Just when I need encouragement, I got it from the Big Picture Guy. True to his name, his comments to my post “Turn on the Juice” looked at the ‘big picture’ of what it means to be a marketing manager–what the expectations of upper management would be. I’ve read and re-read his comments, and I hope you do, to.
– Marketers are the champions of change. They spearhead change. They are thus, by definition, leaders. As leaders, they are called upon to demonstrate vision, drive, courage, persistence. There is no question of motivating themselves; the important thing is to motivate others, to build excitement in others, including sales reps and customers.
– Selling is tactical. Marketing is both strategic and tactical. Marketing sees the big picture and manages the small details.
Up to now, most of what I’ve done has been tactical marketing. Its an important job, which is why I started this blog–if you can’t take care of the details, your marketing efforts are useless. BPG shows me where the new part of my job is—leadership of strategy. It will be a task to prove myself, especially since this job hadn’t existed before. Thanks man!
I’m a person who seems to fit the marketer mold: spearheading change, a leader, persistent, yadayadayada, but – I’ve never been a sales person before and I’m not sure if I can sell. I fear cold calls and I guess I still think of a sleezy used car salesman when I think of sales… How does a creative marketing person shake this anti-sales person thing and JUST SELL?
I’m a person who seems to fit the marketer mold: spearheading change, a leader, persistent, yadayadayada, but – I’ve never been a sales person before and I’m not sure if I can sell. I fear cold calls and I guess I still think of a sleezy used car salesman when I think of sales… How does a creative marketing person shake this anti-sales person thing and JUST SELL?
Howdy neighbor (or close anyway) 😉You could try to fool yourself into thinking of it as ‘field research’. Connecting with real customers can be a powerful experience as a marketer.Cold calling is tough, something I haven’t had to do, thank goodness. Maybe look at it as a game to see what tactics work to open doors. Make a list of tactics and keep score, then refine the tactics and try again. If you are making phone-calls, see what type of messages get returned, etc.Its easy for me to make suggestions, but its gotta be harder to do. Good luck!
Howdy neighbor (or close anyway) ;)You could try to fool yourself into thinking of it as ‘field research’. Connecting with real customers can be a powerful experience as a marketer.Cold calling is tough, something I haven’t had to do, thank goodness. Maybe look at it as a game to see what tactics work to open doors. Make a list of tactics and keep score, then refine the tactics and try again. If you are making phone-calls, see what type of messages get returned, etc.Its easy for me to make suggestions, but its gotta be harder to do. Good luck!