Team Effort Talk is cheap; failed marketing programs aren't. To get results, get sales and marketing teams working together.

Is there a disconnect between the marketing and sales functionsin your business? If so, you may be wasting thousands of marketingdollars and employee time to boot.

According to IT market analysis firm Aberdeen Group Inc., asmuch as 80 percent of marketing expenditures on lead generation andsales collateral are wasted because these efforts are ignored bysalespeople. Marketing teams make an equally damaging blunder byoverlooking critical input from salespeople regarding customer dataand needs, causing salespeople to spend as much as 40 to 60 hoursper month creating their own customer-relevant collateralmaterials. Even worse, this problem may go unrecognized for years,causing a downward spiral in sales results.

The bottom line is that marketing exists to support sales. Yourmarketing department can develop a great product strategy, butit's up to your sales staff to implement it. And when themarketing and sales departments (whether they consist of two peopleor 200) fail to share the right information, the companysuffers.

It's easy to see where the disconnect starts. Salespeopleare required to spend the bulk of their time in the field meetingwith customers, in the office on the phone, or at the computer. Inretail organizations, a salesperson's entire day is generallyspent in the store with customers. The sales staff's income canbe affected dramatically by the quality of leads or foot trafficgenerated by marketing, and they're on the front line when itcomes to hearing all the positive-and negative-input fromcustomers.

Marketing staffers, on the other hand, are under pressure tosolve challenges quickly and creatively while analyzing theavailable information on the competition, the marketplace, thecompany's products and services, and the target audience. Theyrarely interact with customers, unless it's throughsecond-party reports from surveys or focus group research.They're almost always juggling tight budgets and countlessvendors, from ad agencies or media reps to printers and thepress.

With both groups constantly under pressure, frequent, scheduledface-to-face interaction is imperative, even in the most closelyknit companies. To succeed, your marketing people must get thesales staff involved in the development of new programs andmaterials from day one, and keep them apprised of all activitiesfrom product launches through promotional campaigns-because if thesales force is not on board, chances are, your programs will fail.And the sales staff must share customer insights as well as candidinformation on the usability and effectiveness of marketing toolsand campaigns.

Here's what each of your teams should bring to the meetingtable.

Marketing should present:

• An overview of current business conditions your company faces,including new technological breakthroughs, competitive productlaunches, and government regulations that will affect customerrelations

• Promotional and advertising programs in the works
• , their central messages, key featuresand launch dates

• A description of the marketing programs of your majorcompetitors

• Details about upcoming press coverage

• Insight gained from customer feedback via your Web site andresearch

Your sales team should report on:

• Any changes in customer demographics or hot buttons

• The quality of marketing leads

• The effectiveness of special promotions

• Objections raised by customers, and the sales strategies andtactics used to overcome them

• Feedback on how well your marketing messages relate tocustomers' needs

• Competitive product or service comparisons as they relate tothe company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities andthreats

• Feedback on the usability of sales tools and materials

When you ensure vital information flows between your sales andmarketing teams, the resulting marketing campaigns and materialswill be right on the money.