Item #7 — it is unlikely marketing and sales will ever become one; they have very different time horizons. A customer of mine told me: “marketing is looking for Mr. Right; sales is looking for Mr. Right Now.” (see: http://www.prolifiq.net/Blogs/Prolifiq/post/Looking-for-Mr-Right.aspx). What can, and should, happen is what Jeff is postulating here — a continuous cycle moving a suspect to a prospect to a customer to a client. This involves discipline, incentive alignment (for sellers and marketers), content, and systems that support the continuum. This the exact problem my company (Prolifiq Software) has solved for our customers.

#4 — marketers will NEVER know individual customers as intimately as salespeople will or do. Few marketers are willing to admit this and then construct processes that support this notion. Why not create the content, the “plays” and the systems to allow the salespeople to do what they do best — talk with their customers. The salespeople know: the buying cycle, the personas, and the business impact of the product to the customer.

Too many marketers dismiss the value of the salesperson, and their intimate knowledge, in the equation.