Why marketing must partner sales

I have had the good (!) fortune of being on both sides of the great sales and marketing divide in B2B S&M organizations. When in marketing, the lament was how all efforts go to waste because sales "does not follow through and close the leads we generated" and in my stints in sales, I was convinced that "marketing is clueless"- about the market, about customers and their needs. Their leads were of no use to me. It was as if our goals and priorities were different.
The truth is that in large B2B companies, local marketing in countries are focused on the heavy-lifting; running trade-shows, sending out mailers, placing ads. The accent is on getting things done rather than genuinely trying to listen to customers and integrate their feedback into the product or service introduction process.
So, marketing runs programs with no feedback loops. Any customer response, howsoever "raw" is passed on to sales as a "lead". There is no way of telling a good lead from a bad one and since "lead-nurturing" as a concept does not exist; sales essentially starts working with a prospect who is at the very early stage of awareness.
What is the solution? Marketing and sales need to work together on an acceptable definition of a lead. This will vary from industry to industry and company to company but the agreement needs to happen so that marketing can work to create programs that nurture the raw leads further and pass on leads that interest the sales. On their part, sales could do more to spot the micro-trends in their industries, the customer pain-points and decision making roles in client organizations and log them formally. This will help marketing to create programs that address the right customer problems, identify the right solutions and target the right communication to the right customer contacts involved in purchase.

B2B vs B2C: is there a fundamental difference?

In a B2C scenario, it seems like to me, patience is not a virtue. The customer does not take long to decide and the marketer is also interested in getting an instant nod as in a yes or no. Most importantly, the sales cycle is short and feedback in terms of what works and what does not is obtained in terms of what sells and what does not.
In a B2B scenario, the cycle is long and many decision makers play a role. Each have their own "wins" and I most recently talked about it in "Cover your bases in B2B marketing". While in both B2B and B2C the customer needs to cross the gamut of steps from low awareness to awareness, interest and so on leading to purchase and adoption which hopefully leads to repeat buys and brand loyalty, I think the B2B marketer invests a lot more post-purchase, especially if you are selling high involvement capital goods. Also, the B2B marketer understands that it is a long haul and invests accordingly. In a B2C setting, it seems the actual sale is the only act the marketer is measured by.
In a B2B setting, you have "User Groups"- both face to face and online, forums for sharing ideas, support and product improvement ideas. The higher the cost of the product, the higher the risk and more the need for reassurance from knowing "I am not the only user; there are others out there". This involvement with the customer in all stages is what separates the B2B marketing from B2C marketing, as is practiced today.
I have seen sporadic attempts in involving end-customers in creating user groups in B2C as well. Cooking utensils makers like those making pressure cookers or microwave ovens hold cooking competitions, Camlin sponsors art competition among students in schools and liquor brands sponsor events teaching cocktail mixing to corporates and individuals. I think we will see more and more such innovations powered by the internet going forward.

Cover all your bases in B2B Marketing

Seth's Blog: The rational marketer (and the irrational customer)

Seth Godin talks about some of the pitfalls of b2b marketing. As always, a great read. 

In B2B marketing, there are many influencers and decision makers involved in the purchasing process. For a recap, read..

As I said in a previous post, you need to know who the influencers in a particular purchase are, what their roles will be and most importantly, what their key wins are so that you can structure a message tailored to their unique position. Explicitly, if you are selling packaging systems, what matters most  to the purchase director is the price of your solution; but, the marketing director, who is also involved in the purchasing process is looking for a packaging system that will make his product look more attractive to the end customer.

What is your whole product? What does it do? For whom? How many in your B2B marketplace can you enlist as stakeholders in recommending your product? All for their own reason.

B2B sales (and marketing) is complex since typically a committe takes the decision. When human beings are involved, the process is rarely mathematically exact. But, irrational it is not.

But, who is doing the actual buying?

When I take my daughter to the candy store, it is she who is doing the buying. Even though she is all of four years old and I am forking out the cash. When we take her to buy clothes, I do the buying. She has an opinion, and she voices it but is routinely ignored. 

It is of course different with our elder daughter, who is "11 going on 21". We have to listen and sometimes she wins and sometimes we do. In all cases, of course, I am paying the cash. 

When a business purchases goods, many people are involved in the purchase decision. And their roles and power they wield also varies from case to case. 

With my younger daughter in the candy store, she is the consumer (User buyer in jargon), Evaluating buyer (she decides which candy gets bought) and also Economic buyer (the boss-man; who signs the PO). Like in an enterprise, the man who forks out the cash, often has no other authority or influence other than signing cheques.

So, what is my role in that case? I suggest, and only half-jokingly, it is that of the "blocker"; I try to avoid the corner of the shopping mall where the candy store is. In all enterprises there are people who will try and block you (or the candy-salesman) getting in touch with your prospective buyer (or my daughter).

But, when the same younger daughter is taken to buy clothes, we decide the budget, the colour, the type of dress, the accessories.. the lot. She virtually has no role.

Knowing who is involved in making purchasing decisions is key. After all, you don't want to waste time and money selling candy to me, do you?