Sales, marketing, and product management must be exemplary – 24/7, worldwide. Growth, and in many instances survival, hangs in the balance!

Sales, marketing, and product management leaders must be included when strategy and implementation plans are being formulated and launched.

Without their input and commitment, strategic initiatives will most likely fail because:

• Their functions are often a lifeline to the customers and partners essential to strategic success.
• Data mining, market segmentation, global brand management and fast-track product development are critical and complex.
• Their functions are difficult to redesign because they are interdependent, yet independent.

Our Perspective

Talent is not always scalable.

In a recent engagement involving a $1 billion-plus global merger affecting several thousand people, unexpected revenue losses developed when sales, marketing, and product management, became ineffective and dysfunctional following the merger.

Management failed to take adequate account of the need for stronger and more effective sales, product management, and marketing people in key leadership roles in post-merger planning and implementation.

In retrospect, it is clear that the pre-merger leadership talent in sales, marketing, and product management could not "scale" to the more complex leadership and strategy design roles involved in a larger and now global post-merger enterprise.

Today there is new leadership, the functions and their leaders are more effective, and revenue is improving.

The world of business now has a 24/7 profile.

Customers, partners, suppliers, and investors expect 24/7 access. Persistent responsiveness and creativity are paramount, and they are competitive differentiators.

Sales needs to work around the clock. Marketing needs to be tuned-in and effective around the clock and around the calendar.

Product management needs to lead by visualizing and developing global, 24/7, competitive superiority. Product management must be an agile infrastructure and platform for change that includes a customer service capacity that will drive competitive superiority around the clock, around the calendar, and around the world.

Growing and flourishing businesses exemplify a 24/7 operation that is seamless in terms of the clock, calendar, culture, and geography.