BMA Event Puts Sales into the Marketing Conversation

I recently spoke at the Business Marketing Association (BMA) Conference and noticed a not-so-subtle shift in the show content from years past.  Sales – a sometimes ignored but vital participant in the marketing conversation – has been ratcheted up from its traditional second-fiddle status. Companies can’t run, or even walk, without both the marketing and sales legs moving in sync, and it seems that the organizers of the BMA conference are taking note.

BMA “sells out” … so to speak

BMA significantly beefed up the number of sales-oriented tracks and discussion topics at the 2012 conference. And BMA had a sell-out crowd this year.  Coincidence?  I’d like to think not.

For example, Neil Rackham, author of “SPIN Selling,” and Matt Dixon, author of “The Challenger Sale” were featured speakers.   Even Don Schultz, the father of integrated marketing communications, added sales to his “integrated” story.

I had the privilege of delivering a keynote and facilitating a panel session on marketing’s role in sales enablement, which included Corporate Visions’ clients from Wells Fargo (Tracey Fanelli), SunGard (Ken Powell) and Omnicell (Todd Sims).

Kudos

Congratulations to BMA, specifically Gary Slack, the event organizer, and Eduardo Conrado, CMO for Motorola Solutions and BMA president, for recognizing the importance of sales and marketing alignment and for putting on a well-attended, thought-provoking show!

Tim Riesterer

Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer,

Corporate Visions

Filed under: Business-to-Business Tagged: Business Marketing Association, Marketing and Sales Alignment, tim riesterer