It's wonderful when sales and marketing are working together and finishing one another's sentences. Unfortunately, this tends to be the exception and not the rule. More often than not, the sales team see all that marketing isn't and often struggle to see the true value that great marketing brings to the sales organization.

To be fair, not all marketing is great. But for the purpose of this article, I'm going to focus on effective marketing that actually drives sales. If your company's marketing isn't accountable and isn't driving sales, then there is a bigger issue at play (and we can tackle that one separately).

No one wants to be "sold," but everyone likes to buy
People buy on emotion and backfill with logic
Great marketing tells a great story
Big data can help determine when a person is "sales ready"
There is science behind the art of persuasion; much of that is marketing
Word-of-mouth marketing can be grouped into six STEPPS
Contagious: Why Things Catch On
Marketing helps prospective buyers know, like, and trust you (or at least your company)
When done correctly, marketing makes your job a lot easier
Marketing people love and respect salespeople
You need each other
 

The bottom line is that, when done correctly, marketing provides the air cover for the salespeople on the ground working hard to close deals and increase revenue. It's a partnership, to be sure.