Marketing or Sales-Focused Tradeshows and exhibitions. Which works better?
Sales people and marketing teams have very different personalities and approaches within the corporate culture. Each side of the house has very important functions and they can be used to work in harmony with one another – or be put at opposing sides for a very challenging environment. These differences are highlight and exacerbated during trade show exhibit planning and execution.
Many times, the trade show is considered part of a marketing function and will be lead by the marketing team. Since the trade show’s financial support will come from the marketing team’s budget, they will be in control of the communications and advertising aspects of the show. However, the execution of the trade show will incorporate marketing, advertising, public relations and sales. With all these different groups merging together, there is great potential for friction and disagreements. Different philosophies and performance goals will clash unless headed by a superior management team.
There are four different types of organizational personalities, according to The Gamesman by H. Maccoby. Through his extensive interviews and research, he determined the four personalities are the craftsperson; the organizational person; the jungle fighter and the gamesman. No one is solely one type of personality, but will be a mixture of these personalities depending on the corporate challenges and environment they are placed within.
Marketing and sales people will have revised personalities when compared to their performance in the daily business situation versus the trade show floor. These dynamics in personality will also display themselves during trade show planning and execution on the show room floor.
Each person has daily tasks and responsibilities that will focus on the overall company success, but with their specific department’s needs first. The individual’s personality should blend with the management’s insistence on team cooperation for maximum success. Sales people will do what they are instructed to do and the marketing team will execute what they are directed to do to encourage the maximum efficiency at the trade show.
Marketing individuals are more focused on strategic planning and thinking. They will look for market research, product introduction and program development, as well as design of communication and advertising campaigns. Competitive analysis will be crucial and they will want to merge their direct mail, print and online advertising, web development and overall marketing communications together for a full marketing package. While all of the long-term solutions are put in the hands of the marketing team, the short-term success of the company is given to the sales group.
The initial development of corporate marketing and its current functions was developed in 1879 with the introduction of Ivory soap to the consumer masses by Procter and Gamble. This strong marketing and brand strategy developed the brand management system that was created in the late 1920’s. Officially created in 1931 and based on the idea that competitors would be vying to be the top choice for consumers. Specialized marketing strategies for each item can be executed for long-term success. The product management system was born and is currently copied by successful corporations today.
A superior trade show manager will understand and learn how to merge the different personalities of the marketing and sales team. By appreciating their individual motivations and operational styles, you can create a superior environment to foster agreements between sales and marketing teams.
Marketing people will be more conservative, more strategic and long-term thinkers. Sales people, on the other hand, are more tactical, action-oriented and impatient with any concepts that don’t deliver immediate results in sales. Salespeople’s personalities are different from marketing and strategic planners. They prefer their freedom and the unique challenges of their job. Sales people often excel when matched up with a good competitor.
Sales people are often judged and work as though there is a constant score board above their head, like at a sporting event. Their sales can be evaluated and viewed at any time, so they are only as good as their last sale. No matter how well they’ve done in the past, they will be only as successful as their last sale. Sales people will thrive at this challenge, but they will also react to concepts and strategies that help to achieve their individual goals of sales versus the long-term strategic marketing concepts.
Marketing teams are formed by strategic people who love planning, researching, developing and executing programs. These programs are well thought-out and will reveal themselves over time. Sales teams on the other hand work on quantitative results and analysis that look at immediate occurrences in the industry. By merging these two strategies together, a good management team can solve short-term solutions and long-term strategies of the business simultaneously.
Both sides of the house can be challenging and rewarding. Sales people love the professional approach and execution of their craft, meeting or exceeding their sales goals. However, the marketing team and its corporate approach will require the individual to be more sophisticated and less frantic as a means for making money. Marketing teams see the business in quarterly time ranges, while sales people focus on days, weeks or possibly months at a time.
Sales people want to succeed their personal goals and see how much business they can close in a given amount of time. Their performance is based on a daily analysis. Marketing has more time, looking at marketing trends, purchasing cycles and product issues that provide the support to make the sales people’s job easier by better predicting what items are desired – and when. However, these separate strategies must be pointed out and organized by a superior management team to ensure that the inevitable friction that occurs will not influence the trade show booth environment in a negative manner.
The trade show will offer a superior face-to-face opportunity for sales people to see their prospects and sell them. For the marketing team, they will be able to get a tactical and hands-on approach to seeing and understanding their prospective leads and overall industry atmosphere. The challenge is to foster and maintain a cooperative environment that will encourage sales and team dynamics during the trade show experience.
Kylie Batt
April 22nd, 2010 at 1:06 am #
Я извиняюсь, но, по-моему, Вы не правы. Могу это доказать. Пишите мне в PM, поговорим….
Снабженец Sales people and marketing teams have very different personalities and approaches within the corporate culture…..
Kylie Batt
May 13th, 2010 at 8:28 pm #
Да уж реальная правда…
Инженер конструктор These differences are highlight and exacerbated during […….