Why Sales Keeps Making Its Own Marketing Materials
Few things frustrate a Marketing team faster than finding out Sales has built another homemade presentation.
Wrong logo.
Old product image.
A claim nobody approved.
Three different fonts.
A screenshot pulled from somewhere that definitely was not meant to be customer-facing.
The first reaction is usually something along the lines of, “Why won’t they just use what we gave them?”
Fair question.
But I think there is a better one.
Why did making something themselves feel easier than using Marketing’s version?
That changes the conversation.
Sales workarounds are evidence
When Sales creates its own materials, that does not automatically mean Sales is ignoring Marketing.
Sometimes they are.
But sometimes the workaround is telling you something important.
Maybe they cannot find the right asset.
Maybe the deck is 47 slides and they only need six.
Maybe the information is technically correct but does not answer the question customers are actually asking.
Maybe the material was designed for a corporate campaign and is awkward in a real sales conversation.
Maybe the local market needs something slightly different.
Maybe the current version arrived too late.
Maybe Sales does not trust that the asset will help them.
Those are different problems.
And sending another email reminding everyone where the portal lives will not solve most of them.
Marketing enablement has to be usable
One of the simplest tests I use is:
Could the person we made this for actually use it tomorrow?
Not theoretically.
Tomorrow.
In a customer meeting.
At a distributor.
On a plant floor.
Five minutes before a Teams call.
If the answer requires a 20-minute explanation, three downloads and a design request, the asset may be polished, but it is not very enabled.
That is why usability matters.
Good sales enablement considers the actual job the material needs to do.
What conversation is it supporting?
What questions does the customer have?
What can Sales customize?
What needs to stay controlled?
Where will the asset live?
How will someone know it is current?
Marketing should not become an order desk
This does not mean every Sales request should turn into a new brochure.
Sometimes Sales asks for a deliverable when the real problem is something else.
“Can you make me a flyer?” may really mean:
“I do not have a simple way to explain this.”
“We need a deck” may mean:
“The existing message is not landing.”
That is why the conversation between Sales and Marketing matters before production starts.
The better question is not just “What do you need?”
It is “What are you trying to accomplish with it?”
The workaround may be the clue
So the next time you find an unofficial deck floating around, resist the urge to start with enforcement.
Look at it.
What did they change?
What did they remove?
What did they add?
What problem were they solving for themselves?
There may be a branding problem in there.
But there may also be a very useful piece of customer evidence.