In mature B2B tech businesses, marketing and sales has been slowly morphing into one in recent years. With the rise of sales enablement, ABM and RevOps, the roles of marketing and sales are now less distinct, while the interplay between the two is greater than ever before. But if a marketer has never worked in sales, can they ever really be at the top of their game?
Some years ago, while working for a large tech business, I was on the verge of a promotion and had two offers on the table. One was to be a regional marketing director, while the other was to head-up a sales function. It’s worth noting, I had no prior sales experience.
When I sat down with the then CMO, he urged me to take the sales role. His rationale was that if I could show some sales experience it would make me a more attractive and rounded prospect, while at the same time the personal development would be game-changing.
Every part of me was saying don’t do it - moving into sales would be a massive risk and way outside my comfort zone. I’d never sold, would be managing a team of very experienced sales people and be responsible for the business unit’s overall revenue target.
Despite all that, a few days later I decided to take the sales role. It was for a reason similar to why Gary Neville famously took the job as manager of Valencia. He felt he couldn’t become a credible pundit without really experiencing what it was like to be a football manager.
Long story short, the CMO was right - 3 years later, I had become a much more rounded marketer. Working in sales for that period opened my eyes to customers in the real world and how the sales process actually works. But like Gary, I recognised I was a bang average sales director, and a much better marketer. So I went back to what I knew, albeit much the wiser.
Moving into sales for the first time
If you’re a marketer thinking about moving into a sales role for the first time, it’s probably going to scare the crap out of you. But I hate to tell you - it’s likely to be even more of a shock than you can imagine.
Working in sales is a lot tougher than working in marketing. There is nowhere to hide. It’s sink or swim and you’ll live or die by your own performance. There are many things that are outside your control, but you can’t look for excuses - you have targets to hit, so you need to find your feet really quickly. If you think you’re under pressure to generate leads, the pressure to build pipeline and close deals is a totally different level.
On the positive side, the financial rewards are greater, you’ll gain more commercial acumen, you’ll improve your influencing skills and build a much better understanding of both your customers and the sales function. You’ll develop a much thicker skin and an inner confidence that is hard to attain from a career spent solely as a marketer.
You may find you have a natural flair for selling, are motivated by the financial upside and can handle the pressure. But if you suck at sales and want to return to a marketing role, the learning experience will be worth it. Guaranteed, it will make you a much better marketer.
If you’re thinking about moving into a sales role, it’s probably going to scare the crap out of you.
Becoming a better marketer
Forget all the bullshit about mastering AI, a stint in sales will be the fastest way to become a better marketer.
The sales environment is intense, so you'll quickly learn to live with unrelenting pressure. You'll be on the hook for meeting revenue targets - in contrast to marketing roles, where your impact on and responsibility for revenue is indirect. This level of accountability will push you to develop new skills, such as persuasion, persistence and resilience – all invaluable traits for any marketer too.
Most importantly, working in sales will bring you much closer to customers. This will allow you to finally understand what really makes them tick, while gaining a deeper appreciation for the buying process. You’ll see customers completely differently - as human beings with emotions and aspirations, not just contact data in your CRM. You'll therefore develop more empathy for customers, as well as hone key skills, such as emotional intelligence.
You'll see firsthand where marketing can best support sales teams too. It's likely you’ll wake up to the fact that a lot of what you’ve done previously has zero value for them. This insight would enable you to create more effective marketing operations and prioritise what’s most impactful in sales enablement. By walking in their shoes, you'll feel their challenges and frustrations, particularly those related to marketing.
Finally, the importance of developing subject matter expertise cannot be overstated in the sales world. As a marketer, you'll learn the value of deeply understanding your products, services, and industry, enabling you to craft more compelling and effective marketing messages that truly resonate with your target audience.
Achieving greater alignment
The most common rift between marketers and sales teams is always linked to lead generation - and this makes alignment really difficult. Only 10% of B2B sales leaders say their reps have enough high-quality leads, according to Forrester. Once you've sat on the other side, you'll understand why most leads aren't sales-ready, and the importance of nurturing. It means you'll think more carefully about how leads are managed and when they should be passed to your sales team.
You'll also learn how marketing can create an environment that makes it easier to sell - ensuring reps are equipped with the tools they need to be more effective. For example, the need for a suite of relevant case studies, clarity around your value proposition and well-constructed, up-to-date presentations.
The difference between a new prospect knowing your business, versus one that's never heard of you is huge in sales. Brand development, high value thought leadership and referral programmes are just some of the ways marketing can built trust with prospects. You'll only get the significance of trust in sales, when you've sold a client on your organisation's ability to deliver, while feeling the responsibility for ensuring it doesn't let that client down.
What's more, good sales people are continually looking for ways to boost performance and reduce administration. According to HubSpot's 2024 Sales trends report, Artificial Intelligence is highly attractive to sales to help them automate manual tasks, as well as create more personalised sales experiences. Yet, only tech-orientated marketers with sales experience will know exactly how to get the most out of the tools available, to help sales people be more effective.
Ultimately, sales alignment and enablement are two of the most difficult challenges for marketers to get right. But if you get how sales people think, can talk their language and know what they really need from marketing, you’ll collaborate far better with them.
Don’t settle for the cushty life…
As a marketer with sales experience, you’ll stick out like a sore thumb from other marketers. Sales people will respect you more as an equal too - because let’s face it, some sales people look down their noses at marketers.
You may disagree, but consider how many failed sales people go the other way. It’s far more common for sales people to move into marketing because they are burnt-out and see marketing as a walk in the park.
It’s an uncomfortable truth, but sales people think marketers sit in an ivory tower without any real grasp of their world. They think you’ve got it cushty, have limited commercial nous and would crumble at the first sign of any real pressure. Perceptions of marketing have improved over the last 10 years, but many sales people still regard it as a support function.
So, how can you expect to achieve true alignment if you can’t change this dynamic? Even if your leadership has a high-level mandate for closer sales and marketing collaboration, it’s still down to those working on both sides to make it happen. Forget integrated systems, harmonious data and shared goals. Alignment won’t work without mutual respect.
You may never get the opportunity to work in sales, but if you do - take it. Your career is a marathon not a sprint. Unless you win the lottery, sell a business or inherit a shit load of money, you’re probably going to be working for at least 30 years. It’s worth playing the long game.
Consider sacrificing some time to develop new skills and make yourself a more compelling proposition to employers in years to come. There’s no better way for a marketer to elevate their career than by doing a stint in sales.
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