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Scaling Efficiencies and Reducing Redundancy by Connecting People with Products
People often have a hard time grasping the idea that marketing and training are more similar than they are different since historically the two have always operated in silos strictly independent of one another. One department always handles the “people” while another takes care of the “products.” On one level, that’s fine since each involves its own specialization. But at the same time getting the full potential out of employees and products should not entail too divergent an approach.

Silo Busting
In the old days we had sales guys and we had marketing guys and we had purchasing guys. The sales and marketing guys hated the purchasing guys. They never bought enough stuff, right? The wagon was never full. A common quote coming from some sales people: . "Our purchasing department sucks; I know there is an extra 5% discount out there. Purchasing is forcing me to sell at these high prices; we are just not buying right." The purchasing guys, in the mean time were saying; "Our sales guys are goofy. They keep saying they can't sell from an empty wagon. They want the wagon so full the wheels will come off. They say-"Put this in and I will sell it" and they never sell it. These kinds of feelings, these quotes were like a tradition. It describes a natural silo between sales and purchasing. It's not really supposed to be funny.
What's Culture Got To Do with It?
A beautifully crafted strategy can fail when the employees in various divisions within an organization clash. Logically, we think that strategy should drive behavior, but, in reality, it's the culture—underlying norms, values, belief systems—that dictates how effectively people work together. Employees' behavior has direct impact on the bottom line, costs, revenue streams, level of productivity, customer satisfaction, even the brand—every aspect of the business is affected. If strategy and culture are not aligned, the culture may support behaviors that conflict with what has to get done—and actually block execution of the strategy.
100 Ways to Succeed #85
R.O.C(I): "They" All Work For Me!
Managing the Process of Automation: Leveraging Capabilities Without Forfeiting Accountability
"It ain't easy leading a software company these days. Customers are sick of poor quality, inadequate security, old-fashioned business models, and pie-in-the-sky claims for trends like open source. They just want software that works. That was the message coming from customers, industry experts, and even some company executives at the Software 2005 conference last week in Santa Clara, California. from "Execs Tell Software Makers: Some of You Are Doomed," by David Kirkpatrick (May 6, 2005)
3 Strategies to Achieve an Effective and Responsive Sales and Service Culture
Do you believe that there is a distinct line between sales and customer service? Possibly that belief is keeping you or your organization from reaching that next level? These three strategies may help you change that belief and ultimately increase sales.
Leadership Tips to Create Greater Accountability in Your Organization
Accountability becomes mission-critical in challenging times. We need everyone in our organization to take ownership of results and make things happen. Creating an environment of accountability rests with management. Based on our 22 years of experience in organizational development and leadership training, we have discovered that managers systematically remove accountability. As a result the manager themselves ends up shouldering all the responsibility and stress. Here are some practical ideas to create greater accountability in your organization.
Leadership Tips to Maintain and Cultivate Innovation and Creativity
During challenging economic times, it is easy for business owners and managers to get themselves into a funk. Business isn't as fun when sales are soft and layoffs occur. When times are good there is a tendency to get complacent, play it safe and rake in the profits. Tough times present a tremendous opportunity to innovate and be creative. Here are some ideas to maintain your innovation mojo.
Explain Your Process
Businesses that can persuade customers of their ability to "deliver" what they want will make more sales, more easily, at lower cost, at better prices. The best way for smaller businesses to persuade customers of that capability is to have a single, integrated, "first call" to "cash" process, and be able to explain it.

How to Write Better Job Descriptions
I never understood why job descriptions were such banal documents with no structure, but a laundry list of task-driven responsibilities instead – responsibilities that pretty much look the same from one organization to another. That makes no sense. They’re more than that. Or, they could be. Meanwhile, what they shouldn’t be are generic copy/paste instruments borrowed from the Internet or someone else’s workplace. That approach deprives a company of its originality. No, rather their contents should show a relationship to the larger organization, so that the person who occupies the role actually understands his or her relationship to the larger organization.

"Drive ONE"
You need a team of "A" players and a new way of thinking to break out of a rut or to move forward if your market conditions change.
21 Pairs of C Words to Consider
A casual comment by a presenter at a conference we were facilitating led us to quickly build these word pairs for you to consider. Think about each pair, the tension between them, the relative merits of each, and which you value more (and apply) in different situations. We believe you will find this exercise as enlightening as we did.

The Quickie Internal Customer Experience Diagnosis
Have any questions about the customer experience that your company delivers? Conduct a quick internal diagnostic. How does your company treat salespeople? The answer will be revealing.
Functional Leadership Teams
The leadership team is the heart of every successful organization. Learn how to develop a highly functional and cohesive team that will work for your organization.

Customer Centricity: Where Are We Now?
This article addresses the need for companies to look at all of their customer touchpoints to ensure that the message the customer is receiving from your company is consistent across all marketing and sales channels. This is a critical area that every company needs to examine to ensure customer satisfaction.

Other silos Related Articles

Scaling Efficiencies and Reducing Redundancy by Connecting People with Products
People often have a hard time grasping the idea that marketing and training are more similar than they are different since historically the two have always operated in silos strictly independent of one another. One department always handles the “people” while another takes care of the “products.” On one level, that’s fine since each involves its own specialization. But at the same time getting the full potential out of employees and products should not entail too divergent an approach.

The Integration of Innovation and Marketing Best Practices for Business Excellence Part1
During an economic down turn marketing and particularly funds for innovation and growth are amongst those hardest hit. As new, profitable innovations are owned by marketing, whilst their financing comes from the ability for the current business to generate profits, there is an intimate link between marketing and innovation. Considering current business and innovation as distinct silos, managed in different ways by separate functions, may mean that the organization is missing a significant opportunity to maximize the skills, knowledge, resources and networks of the organization. Innovation Expert, Kevin Weir and Marketing Excellence Practitioner, Phil Allen explore how companies can keep their marketing and innovation machines turning even in tough times by taking a more integrated approach to innovation and marketing.
The Integration of Innovation and Marketing Best Practices for Business Excellence II
During an economic down turn, marketing and particularly funds for innovation and growth are amongst those hardest hit. As new, profitable innovations are owned by marketing, whilst their financing comes from the ability for the current business to generate profits, there is an intimate link between marketing and innovation. Considering current business and innovation as distinct silos, managed in different ways by separate functions, may mean that the organization is missing a significant opportunity to maximize the skills, knowledge, resources and networks of the organization. Innovation Expert, Kevin Weir and Marketing Excellence Practitioner, Phil Allen explore how companies can keep their marketing and innovation machines turning even in tough times by taking a more integrated approach.
The Integration of Innovation and Marketing Best Practices for Business Excellence III
During an economic down turn marketing and particularly funds for innovation and growth are amongst those hardest hit. As new, profitable innovations are owned by marketing, whilst their financing comes from the ability for the current business to generate profits, there is an intimate link between marketing and innovation. Considering current business and innovation as distinct silos, managed in different ways by separate functions, may mean that the organization is missing a significant opportunity to maximize the skills, knowledge, resources and networks of the organization. Innovation Expert, Kevin Weir and Marketing Excellence Practitioner, Phil Allen explore how companies can keep their marketing and innovation machines turning even in tough times by taking a more integrated approach.
Why ‘everybody lives by selling something’ is key to your success
‘Everybody lives by selling something’ seems to have allowed people to discuss an area that is fundamental to human relationships and communication, the principle of exchange. In our lives we are all exchanging things of value. Whether what we exchange is of value to others should be determined through effective communication, open dialogue, and trust. Taken to an organisation wide level, everybody in a company has an impact on how the business communicates with and engages in the principle of exchange with its customers, suppliers, the broader community, and each other. The legacy of silos in organisations, where departments distance themselves from each other, pitting their agenda against others to gain an upper hand, is the opposite of the principle ‘everybody lives by selling something’.

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