Does Marketing Mean Sales?

I know we tend to put Marketing and Sales together as if they mean the same thing but in fact they are quite different. I believe understanding the difference between them is very important. The two are related but the difference is this; Marketing raises awareness and helps to create a relationship between a business and a customer but it is Sales that makes the cash register ring or causes cash flow? What is your opinion?

MPrince -MPrince

I mostly agree, MP, assuming you're talking about traditional B2B selling scenarios. Online marketing is a different matter, however. -Skip Anderson

I'm in agreement.

One comment: If online marketing is a form of advertising, then I would view it as sales. I think--not sure--Skip's post suggests that. This could make for interesting discussion. "Marketing" is a word that has become diluted in meaning because of its overuse today. -Ace Coldiron

I agree that the word Marketing has become to "used" and that is my reason in starting this thread. I would like to hear your professional opinions; I too believe it would make some interesting conversation.

I also want to hear more from Skip about online Marketing I must admit I need more education there and it seems he is just the man to talk about it.

I looked Marketing and Sales in the American Heritage Dictionary I was very interested to see what the dictionary had to say about the two; in short below are the definitions.

Marketing; The act or business of promoting sales of a product.
Sales; The exchange of goods for an amount of money.

MPrince -MPrince

In common, perhaps incorrect, usage "sales" interchanges with the word "selling". Certainly, it is most often used here in that way by the developer and participants of the site.

"Marketing" is very gray today in conversation. Ogilvy defined it as "objectivity" for his purposes. -Ace Coldiron

You are correct I believe...Sell or selling is an act to achieve a certain price or dollar amount for a product or service.

Salesperson would be a noun and Sales is a profession and I suppose it would also be a noun in my opinion.

The only way I know how to explain Marketing is; Marketing is positioning of your product or service.

MP -MPrince

...which brings up an interesting question. Can a business position itself, or can positioning ultimately only be created by the market? Don't jump at an answer to that one. Think of the lessons of Coca Cola and Avis. Or Edsel!! -Ace Coldiron

You are right...this is one I am going to have to think about. I will give it some careful thought and give you my thoughts later. -MPrince

Well Ace...I have to say that a business can in fact position itself but the market will ultimately determine the positioning or I should say success or failure of the product. Coca Cola has definitely positioned itself as the soft drink leader so that we even call a soft drink a "coke". That does not mean all the product launches Coca Cola tries will make it. The same is true with the Edsel, I believe. So...yes a business can position itself but the market positions the product. -MPrince

I have to agree with that.

Notice also that businesses that position themselves often do it by effecting the face of distribution. Think Walmart.

Coke has some of the greatest brand name recognition on the planet. In the area I live in, Pepsi dominates the market and has for years. In any restaurant here, you are much more likely to be served Pepsi, and most customers ask for Coke, probably because that name is so entrenched in their minds. As a result, servers are conditioned to ask "Pepsi OK?" to the point of it being a mantra. I've seen people ask for "cola". They still invariably respond "Pepsi OK?".

In the above example, the reason Pepsi dominates locally in sales is because of a very strong and aggressive distributorship here. -Ace Coldiron

I guess there's a lot of things that must be done, or processes to win a customer or get someone to buy. Its probably not possible or one person to do everything. Even if you were an OMO you may need to outsource...or build an external team to help.

So its convenient and in fact important to put a "name" to task...and have a common understanding of these terms. College, business education is largely about creating common understanding so that we can all have a meaningful discussions easily.

Marketing has come to be accepted as referring to the whole realm of activities than brings about a sale, customer or an exchange transaction. Sales as those activities closer to the end of the process.

Because its broad grouping its never all that precise....but most time we don't have to unlike we are process engineering or defining jobs.

Even then, the practice in sales and marketing is towards teamwork rather than individual effort -alexhar

Good post. Well stated. -Ace Coldiron

The same can be said for Kleenex (facial tissue) and Q-Tips (cotton swabs). Even if we buy Puff's facial tissue we still call it a Kleenex and no matter what kind of cotton swab we use we call it a Q-Tip. In these cases the businesses positioned the products and the market followed.

MPrince -MPrince

A really interesting thread and the subject of on line marketing is particularly topical at the moment.

Have you noticed everyone refers to it as on line marketing rather than selling?

I have been carrying out extensive research in this area over the last two years and it throws up a lot of information about what does and does not work.

I am luckily being mentored by a leading branding expert who has worked on some of the biggest brands on the planet. To be quite frank it is giving me a whole new perspective on the selling and marketing process. The power of connection with your customers and market is one of a few missing keys that many sales people over look.

If you have not read it yet grab a copy of Seth Godin's Tribes book it gives a real perspective on the power of connection.

For a sustainable business true selling can't happen till the marketing take place.


This is an area we are now building into a lot of our own programmes to make sure we don't leave the "sales team" high and dry wondering why they are not able to make the sale!

Thanks for the post -SalesManagersCoach

Marketing and Sales are different. Marketing is building a brand, creating awareness of your product, advertising, prepaing flyers, colletrals, website, running campaigns etc. But Sales is actually selling your product to the customer. It is mapping the requirements of a customer to your product. -chirag.maheshwari

I have found Seth Godlin and I am enjoying him as well.

MP -MPrince

Simply put to me:

Marketing is all the functions (branding, advertising, promoting etc) that 'open the door' for a sales conversation to happen. It could generate the interest someone has to 'call into a company' and find out more.

Sales/Selling is the act of an interaction between a potential customer and the representative of a company who has the job of increasing business or relationships to grow the profitability with new ventures for the company. Today the word salesperson is not always the listed title on their business card, even though at the end of the day, they are expected to 'bring in new business and new revenue'. -Paulette Halpern

Paulette

You are right...marketing is the steps taken to bring merchants and consumers together. It means a host of things. But it is not the actual act of sales it is the plan and this plan has to be implemented or nothing will happen.

MP -MPrince