Sales and Marketing

A Publication of the Spring Manufacturers InstituteWinter 2010, Volume 49 Number 1

The International Magazine of Spring Manufacture

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AVOIDING A LETHAL DISCONNECT— GETTING

SALES AND MARKETING OUT OF THEIR SILOS 20

MANUFACTURERS’ REPRESENTATIVES —

THE ORIGINAL OUTSOURCING SOLUTION 24

TURNING ANGRY CLIENTS INTO HAPPY ONES 29

4 SPRINGS Winter 2010

Table of Contents

DEPARTMENTS

2 President’s Message Take Care of the Little Things

7 Global Highlights

12 Regional Spring Association Report

34 Flashback Manufacturers’ Representative Versus Direct Salesman: A Panel Discussion

44 Springmaker Spotlight Winamac Coil Spring: A Family Business Built Through Hard Work

49 Inside SMI 2010 SMI Annual Meeting to Convene in St. Thomas; Springs Managing Editor Receives Education Award

58 New Products

63 Advertisers’ Index

64 Snapshot William Lathrop, Colonial HanDee Spring

FEATURES

20 Avoiding a Lethal Disconnect— Getting Sales and Marketing Out of Their Silos By Tom Marx

24 Manufacturers' Representatives: The Original Outsourcing Solution By Gary McCoy

29 Turning Angry Clients into Happy Ones

33 When is a Sale Complete? By Frank Fazio

38 So, You Want to Buy a Used Conveyor Oven! By Daniel Pierre III

41 Repair or Replace, Depreciate or Write Off? By Mark E. Battersby

COLUMNS

15 Spotlight on the Shop Floor More Trickery — Lowering Spring Rate By Randy DeFord

17 Be Aware Safety Tips The OSHA Hexavalent Chromium Standard is Being Enforced By Jim Wood

52 IST Spring Technology Cautionary Tale: Marketing of Extension Springs By Mark Hayes

55 Technically Speaking Showcasing ASD 7.0: Springs in Series By Luke Zubek, PE

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20 SPRINGS Winter 2010

At The Marx Group we’ve witnessed this disconnect between sales and marketing teams countless

times. Each one points his or her finger at the other. We often see this when sales and marketing teams work in the same building, right next to each other. But we’ve also observed this with larger multi-national companies that have corporate and regional marketing and sales teams.

We believe that the relationship between marketing and sales is critical for the success of a company’s sales strategy. In the course of our marketing planning for clients, we continue to experience a potentially lethal disconnect between these two teams.

When sales and marketing teams are aligned in their purpose, mission, messages and methods, and both teams have open channels of communication, the power—and resulting leverage that becomes available—is formidable. The company connects directly to the heart of its target audience. Internal communications are in line with company goals and the drive to be territorial is completely eclipsed by a substantial increase in revenues and new business.

Most companies spend their budget on a variety of marketing initiatives, such as creating or increasing awareness, lead generation and promotions. Within

Avoiding a Lethal Disconnect –

Getting Sales and Marketing

Out of Their Silos

Have you ever looked back and seen

the tension between marketing and

sales teams in your company?

Does it sometimes feel like they

are speaking different languages?

Do you sometimes wonder if they

ever talk with each other? Do you

listen to each of them complain

about the other?

By Tom Marx

©Istock.com

/kutay tanir

SPRINGS Winter 2010 21

these categories are multiple tactics like advertising, promotions, direct marketing, web sites, e-commerce, point-of-sale (POS), and sales support materials. The lethal disconnect is when sales and marketing lack agreement on focus with regard to deliverables or benchmarks for these programs.

The Problem The problem occurs when various divisions of

a company, such as R&D, manufacturing, � nance, marketing, sales and customer service develop and execute these initiatives without working together on mutually agreed benchmarks and timelines.

When a particular product launch or campaign is successful, a signi� cant level of inquiries and leads can be generated. The leads are passed on to the sales team, but marketing has no idea what sales intends to do with them nor have they provided guidance (consistent with the marketing strategy) on how to do follow-up. The result? Sales is left holding the bag and everyone points � ngers at marketing.

The problem is then compounded because sales is focused on getting the business in for the running quarter. If the information coming from marketing isn’t complete, there is little value to the leads. If they do accept the leads, sales will often procrastinate on follow-up because they are “too busy.” The leads end up getting older and colder, and so does the relationship between marketing and sales.

Unfortunately, the ultimate loser in this “weakest link” process is the potential customer. They have taken the time and made the effort to respond to the marketing activity. In some cases they’ve invested valuable time to attend a seminar or exhibition and then they are left behind. Chances are this potential customer will not make the same effort again — no matter how compelling the value proposition!

The Result When the right hand does not know what the left

hand is doing, the result is often a dis-investment by management of both sales and marketing. The marketing budget is not realizing an acceptable return on investment (ROI). Next thing you know, the marketing budget is slashed (Isn’t that what most companies do when times are tough?).

In the worst-case scenario, an impassioned decision is made to just stop marketing! This decision does double harm to the company. It destroys credibility and makes it that much harder for sales and marketing to

do their job. At the end of the day, the two teams have no one to blame but themselves.

Let’s be clear — we know sales and marketing people have an ongoing dialog concerning goals, initiatives and success. What we are talking about is a rigorous discussion, with clear-cut strategic planning and a mutual focus on results.

Here are a couple of proven solutions to help prevent this disconnect:

Establish an institutionalized communication process between marketing and sales.

Initiate a comprehensive and flexible working relationship between the two departments, called “The Cartridge Marketing Model.”

Solution #1: READY

Communication Process Designing and institutionalizing an ongoing

communication process between sales and marketing will bring rigor to the conversation and clarify mutual

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22 SPRINGS Winter 2010

expectations. Think of this as “READY-AIM-FIRE” — rather than what often happens, such as ready-� re-aim.

First, get sales and marketing out of their silos and on to the same playing � eld. Second, we urge you to include your outside marketing/advertising/PR partner as part of your team. Involve them with your core values, your company vision and your sales and marketing goals. This should happen from start to � nish. The power in this collaboration is especially potent when your marketing/advertising partners are seen as an integral element of your marketing department.

What’s the advantage? You’ll have an objective voice in the conversation and someone to help you focus on your mutual goals. They will listen intently from a deeply experienced marketing perspective, and will be solely dedicated to growing your business. When you win, they win. Their grounded, objective and professional viewpoint will keep the conversation focused: Growing your brand, making more sales and generating more pro� t. The internal dialog shifts from

politics, departmental differences and private agendas, to one of cohesion and consistency.

The Process Essential is a (minimum) one-day, closed-door,

head-to-head meeting with sales and marketing (and ideally, your marketing/advertising/PR partner). Minimum is a yearly major strategy session and quarterly review and readjust meetings. To eliminate interruptions, the meeting should be off-site. To ensure no biases, an outsourced, skilled facilitator should manage the conversation (this could be someone from your marketing/advertising/PR team or another consultant).

Keep on track and focus on providing solutions that support the goals of both marketing and sales. An effective guideline for managing conversations is “every complaint must include a request.”

As a result of this brainstorming session, a strategy can be developed of� ine by a designated management group and presented back to the teams. We call this a Marketing RoadMap™. Once the teams agree on the strategy, a tactical plan and budget guidelines will follow. With sequential buy-in from all parties throughout the process, the tactics can be successfully launched, with speci� c benchmarks and a clear picture of ROI.

Would you Rather Spend Time Brainstorming or “Blamestorming”?

Here’s the clincher. Consistency is the key to effectiveness and longevity for your marketing communications. Everyone has to speak the same language: To each other, to your customers and to your prospects. That means the same team that meets to take part in the process outlined above, needs to be the team that continues to manage your successful ROI.

Solution #2: AIM

Define the Marketing Model Marketing is based on the age-old principle that

there is a market and from that market you want to get customers. Sounds simple, and it is. Now that marketing and sales are on the same page, marketing can do its research and come up with a plan that calls out the various marketing tactics it will use to ful� ll the goals and objectives.Precision Quincy / 1625 West Lake Shore Dr. / Woodstock, IL

Made in USA / 800.338.0079 / www.precisionquincy.com

SPRINGS Winter 2010 23

Included may be research or market intelligence, trade or consumer shows, e-commerce, lead generation, advertising, web development or traf� c building, public relations, co-op marketing with distributors or retailers, promotions and customer relations.

Once the marketing tactics are delineated, marketing meets with sales and presents the plan, in order to ensure that the sales objectives can be met. Once approved, the next step is implementation.

Solution #3: FIRE AND EVALUATE

It’s now time to get going with messaging, creative development and placing media, doing news conferences and news releases, designing collateral, publishing catalogs, creating new packaging, and more.

By launching these marketing tactics now, marketing will get valuable and grounded feedback from sales on how the marketing programs are working. Both marketing and sales can evaluate and redesign on the � y. This will be far more satisfying and successful since marketing and sales have developed trust, respect, accountability and commitment — all with the “we’re in this together” attitude.

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Bottom Line? You’ll have faster decision making based on

coherent marketing, sales and communications strategies — which means improved sales. Isn’t that the goal in the � rst place? �

Tom Marx is the president and CEO of The Marx Group, a full service advertising agency that specializes in business development, marketing strategy and communications support services primarilyto the automotive and heavy duty aftermarket. Marx brings a depth of marketing and business knowledge from 25-plus years of experience in lead generation, direct mail, public relations and almost every discipline of marketing and advertising. He support his clients with highly strategic marketing planning and the implementation of marketing programs that create breakthrough results. This includes innovative processes such as Contract With Sales™ and The Cartridge Marketing Model™, which are highlighted in his book “Marketing Sucks! (And Sales, Too!).” To contact Marx, phone (415) 453-0800 ext.106, or e-mail tmarx@themarxgrp.com.