Fritz was a classically trained MBA, from a stellar MBA academy, who worked his way up to a marketing Director position at J&J - a definite rising star. Fritz was a studious and professorial type - most engaging and interesting but no one would categorize him as gregarious and glib.
He joined the J&J sales team in a Sales Director role, responsible for the national chain drug accounts - CVS, Walgreens, et al. He wanted to do the role - kinda - and had his trepidations, as anyone would in a new and unfamiliar job.
Fritz spent lots of time in the field with his salespeople and customers - naturally. After a few weeks, I asked how it was going and what he had learned so far. His response (I paraphrase): "I'm really impressed how smart the sales folks are - they really know their stuff and do lots of analysis."
Given Fritz super-strategic mindset and professorial nature, he decided to lend value where he could make the most impact and he did so. He learned selling and interaction with the retailers and his salespeople learned more about marketing strategy, customer needs/wants and how to satisfy them. He spent about 1 year in his sales role and then returned to marketing. He became a VP of Marketing at J&J soon after and now runs his own very successful Branding/Marketing consulting firm (Brandgarten).
I can't say with certainty how much the sales stint played into Fritz's ongoing success but I do know that he learned a lot about sales and appreciated the opportunity and I know he helped his salespeople learned a lot about building a brand and winning customers. Mostly, Fritz's sales team went over & above for his brands and his stint and his zeal for the role helped forge and ongoing tie between sales and marketing that benefited J&J.
O.D.O.o.O.D.B.
