Why is there a battle between marketing directors and the owners of most MSP Businesses? One of the reasons for this struggle is rooted in the fact that most IT companies are owned by technical people and not traditional entrepreneurs. I believe that in general there is a divide that exists between technical and marketing people. There is a competition going on as to who’s discipline is more valuable.
In general, I believe IT executives don’t believe the marketing ideas their sales directors develop are more valuable than their ability to execute the idea. Many believe their technical and management skills are superior the creative ideas of sales and marketing employees.
Nothing Happens Until Someone Sells Something
If we are truly going to compare the value of engineering and technical skills to the art of sales and marketing then we should recognize that nothing happens and that means there are no audits, help desk calls or any emergency IT support calls until an account is sold.
While there are many computer businesses that go out of business every year, usually due to a lack of marketing, a true sales and marketing individual is never out on the streets.
Ideas are More Powerful than Money
While the skill that computer consultants possess is important they are not creating anything just repairing and replacing. However, sales and marketing people use their creative mind to write copy in sales and marketing presentation, post cards, blogs that all can persuade. They must always use their minds like a great hunter to figure out their prey and learn how to trap them.
Ultimately, we can go a step further and say that while nothing happens until someone sells something, nothing can be sold until someone conceives of it in their creative mind. The value of ideas far exceeds the ability to management.
Disdain can be Costly
After many conversations with IT company executives, it’s abundantly clear they don’t understand the value of a marketing director that can use their creative mind holds. One MSP business owner admitted to me that he had an amazing sales and marketing director that helped grow his business consistently over several years and then asked for equity. The arrogance that is typical among the tech owners let this guy walk into the arms of another IT firm that did value the services.
Fin
The truth is that the battle between marketing ideas and tech skills only exists in the mind of the Tech Owners. Those people that can use their creative minds form the world as they like and that is one thing the greatest tech owner, Steve Jobs, can agree with. However, Steve Jobs was one of those technical people that also understood how important marketing was to the technology business.
