Marketing and Sales - What is the difference?

I’ve always been somewhat surprised at the confusion that seems to exist between the marketing and the sales process. Hopefully the following blog will eliminate some of the discrepancies.

I am not a marketing person, but I’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of marketing professionals over the years while initiating sales concepts that compliment a well-conceived marketing effort.

Both marketing and sales are critical to ensure the growth of a business, but they are not the same. Let’s discuss the differences.

In simple terms, marketing is a game plan, which creates visibility and awareness of an aspiring enterprise, its products, and services. It also creates a “call to action” for your target market if they perceive that your product alleviates a need or problem. Marketing can consist of everything from collateral material, a promotional website, email correspondence, and social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Marketing is all about creating a presence and creating a favorable perception about the product or service. If this perception is favorable, it creates a response that helps to initiate the sales process.

Although the term “sales” sometimes evokes negative feelings in a person’s mind, it is the major key to generating business. Sales is the engine that moves a company. It creates a cash-flow and operating capitol. Without sales, there is no way to develop new growth and expansion in a company.

The sales concept is primarily direct contact with perspective clients. It is a follow up to the marketing effort. Sales concepts can take several forms: response to an email inquiry, responding to contact from a website, a telephone conversation, or a face-to-face meeting.

Simply put, sales is all about responding to a perspective client’s need or problem with direct contact, which leads to a sales transaction. It is about creating a win-win situation for everyone involved. The transaction will not take place until the perceived value of a product or service exceeds the cost. Without this, there is no cash-flow or momentum in the company. Because at the end of the  day, there’s not much for anyone to do, until a transaction takes place.

As you can begin to see, sales and marketing are very complimentary but certainly differ in relationship to their intended purpose. The fine line between the two is often blurred to most people, who group sales and marketing together without understanding their differences.

“The way it is”, Mike Levi’s weekly blog

09.06.2012

To blog or not to blog – that is the question. I have not totally figured out how this thing, called social media, works. Why do we sometimes give away our intellectual knowledge failing to see clear ROI? I guess, I will continue asking myself, how this social media concept works. How much is too much or too little? How will I know if I am doing something wrong or right?  I am also wondering, with so many people doing it, if there is anybody out there really listening?  

Social media is something that I am going to work on very diligently for the next three or four months. Then I will be able to say to myself: “I honestly did it”. I will either see fruits of my labor or not. If not, why?

I am very intrigued by this medium. The cost, other than time, seems to be pretty affordable. I am most interested in discovering if the potential is as real as it appears? Is a payoff something that we can all enjoy and benefit from?

I am always open to suggestions on ways to address this communication tool that we refer to as social media in a proactive manner that is acceptable. Thanks in advance for helping an ancient human being to begin to better understand this communication phenomenon.

The way it is

Hi,

Sorry I got a little bit lazy and did not produce the sort of blog over the last couple months that you and I would expect.

We are going to be spending the next few months exploring ways to help your company or enterprise begin to move towards its potential.

What has been missing in business, especially over the last decade, is a sense of loyalty on everyone’s part. That includes ownership, management, and employees.  There are three primary reasons why companies fail to succeed. They are:

·         Capital. Most start-up or emerging businesses are undercapitalized. They do not have essential financial resources to do what needs to be done.

·         Decision making. Decisions that you have made in the past and the ones that you are currently making, oftentimes lack the proper do-diligence and information gathering, which I found to be critical for good decision making.

·         Positive attitude. Truly envisioning what is doable and building a game plan, which incorporates all the activities and initiatives, is essential for  moving forward.

These are good starting points if you are struggling or failing to take your company to the next level. But what is especially critical is to have a consistent team effort by all involved, and work towards a common goal.  

I always find that almost everyone likes to be a part of the decision-making process, wants responsibility for their contribution to a project, and like to be recognized for it. This starts with a process called delegation. Employees with a sense of ownership and purpose can get done a surprising amount of work, especially if you build a trust among them.  You may be amazed to find out that there are many people in this business world that simply do things better than us.

If what you are currently doing is not working, I would highly encourage a change of direction.

P.S. I hope this blog meets your expectations.   

Integrity Selling - The Beginning

 

As I mentioned last week, the real key to professional selling is in the discovery process. What you do in the interview process can go a long way in determining if the services or products you represent can solve an existing problem. Building on this, your products or services may be able to add something that will allow the company to perform better than it is currently.

Always remember that it’s possible for everyone to win. By asking good questions, you are able to decide if you need to expand the interview process or realize that what you do and what they want are simply not a good fit.

Integrity selling is really okay. Okay for all involved to come out with a win-win proposition. If it makes good sense for you to solve an issue then in return the customer gets something that makes their business life easier and more productive.

Have some fun this week and see if you can help someone solve a problem that maybe they didn’t know they had.

System Selling: More on Conceptual Selling

      As I’ve mentioned in some my past sales tips: people are motivated to buy for 2 reasons pleasure (15%) and to relieve pain, discomfort (85%) or solve a problem.

      The profession of selling is very misunderstood. Most people think that it’s all about closing the sale. In actuality, people don’t want to be sold; they want to buy for their reasons and only their reasons. Selling is about exploring and discovering whether or not what you do or the product you represent can alleviate the issues that a prospective client is faced with. It’s less about actually selling and more about discovering the problem facing a prospect and determining if your product or service is a good match to alleviate their problem.

      Always remember that by creating a healthy buying environment you’re working in the best interest of your potential client, which will lead toward a win-win for all involved.

      If you follow this sales tip closely, you’re well on your way to a mutually beneficial partnership between you and your prospect.

System Selling: Theoretical vs. Conceptual Selling

There is a significant difference in the 2 major approaches to selling:

• Theoretical Selling: Can be otherwise referred to as a textbook approach to sales that has been around for many years. Theoretical selling has a tendency to lack a flexible point of view and usually fails to address the issues that the prospect is faced with. Further, it does not use the guidelines of effective interviewing. Many times this approach to selling fails to discover what the prospect is truly looking for. It’s easy to teach or learn but lacks the personal interface that comes with the conceptual approach to selling. 

• Conceptual Selling: Allows for constant flexibility. It’s all about discovering and having a constructive interface with a prospect so you can come to a conclusion of what they actually want. Conceptual sales begin with a comfortable conversation which is called interview selling.
• Interview Selling: Refers to the way a salesperson applies a flexible system of interviewing a prospect. The interview selling approach I use is a 70/30 rule where you should be listening 70% of the time and asking effective questions 30% of the time. Until you determine if the prospect has a need for what you’re selling never venture into the selling scenario. 

Why Salespeople Succeed or Fail

The first thought that comes to mind when discussing salespeople is that they are very people oriented and have an outgoing personality. 

Yes, it’s true that these traits are certainly important in the make up of a professional salesperson. However, it might surprise you when I say that these important qualities are far from being the real difference maker in why people succeed in the sales profession while others fail.

 Let’s add some additional elements and traits to this persona:

1. A natural confidence that comes with a person who is willing to do due diligence and truly learn about their profession.
2. A real desire to be the best in their respective field. It’s an attitude that separates the good from the very best.
3. A natural energy level that draws people to you. If it’s genuine it can be very contagious. People can tell when you’re really engaged in your profession.
4. Someone that has a genuine interest in solving other people’s problems. They take pride in creating a win-win for all involved.
5. Some of the finest salespeople are very much in touch with themselves and display a comfortable laidback personality. Just being yourself is really the key. 

          These traits and attitudes are essential elements in helping people to maximize their professionalism, character and sales.