Forwards and Midfielders

The Field Sales team and the Headquarters based Marketing team were at loggerheads. A consultant was asked to give a talk at a sales conference. The CEO asked him to focus on the importance of cooperation and teamwork between the Sales and Marketing teams, since neither group has a particularly high regard for the other, and the lack of cohesion and goodwill was hampering effectiveness and morale.

The marketing staff constantly moaned about the sales people 'doing their own thing' and 'failing to follow central strategy'; and the sales people said that the marketing people are all 'idle theorists who waste their time at exhibitions and agency lunches, have never done a decent day's work in their lives, have absolutely no field experience and are out of touch with ground realities'.

Being a lover of Football, the consultant decided to use the analogy of a team's forwards and midfielders working together to achieve the best team performance "......So, just as in the game of football, the midfielder, like the marketing department, do the initial work to create the platform and to make the opportunities, and then pass the ball out to the forwards, the sales department, who then use their skills and energy to score the goals. The midfielders and the forwards, just like marketing and sales, are each good at what they do: and they work together so that the team wins..." said the consultant, finishing his talk.

The audience seemed to respond positively, and the conference broke for lunch. At the bar the consultant asked one of the top sales-people what he'd thought of the analogy - had it given him food for thought?

"Yes, I see what you mean," said the salesman, "It does make sense. The sales people - the forwards, yes? - the forwards need the marketing department - the midfielders, yes? - to make the opportunities for us, so that we, the forwards, can go and score the goals - to win the business. We work together as a team - each playing our own part - working as a team."
The consultant beamed and nodded enthusiastically, only to be utterly dashed when the salesman added as an afterthought, "I still think our midfielders are a bunch of idiots..."