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Marketing and Sales:
The
Difference |
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Marketing and Sales: What is the
difference?
Marketing and sales are one of the most
important components of a business’s survival in the market.
While both are dependent on each other many people confuse
marketing with sales and vice-versa which is a big mistake.
Marketing involves designing a product according to the needs
of the market and customers, promoting the product through
advertising etc. and setting up a competitive price for the
product. Marketing is a platform which drives sales. While on
the other hand the sales process is what you do to
successfully sell a product and fetch a contract. Sales and
marketing together is a part of selling and one cannot do
without the other. They can also be called activities. The
success of a business is critical to the success of these two
important activities.
Marketing is the backbone of a company’s
future and launching pad for the sales. While the marketing
process encompasses the design of the product, advertising
etc. the sales process is the execution of all the efforts
which involves direct interaction with client either by
in-person meeting or cold calls or by networking. But there is
always an ongoing rivalry between the two, one claiming
dominancy over other. The marketing people say they have an
upper hand because they think it is they who designs the
products, lays down the strategy and also develops tools
essential for sales. They say sales are the outcome of
marketing and thus should follow its directions. The sales
people might not agree to this view and may be completely
opposite in their opinion. They think that it is the sales
people who actually sells a product and bring money to the
business.
But many experts believe that marketing
should play a pivotal role among the two. A successful
marketing campaign makes sales easy and makes people believe
that it is actually the sales people who are the dominant
leaders. The most important role of marketing department is to
create opportunities for the sales department. Marketing
drives sales and sales drives companies’ success. Marketing is
like a life support for sales, one who is constantly backing
up the sales department and enabling them to successfully
deliver the end product. There shouldn’t be a race to gain
supremacy over another department but a race to win the market
and customers working together.
Many businesses combine sales and
marketing together but in reality they have different targets.
While the sales department is interested in fulfilling the
requirements of what the customer asked for, the marketing
department is actually busy studying what the market demands.
The goal of the marketing department is to foresee how the
market will shape up in future. They should envision their
product catering to the needs of the market for next few years
and be ready to make design changes in their product
accordingly.
It is very important that a company
integrates their sales and marketing department in a well
fashioned manner. It is the correct integration of these two
important entities that fuels the growth of a company. The
sale people should not be merely treated as the cash
collectors. Each department has its own role and should go
hand in hand in selling the product of the company and should
be the foremost important criteria.
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