I remember being in a sales kickoff meeting many years ago, and as we were going around the room saying what we hoped to get out of the next three days, one of the reps said, "Let's face it, in a B2B company, you're either in sales, or you support sales. So I'm here to see who here can help me sell."
At the time, I thought "what a pompous ass." There's so much more that has to happen for a B2B company to be successful. But over the years, as I've mastered sales enablement and climbed the ranks in executive management, I've realized that the ass was right. Every major accomplishment I've had has been to the direct benefit of the sales team's ability to sell. The successes that get recognized in company forums tend to be those that contribute to sales.
Think about it. Marketing is obviously a sales support funtion...create awareness and interest, generate leads, help the reps advance their deals, etc. Product management has to spec out great products, but first and foremost it has to be a product that the channel can sell. How about Finance? The most important thing they can do (besides pass the audits) is make sure sales can execute contracts in a way that ensures collection.
I've been using that line whenever I talk with someone who's overly focused on things that don't help sales.
