Jilaveanu Madalina &

Marica Mirela

What's the Difference Between Sales and Marketing?

Working with mid-size companies, we often hear the terms Sales and Marketing used together. In some ways, this is logical because the two need to work together. But in fact, they are two very different functions and require very different skills.

Sales = Sell What’s in Stock

The job of Sales is to “sell what’s in stock”. The company has specific products or services and the job of Sales is to sell those things.

Sales develops relationships with customers and/or channel partners. They knock down the doors, overcome objections, negotiate prices and terms and often work internally to be sure their customer’s orders are filled.

The perspective of Sales is from

inside the company out toward the customers and their horizon is focused on this week, this month and this quarter. If sales is not focused on the now, then there may not be any revenue this week, month or quarter.

Marketing = Align with Customers, Now and for the Future

A key job of Marketing is to understand the marketplace from the perspective of the customer looking back towards the company and helping lead the company where it should be in the future.

Marketing’s job is to direct the organization toward the segments, or groups of customers and channels where the company can profitably compete. It should help the organization see how it needs to modify its product offerings, pricing and communication so that it meets the needs of the distribution channel or end customers.

Without Marketing, Sales Suffers

Not even the best hunter can bring home dinner if they are shooting blanks at decoys.  Markets are constantly changing.  The job of marketing is to stay ahead of the changes, and help the hunters see where they should be hunting and provide them with the right ammunition.

If Marketing is only focused on delivering the ammunition for today, nobody will see where the industry is moving or where the company needs to hunt next. This limits growth.

ConclusionSales needs to be focused on the now. You can’t run a

company unless your sales team is focused on bringing in today’s business. But you can’t really ask your Sales leaders where the company should go next and to develop the 18 month plan to get there without losing focus on today’s revenue.

Besides, if your sales executive was really good at developing future-focused business strategies and tying that strategy to the plans and tools of marketing to make it happen, they would be a marketing person and not a now-focused sales person.

Bibliography

Text:

http://www.salesandmarketing.com/

http://www.diffen.com/difference/Marketing_vs_Sales

http://vendor-mk.blogspot.ro/2010/11/diferenta-intre-marketing-si-vanzari.html

Images:

http://www.3hrlearning.com/marketing-vs-sales/

http://grandeurresortservices.com/sales-marketing/ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140222

180736-41666699-marketing-people-vs-sales-people

http://genobz.com/2014/competencies-required-sales-marketing-role/http://www.photomint.com/sales-marketing/