Lee Salz is a Featured Columnist for The Business Journals.
When I bring up the subject of differentiation to executives, they immediately think marketing department, as they are the ones tasked with that strategy.
But there is a second party responsible for differentiation, and that’s the sales department.
Most quickly agree with me, because they think that marketing creates the differentiation strategy for sales to execute. However, that is not often the case.
Marketing develops and executes a strategy to build brand, name recognition and attract the masses with differentiation messaging. They have a one-directional relationship with prospective buyers as they create websites, collateral material and trade shows.
Marketing has its virtual megaphone screaming the company’s differentiation story to the masses. The thought behind this approach is that it paves the way for salespeople to have meaningful conversations with prospective buyers … which is true, but it is often incomplete.