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"Focusing on customers" is one of the Group's five core values and the guiding principle of the Marketing & Sales function.
Meeting our customers, being aware of their needs and negotiating and concluding sales and after-sales contracts are the main tasks of this function, both on domestic markets and, thanks to a powerful international network, all over the world. New needs are emerging. To grow our business, we must work closely with our customers to address these needs, which have strategic, commercial and technical implications. Marketing is far more than marketing communications.

The Marketing function is involved in the entire business cycle and requires business management skills as well as innovation and creativity. The Marketing function must first analyse market trends and understand our customers' buying patterns and requirements. Marketing then drives the process by which our engineers decide which technologies, products and systems should be developed to meet these requirements. Marketing then has to work out how these products and systems should be brought to each market - either directly through the THALES sales force, through indirect channels such as other systems integrators and resellers, or through joint ventures. What are the key differentiators of our systems and products, and how can we express them in our marketing and sales messages? What communication channels should we use to deliver these messages? How should we price the systems and products we offer? And how can the Marketing function provide effective benchmarking against our competitors in order to give our sales professionals the information they need to win contracts? These are just some of the challenges and issues faced by the Marketing function, and reflect the rich content of its mission.

The Sales professional is the key interface with our customers. And given that it is our customers who pay our bills, this role is crucial! Armed with the knowledge of our markets, products and systems provided by the Marketing function, the Sales function has to deliver the goods, understanding the details of each customer's specific requirements, organisation and political influencers, and the relative strengths and weaknesses of the competition. The sales professional then has to earn the trust of the customer's executives at the highest level, leveraging the influence of THALES executives when appropriate. The sales professional not only has to respond to project opportunities and win contracts, he/she must also anticipate and influence customers' priorities and specifications, thereby creating a favourable environment for us to beat the competition in the future. After the contract is signed, the sales professional needs to manage the ongoing relationship, ensuring that the operational and service teams deliver on our commitments and building on the foundation of trust through continuing excellence during contract execution.

There is nothing like the sense of achievement when a valued customer signs the contract - a symbol of our success and promise for the future.

The Group, a leader on the aerospace, defence and security markets, deploys a marketing and sales approach and business models that are tailored to each market, the basic distinction being between defence and government customers, on the one hand, and private business-to-business (or B2B) customers on the other. The Marketing and Sales, Strategy function is organised into complementary teams: Marketing and Sales (Management), Customer Accounts Management, Strategic and Business Development, Marketing, Defence and Governmental and B2B Marketing and Sales (Domestic - Export and Offsets), Marketing and Sales Support.

Typical career path
From domestic sales (Defence or B2B) to export sales, leading to the responsibilities of a Generalist Manager. Marketing, Business Development and Sales positions can lead to a job in Strategy.