I really like this observation, made on the B2B Conversations Now blog. In many businesses, the marketing process has lost its way and started to focus way too much on selling products. And that’s a job which should be left to the sales process.
What marketing should be doing is to sell the sales conversation. Why? Because at the point where you’re selling the product, customers expect to be able to buy. Unless you have an online store, or we’re talking here about a catalogue on the desk at a trade counter, I suspect that few customers buy from your marketing material. They buy from your sales people. There’s a sequence of events going on here, and you don’t want to be jumping a stage. Have a read of Effective B2B Lead Generation Means Selling the Conversation and think about if it applies to you.