A salesperson selling face to face can find a customer problem and then select one of their many solutions to solve that problem.

That’s how sales works: “We can fix your specific problem from our menu of solutions.” That’s not how marketing works.

Marketing doesn’t work when you shout, “We have a wide variety of solutions for several of your potential problems!”

You have to declare a specific solution for an important problem–for someone specific. Otherwise, people won’t hear you and won’t take any action.

This is one reason marketing and sales folks don’t see eye to eye.

Sales wants the flexibility to choose from a large menu of solutions in order to increase the likelihood of selling something.

Marketing has to narrow in and declare a more specific problem-solution-customer upfront in order to get noticed and get people to engage.

This is also part of the transition from sales-oriented startup to marketing-driven scaled up business.

You have to change from being a generalist with a big menu to a specialist with a laser focus.

This means you have to narrow in and specialize to grow faster with great marketing and scalable sales.

This also means giving something up, saying no, and declaring a sharp focus. Only CEOs can decide this.