Letters to the Editor
January 2007
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The Tug of War Persists
At the outset let me state that Brian Carroll’s article, “What’s a Lead?” (November 2006) is one of the best [pieces of] writing I have read in recent time.
I head the marketing [department] for a $200 million company and am directly responsible for marketing for the Americas revenues. The Americas geography of my company contributes over $100 million in revenues to the corporation, and my team supports the sales efforts in lead generation and branding.
I could not agree more with your points on the tug of war [between sales and marketing] and was able to relate to every point/step mentioned there. Over the years, the process has been positively refined for the organization and has helped close many deals, but still the chicken/egg situation of who is right (sales/
marketing) persists. The dependence and success/failure is mutual between the sales and marketing teams.
My team uses almost all avenues mentioned in your feature to drive branding and qualifying prospects on lead-generation and make them sales-ready. However, the appetite for sales to make them more sales-ready makes me wonder: Why not [let] the marketing team run the last leg of the sales-cycle as well?
The consolation part of reading your story (I have made all my team members read the article) is the knowledge the world of sales/marketing is equally adoring, and the answer to the question of “What’s the lead?” is still evolving and at this point still holds an opinion status.
Thanks for Telling It Like It Is
Just read your article, “Shooting Ourselves in the Foot (Again)” in Target Marketing about the Caples Award call for entries (November 2006, Famous Last Words). Hurray. Thank you for writing that. I got that same, stupid piece and was appalled our industry had sunk so low. Do you think that was designed by a committee? Who said, “Never underestimate the power of one really stupid person in a group”?
I applaud your critique of the shameful creative approach to this year’s Caples Awards direct mail, and I remember well the equally loathsome effort that ran in the early 1990s. In both cases, my first reaction was the same: How ironic … Caples proved that benefits were always more powerful than intrigue in headlines. Don’t these people know this? I had the pleasure of meeting John Caples in 1978 at the tail-end of his career and the beginning of mine. His “Making Ads Pay” inspired me to pursue a career in direct marketing, because it placed results ahead of “creativity.” It always puzzled me why he would lend his name to an award that honors creativity rather than results. If someone started a petition to get his name off these silly awards, I’d sign first. They do his legacy no good whatsoever.
At the outset let me state that Brian Carroll’s article, “What’s a Lead?” (November 2006) is one of the best [pieces of] writing I have read in recent time.
I head the marketing [department] for a $200 million company and am directly responsible for marketing for the Americas revenues. The Americas geography of my company contributes over $100 million in revenues to the corporation, and my team supports the sales efforts in lead generation and branding.
I could not agree more with your points on the tug of war [between sales and marketing] and was able to relate to every point/step mentioned there. Over the years, the process has been positively refined for the organization and has helped close many deals, but still the chicken/egg situation of who is right (sales/
marketing) persists. The dependence and success/failure is mutual between the sales and marketing teams.
My team uses almost all avenues mentioned in your feature to drive branding and qualifying prospects on lead-generation and make them sales-ready. However, the appetite for sales to make them more sales-ready makes me wonder: Why not [let] the marketing team run the last leg of the sales-cycle as well?
The consolation part of reading your story (I have made all my team members read the article) is the knowledge the world of sales/marketing is equally adoring, and the answer to the question of “What’s the lead?” is still evolving and at this point still holds an opinion status.
Raghuraman Balakrishnan
Vice President, Strategic Planning & Marketing (Americas)
Polaris Software
Thanks for Telling It Like It Is
Just read your article, “Shooting Ourselves in the Foot (Again)” in Target Marketing about the Caples Award call for entries (November 2006, Famous Last Words). Hurray. Thank you for writing that. I got that same, stupid piece and was appalled our industry had sunk so low. Do you think that was designed by a committee? Who said, “Never underestimate the power of one really stupid person in a group”?
Scott Chandler
Colusa Casino Resort
I applaud your critique of the shameful creative approach to this year’s Caples Awards direct mail, and I remember well the equally loathsome effort that ran in the early 1990s. In both cases, my first reaction was the same: How ironic … Caples proved that benefits were always more powerful than intrigue in headlines. Don’t these people know this? I had the pleasure of meeting John Caples in 1978 at the tail-end of his career and the beginning of mine. His “Making Ads Pay” inspired me to pursue a career in direct marketing, because it placed results ahead of “creativity.” It always puzzled me why he would lend his name to an award that honors creativity rather than results. If someone started a petition to get his name off these silly awards, I’d sign first. They do his legacy no good whatsoever.
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