Setting the Record Straight: Marketing vs. Sales
Why is it that the terms “sales” and “marketing” are so often confused? Even seasoned marketing experts sometimes cross-utilize these references as if they equate to something one and the same – indeed, there are definite similarities with regard to the underlying goals involved, notably with marketing and sales being aimed at increasing revenue. However, they’re so closely intertwined that people often don’t realize the difference between the two…so we’re going to set the record straight on the matter.
In small organizations, the same staff members typically perform both marketing and sales tasks; nevertheless, sales becomes even more different from marketing as a company grows exponentially, thus causing the roles and responsibilities to become more specialized. Let’s first compare the definition differences between marketing and sales before we look at elements such as approach, focus, process and scope:
- Marketing is defined as the systematic planning, implementation and control of business activities to bring together buyers and sellers.
- Sales is a transaction between two parties wherein the buyer receives the goods (either tangible or intangible), services and/or assets in exchange for currency; it can also be defined as an agreement between a buyer and seller on the price of a security.
When it comes to approach, marketing encompasses a broader range of activities in order to sell a product or service (or even a client relationship), and also includes determining future needs and keeping a strategy in place to meet those needs for a long-term relationship. In sales, the approach has more to do with making customer demands match the products a company currently offers. Likewise, when talking about focus; on marketing, the overall picture concentrates on promoting, distributing, pricing, products/services and fulfilling customer’s wants and needs through products and/or services the company can offer. In sales, the focus is pretty much on one thing: Fulfilling sales volume objectives.
The sales process is a whole lot simpler than that of marketing – usually, sales involves a one-to-one relationship. In marketing, a whole slew of elements are involved, including analysis of market, distribution channels, competitive products and services, pricing strategies, sales tracking, market share analysis and budget. Additionally, marketing’s scope incorporates market research, advertising, sales, public relations, customer service and satisfaction, while in sales the scope has more to do with persuading a customer to purchase a product to fulfill his/her needs once the product has been created for a customer need.
In Summary
The typical goal of marketing is to generate interest in a product and create leads or prospects, with such activities including:
- Consumer research to identify customers’ needs
- Product development to design innovative products to meet existing or latent needs
- Advertising to raise awareness and build the brand
- Pricing products and services to maximize long-term revenue
Conversely, sales activities are focused on converting prospects to actual paying customers, and involves directly interacting with the prospects to persuade them to purchase a product. The bottom line is that marketing tends to focus on the general population (or, in essentially any case, a large set of people) whereas sales tends to concentrate on individuals or a small group of prospects.
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