Sales cannot happen without marketing, and marketing doesn’t matter without sales.
I mentioned this on LinkedIn a couple of weeks ago, and I was tempted to make that an entire newsletter. The rest, as they say, is commentary. There’s a backstory to the post that I haven’t previously shared.
I reached out to a startup founder a while ago, one I explored working with in the past whose company and approach I’ve long admired. He’s on my shortlist of people I periodically check in with, as I’m rooting for him to break through in a crowded sector.
He had some positive developments to share, but he said that investors have hamstrung him. He added one of those lines that made me stop everything.
He said, from the point of view of his investors:
“Sell more, you’ll get a marketing budget.”
Wow.
I was reminded how much I love this guy, and how much I don’t want to be on another panel with him.
In seven words, he summed up what is plaguing so many startups, whether due to the founders, investors, or board members.
The first thing I said back to him was that I’ll probably need to quote him, albeit anonymously. Check.
Then I added the line which bears repeating:
Sales cannot happen without marketing, and marketing doesn’t matter without sales.
I’ve met salespeople who are better marketers than almost any other marketer, and I’ve met a handful of marketers who could show seasoned salespeople how to win over prospects and close a deal. That’s just like how there are chefs who can wait tables. Service and cooking are two very different jobs, even if you need both to run a restaurant. Sales and marketing need each other. One does not replace the other.
There is something in common with practically every organization I’ve met which subscribes to the idea that they need to sell more before they get a marketing budget: they’re almost always struggling to meet their sales targets. There’s little inbound activity, and any outbound call must start from the beginning with no foundational interest.
So, yeah, keep hiring more salespeople.
What do salespeople want?
Leads.
Awareness.
Interest.
Receptiveness.
Where does that come from?
No clue. Get some more sales, and maybe you can figure it out.
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