By: Psalm Pueblos

I visited an old friend of mine a few weeks ago in a coffee shop. Ever since we last met, she has grown strides in the field of digital marketing. I was proud of her, knowing that I thought her years ago, and now she has even surpassed me. 

But I was utterly surprised when she mentioned about the situation in her workplace. When during their weekly all-heads meetings, some people from the sales team complained about the quality of leads they were getting, her team heads replied that maybe it’s the sales team’s inability to communicate is the reason why they think the leads are not good in the first place. “Sales and marketing keep butting heads, even with other companies,” she quipped.

Personally, it’s hard to reconcile the notion that sales and marketing departments are constantly at war with each other, mainly for the sole reason that both have one underlying goal: company growth. If both departments continue to be at odds with each other, then it ends up hurting both. As sales managers, it is important that this is handled as urgently as possible.

It’s about the company, nothing else

The most crucial part of bridging this gap is simply to reframe it. We tend to behave in a tribal mindset, enclosing ourselves to those who are directly related to us. For departments, it means treating other departments as outsiders, hostile to the wishes of your village. This is a destructive mindset. 

At this point in time, when even industry competitors are promoting collaboration instead of competition, there is no excuse that within the same company, such should exist. Understand that all departments have one end game, and it is crucial that all should work together for the same goal. 

You’re good at talking with clients, communicate

"But how do we let marketing understand what we want?” Simple, talk to them. The moment you reframe your mindset into helping each other, you realize that the reason friction exists most of the time is because of miscommunication. Was the buyer persona clearly addressed? Does the word “conversion” mean the same thing to both departments? How many leads can Marketing realistically provide? And how many leads can Sales accommodate?

Of course, in communicating, it should not be between the VPs of both departments. There are a lot of things that get lost when only the heads talk. HubSpot solved this by doing weekly meetings with both teams, even to the point of mixing up desks so that each would know how the other works and vice versa. 

For some, that would be too much, but the point is clear: talk to them, whether you’re the head of your sales team or a member. 

Ultimately, compromise

Reality has to set in though, and when setting targets become part of the discussion, this is where friction does exist. But it shouldn’t be feared. This is where the best opportunity to talk about happens. Work backwards, figure out how both Marketing and Sales can reach targets possible enough to achieve yet reasonably challenging. 

Sometimes, this where Sales are tough, asking ridiculous figures only to not be able to keep up with it. Learn to compromise. This is not about Sales but the company as a whole. If Marketing is the bottleneck, figure it out together how they can seamlessly transition. Conversely, when Sales becomes the bottleneck, Marketing can readjust.


Bridging the gap shouldn’t be difficult. Matter of fact, it shouldn’t be any in the first place. 

By: Psalm Pueblos

Handling sales for quite a while now, it continues to be a challenge for me in winning clients. Not only are there countless disappointments (e.g. no one responding to calls, frank rejections) included in this line of work, but for most salespeople, it takes a long time to earn a sale. The founder of Leadfunnel.ph, a good friend of mine, even told me about one salesperson who was able to win a client only after 3 years. Clearly, this is not for the impatient ones.

But even if the financial incentives in winning clients are good, the inevitable question does come out: how do you keep yourself motivated? I ask myself that question a lot of times. Besides the exceptional few, the rest of us struggle in our daily lives doing our job. And admittedly, I have been discouraged a couple of times, half-heartedly taking calls, knowing that no prospective client in their right mind would say yes right away.

I have been reading a number of motivational approaches, trying as hard as I can to keep myself on track. But the thing is, burnout does happen. And being there is dangerous, because seeking for motivation becomes an excuse, a crutch. I’m not motivated in the morning after a bad call, I lose interest in finishing the rest. I discovered that one of the clients was unqualified, I stereotyped all leads I’m about to interact being unqualified. 

But then, I discovered a different way of approaching this problem: instead of utilizing motivation, I used discipline. It’s a harder pill to swallow, but easier to maintain once taken. Almost everyone knows that habit formation takes 21 days before it implants itself to ones’ brain, but in order to do that, one has to struggle for the first 21 days. And this is where discipline is instilled. 

Naval Adm. William H. McRaven in his commencement speech said that during his boot camp, the first task they all had to do was keeping their bunk beds clean. It needs discipline to do that everyday at 4am, but it gives a sense of satisfaction doing so, and a reward to see once returning from a long day’s work.

Burnie Burns, co-founder of Rooster Teeth, through a scriptwriting app forced himself to write a script every day, even if it was bad. He discovered that it makes no sense as a creative to simply rely on motivation, as it dulled his senses and his ability. After the 100th consecutive script, he couldn’t bring himself to even skip, his thirst for looking for an idea now becoming second-nature to him.
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Similarly, Carlo Villarica of Zerothreetwo, in the 3rd World Startup podcast also mentioned writing a 250-word essay every day as well, as it became a sort of training for him, trying to look for words that were apt in his articles.

In some way, discipline is crucial for sales. Keeping scheduled tasks regardless how one feels about it is crucial. Matter of fact, emotions should be the last thing in a salesperson’s mind. For the salesperson, it keeps him on track. The idea of completion does carry cognitive satisfaction, to be able to do it again the next day. For the client, it lets them know that you are consistent. Makes them understand that you are in it for the long run, even if they might not. 

Then again, everything boils down to who you are. For me, instilling discipline first grounds myself, forcing me to a delayed gratification. But it pays off in the end. Being able to accomplish the small things. And one day, the big things as well.
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