I wrote in an earlier post about the need for balance between marketing and sales organizations. On that subject, I spoke to a friend who is the Vice President of Marketing for a major aerospace manufacturer to ask him about their structure. He told me that, in addition to his position, there are two sales vice presidents (for different regions), all three reporting to the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales. My friend is responsible for the product planning, market size assessment, launch, message creation and communications. His group also plan and execute all their trade show appearances. Most of the staff for the trade shows come from the sales group, though. The sales groups are responsible for taking the leads from the shows, and other marketing campaigns, and converting them into orders. This is a perfect example of a well-balanced sales/marketing team that has been effective for many years. Can you point to similar balance in an organization that you know of?
