Tonight four of the top draft picks in the NFL Draft are expected to be quarterbacks. Meanwhile, two of the top 32 will be wide receivers.

Recently I visited with one of the top collegiate quarterback coaches in the nation.

“There’s a saying in football that the further away you get from the ball, the less a part of the team you are. Quarterbacks are team leaders and offensive lineman are typically good teammates. On the other hand, wide receivers and cornerbacks, they do their own thing. They live on an island and aren’t really all that connected to the team as you might otherwise think,” he said.

It made me think. Would we be better off to look at “Marketing” as the Quarterback and “Sales” as the Wide Receiver in today’s automotive retail environment?

When the quarterback comes to the line of scrimmage, he assesses the situation, makes an adjustment, calls out an audible and starts the play. Further out, the wide receiver hears the adjustment, runs the route and maybe out of their five teammates the play results in a completed pass. Call it 20% odds. Even steeper odds, the wide receiver might catch a touchdown pass. When the big play does come, we celebrate the success. Sales anyone?

The football analogy works for a sales environment where marketing functions as the QB. Read the analytics, connect with the people, adjust the view and deliver the plan. Sales becomes the wide receiver. Marketing becomes the QB and knows what everyone is doing; however, the wide receiver just knows his route and that the goal is to score points.

Not unlike the NFL Draft, in today’s Big Data world, who you select as your quarterback will impact your team much more so than who’s playing wide receiver.

Who is the quarterback at your dealership?