Response to Comment: Does Good Marketing Eliminate The Need For Sales?
Anne Gallagher of Extreme Marketing comments that one of her favorite authors on professional services (probably herself or her equally insightful partner, Merry Neitlich) "says that when marketing is done right, 'sales' becomes superfluous. Think this means that relationship selling is about developing and deepening relationships rather than using traditional 'closing' techniques to get commitment." Agree or disagree?
On a very general level, its hard to disagree with the comment. Many inside counsel say that they hire "the lawyer," not her law firm. Those that do hire the lawyer tend to hire someone they know and like. Like any other relationship, the deeper and stronger it is, the more likely it is to be productive. I wholeheartedly support the idea of building relationships, so much so that I suggested (and my partners agreed) that a portion of our compensation be based on relationship building efforts (rather than actual clients delivered to the firm). I so firmly believe that building relationships will pay off, I am prepared to tie compensation to the effort not the result.
Having said that, I also take the view that "sales" is nothing more than helping people meet a need or solve a problem. No matter what you think, sales in professional services will never be like a used car salesman's approach or the cold call from a large investment house. If your goal is to help someone meet a need, you necessarily have to know what needs they have do some thinking about what solutions may work. But I am not prepared to trust marketing to cause the client or prospect to make the right decision. You do not live or work in a vacuum. Others are trying to build the same relationships you are, and some might be further along in the process. To the extent that "sales" includes "asking for the business" and utilizing some techniques to ensure that the call come to you instead of a competitor, I'm all for sales.
Here's an example. I grew up in an environment where associates heard from day 1 that if you don't ask for business, you won't get it, and that lesson has stuck with me. Years ago, I was marketing a client-paying a visit to the office to visit with my contacts. Just that day, a class action complaint had come in. It was a big piece of work. I remembered my lesson and asked for the case, and used some very basic "closing" techniques and left that day with the case in my briefcase.
So my real response to Anne's comment is that I don't think marketing really displaces sales. In professional services I think good marketing and good sales really are the same thing with slightly different points of emphasis.