You'd think that the most frequent call I get is from businesses looking to increase their traffic, leads, and sales. But, no. That's number two. Number one, by a landslide, is some version of: "Hey, Marcus. I believe in this stuff that you talk about. I believe in They Ask, You Answer. But the problem is I can't get sales and leadership on board, and because of that, I'm going to have to leave the company if nothing changes." It's a sort of Hail Mary outreach. I can feel the frustration coming through the text of what I read, and I know how hard these people are working, how committed they are — and I sympathize with them. Studies show that the average tenure of a CMO today is shorter than it's ever been. There's burnout and there's aggravation, but it doesn't need to be this way. The digital marketers who are really, really good have recognized the overlap that exists today between sales and marketing. They recognize that the buying process has changed and that customers educate themselves about purchasing decisions long before they talk to a sales rep. The problem is, many sales reps don't recognize this. To them, they have phone calls with leads, just as it's been done for decades. However, what they're not seeing is the significant educational journey that lead has taken before having that call. They might not realize that that lead has consumed website content to become a more educated and informed consumer. So, by the time a lead is talking to a sales rep, they're much more qualified than they might have been before. In essence, marketing is doing a lot of the heavy lifting for the sales team. Website content is educating potential customers about products and services and about company values and culture. However, because sales has no concept of this, they still see marketing as that other department — not as a peer and certainly not as an equal. For leadership, it's very much the same issue. The majority of C-level executives still see sales as revenue and marketing as an expense. Therein lies our core issue. Until we start to see marketing as a driver of revenue, companies will continue to be left behind — and marketers will continue to feel underfunded, under-resourced, and under-appreciated. Keep Reading  ⟶ Content Guides that Convert Leads, Close Deals, and Delight Customers Looking for ways to attract more visitors to your website, convert more leads, and close more sales? In this course, get inspired by four different types of guides you can create to help you achieve those very goals.   Watch now  ⟶ 4 Signs Your Revenue Team is Slowly Failing The key outcome of a revenue team is in its name: revenue. But when you fail to give your revenue team the full attention and commitment it needs, it will easily slip into the rank-and-file of "just another pointless meeting." So, how do you know if your revenue team is functioning as it should?   Read more  ⟶ Video Marketing Tips: 5 Most Common Mistakes People Make On Camera Here are five of the most common mistakes that people make in front of the camera, why those behaviors occur, and how you can easily fix them.   Read more  ⟶ How Does Your Inbound Marketing Measure Up? Take this free assessment and learn what you can start doing today to boost traffic, leads, and sales. Takes less than 5 minutes to complete!   Get my score  ⟶ Connect with us and share your They Ask, You Answer success stories with hashtag #TheyAskYouAnswer Sent with 💙 by IMPACT  IMPACT, 470 James Street, Suite 10, New Haven, CT Unsubscribe Manage preferences