2009 is not going to be a pretty year. In fact it could be a year in which many organizations actually do less with less, not more with less. As resources shrink it's certainly not an environment in which CEO's are going to be tolerant of turf battles. But will it be the year sales and marketing become one? For the last few years many organizations have invested in customer hearing-aid technology. That is, data warehousing, CRM and BI applications to help them better hear, understand and even predict the "voice of the customer." More recently, social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, just to name a few, have been cast as new customer "listening posts" that hold great potential to enhance customer interactions through more focused relevancy. But can these technologies alone really unite sales and marketing in a way that will improve the customer experience and grow profits?
In Robert J. Herbold’s book "The Fiefdom Syndrome" the author addresses the turf battles that often undermine company strategies; and your marketing and sales organizations, as well as your customer-focused strategy are not exempt from those battles. The author points out that down deep humans really don’t like to share, and that fiefdoms tend to hoard and hide their information in order to reflect the view that puts them in the best light. Some might suggest that appointing a new C-level executive (Chief Customer Officer) devoted to customer strategy across all divisions will help fix the problem. Sorry, I don’t think so. In my opinion the major challenge for 2009 is not about physically merging functional areas on the organizational chart. It's about developing corporate leaders who can build and maintain a culture of unity and trust. Why? Because in 2009 the majority of your employees are going to be concerned with just keeping their paychecks, and you are going to have to find the means to unify everyone – from those who are still true believers in your business vision and goals to those who are merely hanging on.