I’ve been responsible for transforming a sales driven organization into a marketing driven company several times before. In fact, it is one of the strengths I brought to former employers who had not understood why they needed that change. In fact, I would argue that many current CEOs still do not realize that a sales driven organization is not the most ideal structure and can stagnate growth and innovation.

In the early stages of a company, it is usually necessary to hire engineers, then sales people. It is from this stage that many companies do not progress out of, and the consequences can be damaging. Engineers rarely have a complete understanding of the target market or how to describe products in a benefit-focused manner. Products are typically named “SSO-300″ in an engineering driven culture. In a sales driven organization, the products might have a bit more customer focus, but they lack long term vision, since sales people are motivated by short term sales cycles. The sales driven company might name a product “Small Business Solution” because they want it to appeal to a mass audience and be thought of as the answer to all problems.

The marketing driven company will understand the market, the competition, the customer on a personal level and at a macro level and will guide the product strategy to become what the target market needs now and will develop specific products for future customer needs, while ensuring market differentiation in a niche that will support it. Also, a marketing culture will be in constant contact with prospects, customers, analysts, and media to ensure a thorough understanding while effectively generating interest and leads for sales to close.

The benefits of a marketing focused culture are many, beyond what I just described, and so if you find yourself in a sales or engineering driven culture, contact me and I may be able to guide you through it.

Thanks
Anthony
Marketing Optimizor
303-862-8447