Question: As a sales manager, should I cut my marketing and sales budget now? All marketing and salespeople should brace themselves. There will be cuts coming and your department is going under the microscope. Expense accounts will be tightened and the weakest among you may be searching for new opportunities. I don’t mean to scare any of you, but that is a reality that we are going to face. Non-performers are logical targets even during a good economy. Cash will continue to be king and if you’re just singing it and not bringing it then you will be out of the kingdom. Now, to those of you in charge of the sales and marketing budgets, guard your eggs closely. Don’t give up too many dollars without a fight because once they are gone they are very hard to get back. Your competition will likely be doing the same thing and shooting themselves in the foot right now. Traditional sales and marketing logic says to go against your instinct and invest more in these departments, and this thinking is correct. You need visibility now more than ever to capture the market share that will be coming available, and chances are it will become a feast soon enough. Not to mention the great deals you’ll get in advertising as this industry gets ravaged and will give up a lot for less to keep the cash flowing as well.
