Question

Topic: Strategy

Colleges' Marketing Department Needs A New Name!

Posted by donli on 12/18/2015 at 12:04 PM ET 25 Points
Imho, marketing without sales is almost useless, hence, marketing and sales should always go together. So, why not Marketing and Sales Department instead of Marketing Department?

Also, many of these faculty do not have real world marketing and sales experience (just bookworms, with tons of degrees/theories), not sure that helps with real learning.

Your thoughts? And what are college marketing students' take on this?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 12/19/2015 at 12:10 PM Accepted
    Which college? Where? What is the college's history? How is it funded? Where do its graduates end up?
  • Posted by donli on 12/26/2015 at 8:31 PM Author
    If you go to 10 university websites you'll find that 9 or even 10 have Marketing department but not Marketing and Sales Department. Once again, I believe marketing and sales are inseparable.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 12/27/2015 at 9:01 AM Accepted
    I suggest reading this article: https://www.ehow.com/info_8088140_cons-combining-marketing-sales.html
  • Posted by mgoodman on 12/27/2015 at 5:38 PM Accepted
    The core skills for Sales and Marketing professionals are fundamentally different.

    Marketers are largely strategic, analytic, grounded in data and testing protocols, focused on identifying and meeting consumer needs over the long-term. They deal with pricing strategies to maximize profitability and new product development to attract new consumers/market segments.

    Sales professionals, in sharp contrast, are focused on distribution, tactics, and meeting [direct] customers' needs. They are largely measured on delivering top line performance (i.e., sales revenues), meeting short-term goals, and managing relationships with direct customers. They are typically not concerned with end-user consumers (when the end-user consumers are not the direct customers).

    This is not to say Sales and Marketing shouldn't work together. Of course they should. It's just that the skills required for success are usually so different from each other that it makes sense to have two different departments ... working in concert to deliver both short-term and long-term company goals.

    That's why so often the senior Sales and Marketing officers in a company report to a SVP-Sales & Marketing.
  • Posted by donli on 12/27/2015 at 7:21 PM Author
    I agree with Michael (if memory serves) Goodman. For any business to be successful other than the value of their product or service, marketing and sales are equally important, I was just buffled that business schools have marketing department only but leave out sales (function).
  • Posted by Shelley Ryan on 2/22/2016 at 4:47 PM Moderator
    Hi Everyone,

    I am closing this question since there hasn't been much recent activity.

    Thanks for participating!

    Shelley
    MarketingProfs
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