How the Marketing / Sales Cycle is Like Farming

This morning I was talking with a West Texas sales rep for an agriculture firm which prompted the following farming analogy.

Marketing involves the preparation of the soil, gathering seeds, planting them and then nurturing their growth.

Sales involves waiting for the right moment and then harvesting the results of your marketing endeavors.

Both are essential to making a profit. Without marketing you won’t have any leads to nurture, nor any relationships with prospects that can result in a sale. Without closing the sale you’d be leaving your crop of prospects out in the field.

Is your marketing and sales strategy balanced to generate the leads and nurture the prospects you need to generate enough sales?
– Charlie Cook