A Three-Stage Model of Integrated Marketing Communications at the Marketing-Sales Interface

Abstract

The marketing and sales functions in many firms are often at odds despite their common goal of increasing revenue and profit. The finger pointing goes both ways: Marketing complains of poor lead follow-up by sales, and in turn, sales grumbles about the quality of leads generated by marketing. This disconnect can be damaging; high lead volumes generated through effective marketing campaigns could actually hurt downstream sales because of wasted effort on poorly qualified leads and/or delays in sales follow-up resulting from limited sales force capacity. To examine the revenue and profit implications of coordinated communications efforts at the marketing-sales interface, the authors develop a three-stage model that captures the effects of sequential marketing/sales communications on lead generation, appointment conversion, and sales closure. The results, which are based on a collaborative effort with a large home improvement retailer, suggest a complex interplay among marketing efforts (multiple media that generate leads), delays in follow-up (time lag between inquiry and sales force contact), and sales efficiencies (appointment and sales conversion). The findings underscore the impact of multimedia spending on the timing and effectiveness of subsequent communications, implying that improved internal collaboration between marketing and sales can offer significant upside potential for the firm. Finally, the authors develop a managerial decision support tool to simulate the impact of varying communications budgets, timing, and allocation on the marketing and sales planning system.

The effects of mailing design characteristics on direct mail campaign performance

“…For example, Gopalakrishna and Lilien (1995) propose a 3-stage model of industrial trade show performance with attraction, contact, and conversion efficiency as the performance metrics at each stage. Smith et al (2006) employ a 3-stage model to assess and subsequently optimize integrated communications at the marketing-sales interface for a construction firm.…”

Dispersion of influence between Marketing and Sales: Its effects on superior customer value and market performance

“…Under high DIMS, Marketing and Sales have to rely on each other's intentions and behaviors in order to make sense of the consequences of their contribution (Cespedes, 1993;Strahle et al, 1996). Furthermore, increased DIMS is likely to decrease functional role clarity, as neither Marketing nor Sales have complete autonomy or control over decisions, and depend on each other for receiving feedback about their contribution and responsibilities in the decision making process (Smith, Gopalakrishna & Chatterjee, 2006).…”

Timely access to health care: Customer-focused resource allocation in a hospital network

“…Studies have focused on the allocation of such resources as retail shelf space (Bultez & Naert, 1988), dynamic marketing mix (Naik, Raman, & Winer, 2005), integrated communications mix (Smith, Gopalakrishna, & Chatterjee, 2006), and sales force effort (Lodish, 1971;Zoltners & Sinha, 1983).…”