Marketing vs. Sales
Marketing vs. Sales What's the Difference
Marketing and sales co-exist and work in tandem beautifully if
they are allowed to remain as separate entities coming together
to achieve results:
DRIVING REVENUE!!
Marketing=SIZZLE Sales = CLOSING
The misunderstanding that marketing and sales are the same
causes a downward spiral of events. Sales staff and managers
become frustrated, productivity drops, turnover is high, and
company image suffers. This "cycle of misunderstanding"
perpetuates itself over and over again resulting in lost revenue.
STOP THE CYCLE OF MISUNDERSTANDING!
HOW?
1)Understand that there is a difference between marketing and
sales.
What's The Difference?
Marketing is associated with advertising, event planning,
community involvement, getting your company name "out there",
creating credibility, normally a "people pleaser" personality,
with the primary focus on lead generation.
Sales is associated with knowledge and understanding of the
value of a lead, understanding the "selling cycle", a well
documented sales process (and knowing how to use it), great
qualifying questions, developing an atmosphere of trust with
customers, listening more than talking, asking for the sale or
the next step, great follow-up skills.
The actual skill sets (not personalities) for each of these
areas of expertise is different. Most companies evaluate
potential sales staff on personalities NOT skills. A critical
component in the hiring process should include a skill based
evaluation.
2)When recruiting, define well in advance what position you are
hiring for - sales or marketing? Most companies' need both as a
team working together.
3)Eliminate untrained or unskilled staff from being involved in
the recruitment process. The misconception about sales and
marketing being one and the same runs rampant in all industries
in all staff involved in the hiring process.
Solutions:
1)Develop a company profile to differentiate skill sets.
2)Create a list of key questions designed to delineate the
difference in skill sets of the sales person vs. the marketing
person.
3)Provide appropriate training to anyone involved in the hiring
process to help them understand the differences to assure you
are hiring the right person for the right position.