Marketing Problem, Sales Solution

I personally think that it wouldn't work. A marketing problem, I believe, calls for a marketing solution, not a sales solution.

Here's the situation...

A particular company's revenue is down 10 to 15 percent each year. It looks like it would not end soon. The company also had not increased its sales headcount for almost a year.

In the meantime, the company's product sole competitor is getting more and more piece of the market share (at least 10% - 15% that the company had lost!).

Customers are dropping off, and things do not look so bright for the company, financially speaking.

And to rub salt to the wound, the only marketing guy on board (a brand executive) had also hand in his resignation letter.

Guess how the company responds?

It took in a new sales manager...

Now, from a glance, it could be what the company needs. Get the salespeople in line and send them out to get more sales. More sales mean higher revenue.

The sales manager is the General who will lead the salespeople troop.

But is it the "real" solution?

I don't own that company, but if they asked me, I would say filling in the void of marketing guy is more important because marketing is the heart of a business. If the heart spoiled, then it's time to get a new one.

And many people in sales don't get this:

Sales are just a function of marketing.

Marketing is the whole picture and sales is just a fragment of that picture. A company would not get far with failed marketing.

I'm looking at the bigger picture for this particular company.

And here are my thoughts:

Drop-off clients are blessing in disguise because you now know who REALLY want to work with you. Let them go. It's a waste of resources to keep them around.

The immediate damage control step is to work with customers who stick around.

There are many excellent strategies written on this topic, for example, One on One Marketing (Don Peppers & Martha Rogers). It's more effective in today's market place to work with current customers and work really closely with them. It's more economical too, compared to the cost of acquiring one new customer.

And if the company really want to employ a sales manager, I would recommend finding one with experience in the same portfolio (hiring one from competitor comes to my mind almost instantly).

Why?

The company needs to cut the learning curve and stop the financial bleeding.

As for the salespeople in the company... I think it's OK to leave them alone.

The situation arises not because of sales or selling issue but the marketing issue.

They are not the BEST person to solve it, and they are not in the best position to do it too.

Let's just give them a break...