A CMO at this event said those very words to me, which is a wonderful description of the difference between sales and marketing.  Said another way – Marketing communicates one to many, while sales communicates one to one. Doesn’t every company need a leader to focus on finding Mr. Right?

(Update: It takes more than a top marketing leader to generate good ROI.  IDC just completed a study of CMO ROI and they reached three conclusions, which I share with you here. And you can read the original article here.)

I was surprised that the Colorado-based company Datalogix raised $25 million dollars recently, but when one looks at their management team, there’s no one there with “marketing” in their job title. I think this is a big mistake.  Unless a company has very simple products and a very select marketplace, then every company needs to have a VP of Marketing or a Chief Marketing Officer.  Are you listening, Datalogix? After all, who ensures the company has a consistent message, had a strong content marketing program, and sets up lead nurturing and scoring?

It’s a mistake to rely on salespeople to develop their own leads and, since they want Mr. Right Now, they’re ill equipped to patiently nurture leads. Leaving nurturing in Sales almost never works. This is why, frankly, companies who lack a VP of Marketing or Chief Marketing Officer deeply concern me. Said another way, with up to 70% of the buying cycle taking place before the salesperson meets the prospect, it takes marketing to earn trust. This is why, frankly, every company needs a VP of Marketing or Chief Marketing Officer today. In addition, titles such as Chief Customer Officer and Chief Content Officer are becoming more and more common.