by Francine Carb, President

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Vistage, it is a nationwide organization comprised of senior executives and business owners who come together to learn from each other, gain insights through coaching, and develop long-term business relationships. The organization has been around since 1957 and is organized regionally by Vistage Chairs, who are the executive coaches who build and develop each peer advisory group. In the Philadelphia region, there are currently 16 chairs. From my experience, members range from mid-market commercial and industrial enterprises, to multi-generation family owned businesses, to entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses.

A few years ago, I went through the process of becoming a vetted Vistage speaker, which means that chairs can bring me into a group to present my topic, which happens to be “The Great Divide Between Sales and Marketing”. My presentation is about building bridges between these two important functions—via technology (like CRMs), by implementing campaigns that leverage sales activities, and through elevation of marketing as an enabler of the sales process.

In today’s world, the marketing function has to work harder than ever and be accountable for generating leads and growing the business. Furthermore, it’s a multi-faceted role that includes—ongoing brand development, content creation, digital outreach, awareness creation, social media, trade show support, email marketing, website metrics, and more. These functions cannot possibly be the responsibility of one person, nor can they be ignored or pushed into the sales role. My Vistage presentation covers how to build a great sales and marketing organization that is aligned with the business goals.

Each year, Vistage holds an Executive Summit—this year’s topic being “Shifting Perspectives through The Power of Peers”. The Philadelphia region event will take place on April 12th at the Convention Center and Markitects is proud to be a silver sponsor. From my past experience, the speakers are terrific—incredibly energetic, inspiring, and action oriented. If you are Vistage member or guest attending at Summit, please stop by our booth to talk about your sales and marketing challenges. We look forward to seeing you there.