Sales vs marketing? 🤔
Frank Sondors
45 replies
In B2B companies that I've worked in over the years was mainly driven based on SLG (Sales Led Growth) rather than PLG (Product Led Growth). In PLG companies you mainly have Product & Marketing driving the growth whereas in SLG-based companies it's heavy on sales.
In SLG companies, marketing would own mainly KPIs on inbound up to the point of a meeting being booked and then rarely spending resources beyond that point.
Whereas sales have always owned mid to bottom funnel and the outbound motion (cold emailing, cold calling etc.) in full unless marketing decides to sponsor an event. That's where our product Salesforge comes into play on outbound.
What's your personal experience? Do you have currently in a startup a person dedicated to marketing and then separately a person dedicated for sales? Or does one person do the whole go-to-market motion being a small team?
Also, my observation when it comes to the community is that we have here in Product Hunt a lot more marketing people than sales.
Most salespeople spend time either on LinkedIn, Reddit or Slack communities I find. What's your take?
Final thought
Is Product Hunt mainly for marketing folks or?
Launching next week: https://www.producthunt.com/products/salesforge-10x-pipeline
Replies
Steve Lou@steve_lourdessamy
I've worked as a marketer in several B2B industries where the sales lifecycles are really long (think of 12-18 months to close deals). In this SLG context, sales and marketing have to work hand in hand from outbound campaigns to the closing (with events driving most of the marketing efforts).
In B2C, it's a bit different as most MQLs are driven by consistent inbound efforts (content, community building, etc.). The sales team here works only on the bottom of the funnel. It's probably because the conversion window is shorter.
To answer your final question, I feel like that most people in PH have a marketing background.
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Mailforge
@steve_lourdessamy yeah, I'm just surprised to rarely ever meet a sales person on here.
I feel this post. I actually have a tool I just built in GPT-3.5 for inside and outside sales (not marketing). DealGetter9000.com check it out
I personally think marketing is more about getting them in the door (say TOF marketing) and sales is more about nurturing and closing (say MOF and BOF).
That said, I think product led growth is a modern way of growing a software business because founders have realized that users hold the power and if they can we can adjust the product according to the feedback from the user they will be able to grow faster and achieve PMF too!
Currently I am working as a marketing head/co-founder at a new startup so I handle the marketing and sales side of things majorly!
Marketing
Mailforge
@lubna_amber what about marketing?
I have a theory that great PLG companies should be structured differently from traditional SLG companies.
I think PLG companies would benefint greatly from breaking down the traditional structures and create truely cross functional teams, including product, engineering, and marketing in a single team.
In this scenario each team would then own their own set of business objectives.
We are still too small a company to actually test this hypothesis :)
darklens
I think it depends on account size, too. You don't want sales for small lifetime value and you can't market your way to whale size deals - that's like winning the lottery.
Mailforge
@geri_mate true
This is very interesting @franksondors. I've worked in both SLG and PLG companies, and it's very compelling to see how different organizations approach the sales vs marketing dynamics.
In my experience, having individuals focused on their respective areas allows for better specialization and effectiveness. However, none of that matters if there's no collaboration and teamwork.
Some products work better with a SLG strategy and some work better with a PLG strategy but when it boils down to it, if the sales and marketing teams are not in constant communication and willing to work together, no strategy will be effective.
Congratulations on the upcoming launch of Salesforge - it sounds like a great tool!
Mailforge
@gusoliveira_b4a yeah, nothing happens without teamwork.
It's an interesting topic, in my personal experience, I've seen a mix of dedicated marketing and sales roles, as well as individuals who handle both aspects of the go-to-market motion in smaller teams. As for Blocks team, we don't have a separate sales person, cause there's no need for it yet.
For those looking for sales-focused communities, LinkedIn, Reddit, and Slack are definitely popular platforms. However, Product Hunt can be a great place for salespeople to gain insights into new products and understand how they can benefit their sales strategies.
Best of luck with your upcoming launch!
Mailforge
@darya_antonyuk I love your take on what's the value for sales people to spend their time here.
Let's not forget that the end goal of both sales and marketing is revenue generation. Healthy discussions around 'sales vs marketing' can only lead to better strategies that maximize ROI for businesses.
The LinkedIn Inbound Playbook
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Mailforge
@olenabomko should! :) Based on my experience, the struggle is real. Usually requires a well-funded company to have this in place. When you're lean and mean, it's hard to pull this off.
Mailforge
@olenabomko they were lucky to have you. Product Marketing is a tough role. Not many folks are good at it.
The LinkedIn Inbound Playbook
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I am doing Marketing, Growth and Sales part in Bizzllet. It can really be doing sales. Especially outreach. How do you approach outreach and make results? By going full auto mode or by social selling?
Mailforge
@andriyuh There are 3 co-founders at Salesforge. I do everything apart from the product so I have no choice, but I do a bit of everything right now. Reddit, PH, Slack communities, cold email, LinkedIn etc. When it comes to outbound, only email scales. For example today I've activated a 6K+ campaign. You can't do this sort of scale on LinkedIn and you have to be strategic about every channel. Scale only without sacrificing on quality.
Launching soon!
I feel like in a startup ecosystem - both sales and marketing tend to exist under the same roof as those teams (if its more than one person) need to be in lockstep on every resource / direction decision.
I have worked in various companies but I'll say that the most effective business was in PLG companies. Building a business based on marketing is like creating a complete system. In SLG the business is based more on the personal qualities of individuals, like CBDO and his sales team. When a business depends on the human factor the risk increases. In SLG the human factor is much stronger than in PLG. Additionally, I can say that in my SLG companies, sales managers consistently built a personal connection with the customer, which significantly distorted the customer's real relationship with the product.
Good marketing is if you promote your product in a way that there is no need for sale!
@biasottosimon it's art!)
@anna_kasumova that’s wise :) and hard tbh but yeah very true!
The distinction between sales and marketing is becoming less pronounced as automation and AI play larger roles. However, the human touch remains pivotal, and that's where the expertise of both teams truly shines
Sales gets you through the door, marketing keeps you in the room. Launched a SaaS tool last year and this balance has been key.
Mailforge
@doristhomas23 curious how big is your team, Doris?
I've been into sales, and now I'm more into video marketing. Sales focuses on directly selling products or services to customers. It involves interactions like prospecting, negotiating, and closing deals to generate revenue. Marketing, on the other hand, involves broader strategies like creating awareness, building brand reputation, and generating leads. It sets the foundation for sales by attracting and nurturing potential customers.
Mailforge
@novie_dizon why did you end up going into video marketing?
@franksondors Video marketing provided me with the platform to pursue my passion for video, editing, and content creation.
Both are the leading part
Mailforge
@hina_shehzad what's your experience been so far?
Trademarkability
I think it also depends on your product. Some service based products rely more on the marketing side, whilst physical products rely more on the sales team. To be successful you would have to incorporate both strategies.
I do agree with you - PH is mainly for marketing folks.
Goodluck with your Launch soon!