Did my friend Matt subconsciously get Boris Johnson elected?

Lord Sugar famously called Marketing ‘the spending department’; a considerably less famous client of mine referred to his sales department as being ‘coin operated’. We all love a bit of friendly banter but when it hides a silo mentality or a fundamental mistrust then it costs sales, profits and jobs (often starting with yours!)

A strong relationship between Sales and Marketing is essential if you want to generate a high quantity of high-quality revenue.

So, to gain a better understanding of the sales mentality I just spent 2 days with a world class sales trainer - you’re welcome. Just one of the things I do so you don’t have to. 

My friend Matt Elwell is a closer par excellence so giving up some of my cash for an insight seemed like a fair exchange. I have to say it was worth every penny if for no other reason than I learned that:

1. He is World Class at this and
2. I am not.

We are different animals - as a world class closer he will, literally in some cases, chase a prospect down the hall to make sure he has served them fully. As Matt says, great salespeople go 'all in' - every day that’s how they become great. Matt not only trains sales teams around the world but will also go in and do the work so there is no doubt that he gets results. 

Marketing is different - we wouldn’t chase a prospect for risk of reducing our brand equity and we never go 'all in'; like a good investor we spread our risk, balance portfolios and hedge our bets. 

We are totally different beasts, but every business needs us both.

More than that we need to be working together. 

In two days, I learned just a handful of the many sales processes Matt uses but if I applied just one to a marketing problem you can easily see the power of collaboration.

One of the biggest marketing challenges of the last 6 months has to be getting Boris Johnson elected. On the morning of 12 December, he was ahead in the polls but not by much - 24 hours later he has the of the biggest majorities since Blair or Thatcher.

What happened?

If he had listened to Matt (full disclosure - I’m pretty sure he didn’t!) he might have used a prospecting tool called PUNT with a Q. Aside from targeting the right audience (voters in key constituencies who had the ability to change the outcome) he addressed their PAIN - not pro or ant Brexit just fed up with the current stalemate. He targeted their URGENCY with an “oven ready” deal that would happen on a specific date. Then he addressed their NEED to “get it done” and move on with other business. The T in the acronym is TRUST - despite electing possibly the least trustworthy man ever to hold the office, he was trusted to deliver BREXIT and that, in the end, was all that mattered. The Q is making any benefit QUANTIFIABLE - again this was done with dates set in stone; we’ll be out on Jan 31st and a deal finalised by Dec 31st. 

It's easy to point out all the things Boris missed and the obvious gaffes, but he stayed laser focused to his message…

and he won. 

Regardless of your personal views, this was a successful campaign and it succeeded by applying common sense sales techniques on a massive scale. That is what sales and marketing can achieve when they work together.

If you have a great story of corporate collaboration, please share it below. If you need more leadership support in your marketing team drop me a line and if you want some world class sales training connect with Matt here & tell him I sent you… then again maybe not!