There’s often debate about what differentiates sales from marketing in B2B companies. Sales and marketing are incredibly intertwined and it can be difficult to draw a line between the two. There’s increasing use of the term “demand generation”, which is particularly useful in early stage B2B companies. It combines sales and marketing—acknowledging the overlap between activities that are segregated at some companies.
For most companies, there does need to be a defining line between sales activities and marketing activities—particularly as the business grows and sales people become too busy to engage in marketing. The description in the previous chapter starts the discussion about what differentiates the responsibilities of marketing and sales. Not every company follows these guideposts nor should they.
Ultimately, the dividing line between sales and marketing isn’t important as long as the sales and marketing teams are clear on each of their responsibilities. In smaller companies, this can happen through conversations between the people involved. In larger companies, it’s often spelled out in the Marketing Plan and the Business Development Plan. What’s vital is that between the two groups all important activities are accounted for.
