“Should I put a $1 in public relations or in to direct sales?” – a common investment decision
I have had many conversations over the years whereby people have considered the fate of a communications program based on its impact to sales. The thought being, “At least with another salesperson, I know there will be someone calling on prospects who can buy or customers whom should be using more of what we have to offer.”
In a business-to-business environment, companies that sell a solution, professional service or information need people who can close deals. God knows we could all use a few more competent people like that. There is a link between public relations to sales, but it is more likely to be a part of the sales chain.
We do hear about a door that opened, a spike to the company’s website or request for a demo because of a well-placed article or finely written press release. Capturing these stories is akin to our industry’s “Cobbler’s children having no shoes.” It is important, but we are all too busy to track them down.
And if we do, there is usually someone else there to take the credit with us. A long time ago at a ceremonial contract signing, my friend Sandy Greer, said to me as I was taking his picture, “Scott, don’t you want to take credit for this deal too? Everyone else has.”
The question is one of scope: a new sales rep might touch 100 people in his or her territory, the vast majority of which are not active prospects. A well-executed PR campaign reaches 1000’s and educates them on your company, products and value proposition - driving qualified buyers toward your organization and making them more receptive when that salesperson does call. If you don't have marketing cultivating the market, hiring a new sales rep can prove to be an inefficient activity.
So why is the decision to stop a public relations pitted against hiring another sales person? They shouldn’t. If it is a matter of cutting expenses, maybe there are other parts of the budget that need to be reexamined first.
In a business-to-business environment, companies that sell a solution, professional service or information need people who can close deals. God knows we could all use a few more competent people like that. There is a link between public relations to sales, but it is more likely to be a part of the sales chain.
We do hear about a door that opened, a spike to the company’s website or request for a demo because of a well-placed article or finely written press release. Capturing these stories is akin to our industry’s “Cobbler’s children having no shoes.” It is important, but we are all too busy to track them down.
And if we do, there is usually someone else there to take the credit with us. A long time ago at a ceremonial contract signing, my friend Sandy Greer, said to me as I was taking his picture, “Scott, don’t you want to take credit for this deal too? Everyone else has.”
The question is one of scope: a new sales rep might touch 100 people in his or her territory, the vast majority of which are not active prospects. A well-executed PR campaign reaches 1000’s and educates them on your company, products and value proposition - driving qualified buyers toward your organization and making them more receptive when that salesperson does call. If you don't have marketing cultivating the market, hiring a new sales rep can prove to be an inefficient activity.
So why is the decision to stop a public relations pitted against hiring another sales person? They shouldn’t. If it is a matter of cutting expenses, maybe there are other parts of the budget that need to be reexamined first.