Sales vs Marketing — Ding! Sales Wins this Round!

It’s not really a fight. But this marketer hasn’t stepped into the “sales ring” for over 20 years. So, why now?

When I was in high school most of my jobs were commission sales. My dad and my grandfather were in sales, and it just came natural to me. I also quickly discovered that selling suits on commission, even part-time, paid a heck of a lot more than what my friends were making delivering pizza or working fast food jobs.

After my first year of college I took a break and spent a couple of years working as an Audio Department Sales Manager at Highland Superstores, a precursor to Best Buy. As I worked at the Texas flagship store, we constantly had an influx of regional merchandisers and marketers spending time at our store. Our merchandising displays were constantly being tweaked, we would discuss the week’s ads in our sales meetings, and we went through countless store layout reorganizations—all key aspects of marketing. What the marketers and merchandisers were doing became far more interesting and exciting to me than my normal sales duties.

For better or worse, I wound up participating in, and even leading many off hours (and off commission) layout reorganizations. The merchandisers and marketers were great about sharing why they were making changes. This experience sparked my interest in marketing. Then, when Highland’s went bankrupt, I went back to college now hyper-focused on getting a marketing degree.

But did you know that a good sales position earns a lot more than a first-year marketing position?

Recently married and newly graduated, I looked for a job to support my new family. I was presented with two options; a software sales job that paid extremely well, and a corporate marketing job — the kind I went to school for!

Of course, what did I wind up choosing? The sales position.

Despite having gone to school for marketing, something I loved, here I was calling on accounts. Miserable; but it didn’t last long.

I swore I was going to get a true marketing job. Even if it paid much less. I struggled and I fought, and within two years I finally succeeded — swearing I would never take a sales job again.

This past year, after 26 years in marketing, I launched my own marketing agency, CycleWerx Marketing. Early on I decided to be a HubSpot Partner because of the very positive experience I had using HubSpot’s marketing automation platform in a prior executive marketing role.

But like most small businesses that are just starting out I had to find a way to drive sales—and quickly.

Uhhhggg!! I have to be a salesperson again?!

I needed to find a way to strike a balance between my sales and marketing efforts. I needed help. As a HubSpot Partner, I had the good fortune to be accepted into Dan Tyre’s HubSpot Pipeline Generation Bootcamp class. It’s all about sales and learning the right way to proactively reach out to prospects.

So, yes, I do have to be a salesperson again. But I’ve learned so much in this Bootcamp.

Digital marketing and inbound growth-driven marketing is incredibly important, especially to build your authority in the marketplace and differentiate yourself from your competitors. But outbound sales are key to getting your products and services noticed faster, and to having those conversations that eventually lead to customers. Marketing and sales must work together.

Dan Tyre, part of HubSpot’s executive staff, and his HubSpot Partner team have filled this Bootcamp full of incredibly useful information for agencies of all sorts. I really appreciate the marketing logic-filled processes that can be applied to the sales role, while still enabling a good salesperson to do what they are good at — getting the customer to speak about themselves and the challenges they face.

So very glad that the HubSpot Partner Team, and its excellent associates, like my Partner Development Manager, Isabelle Groper, have my back and support my marketing and my sales growth with fantastic programs like their HubSpot Pipeline Generation Bootcamp!