Difference between sales and marketing! JERRY R MITCHELL March 1 25,2011

Sales and marketing are like two brothers. Everyone knowsthey are different, but people often call them by the wrong name JERRY R MITCHELL March 2 25,2011

The difference between marketing and sales is that marketing isbringing a product or service to a customer, whereas sales isbringing a customer to a product. JERRY R MITCHELL March 3 25,2011

Marketing is getting people to raise their hands.Sales is getting people to sign their names. JERRY R MITCHELL March 4 25,2011

What is the difference between marketing and sales? JERRY R MITCHELL March 5 25,2011

For small and medium-size business (SMB), salesand marketing tend to get lumped together in anindistinct mass of activities. Company leaders willsay its inevitable, because everybody wearsmultiple hats. Often, sales and marketingresponsibilities fall on the owner, who also wearsthe finance hat and the purchasing hat and the IThat . JERRY R MITCHELL March 6 25,2011

Marketing creates opportunities, and sales brings aboutoutcomes. JERRY R MITCHELL March 7 25,2011

Marketing assists in making new calls by defining andqualifying prospects.Marketing assists in making new and existing callsby arming sales reps with the collateral, web presence,and promotional programs they need to make compellingpresentations. JERRY R MITCHELL March 8 25,2011

Marketing assists in overcoming objections byresearching and reviewing customer wants and needs,along with sales successes and failures. In this waymarketing can reshape product/service offering to meetcustomer demands. JERRY R MITCHELL March 9 25,2011

Marketing assists in building long lasting businessrelationships by developing meaningful loyaltyprograms, reviewing customer experiences (see above),and crafting entirely new product and service offerings. JERRY R MITCHELL March 10 25,2011

The way I see the roles of Sales & Marketing is oneof cause and effect. I believe that Marketing (as adepartment or effort) will cause an event tooccur, and Sales will effect (or bring about) theoutcome. Looking at it another way, Marketingsefforts will bring forth customer purchaseopportunities that will rest with Sales to bring to closure. JERRY R MITCHELL March 11 25,2011

This distinction of cause and effect simplifies the idea ofwho should be doing what, when it comes to eachpersons role, or effort. Although Sales & Marketing arebound together in order to grow business, you must breakthe ties that bind you when it comes to the effort. JERRY R MITCHELL March 12 25,2011

This helps alleviate the typical commentary I hear thatgoes something like this, Marketing never gives us anygood leads. and Sales never follows-up on the leads wegive them. JERRY R MITCHELL March 13 25,2011

Marketing concentrates on who to call. Salesconcentrates on executing the call. JERRY R MITCHELL March 14 25,2011

Tonights subject reminds me of an occurrence that happened atone of my companies.There was always friendly competition between sales and marketingdepartments even though both departments reported to me.We had an annual picnic where all employees and their families werewelcome.The marketing department thought it would be exciting to challengethe sales department to a base ball game at this picnic.The sales staff whipped the marketing department soundly. JERRY R MITCHELL March 15 25,2011

To show just how the marketing department earns their keep, theyposted this memo on the bulletin board after the game:"The Marketing Department is pleased to announce that for the2005 Softball Season, we came in 2nd place, having lost but onegame all year.The Sales Department, however, had a rather dismal season,winning only one game. JERRY R MITCHELL March 16 25,2011

Sales manager addressing an under performing sales force at thestart of a new month:"We are going to have a sales contest this month. The winnerswill get to enter next months contest." JERRY R MITCHELL March 17 25,2011

Lets think about this question for a moment. Without marketingyou would not have prospects or leads to follow up with, but yetwithout a good sales technique and strategy your closing ratemay depress you. JERRY R MITCHELL March 18 25,2011

Marketing is everything that you do to reach and persuadeprospects.The sales process is everything that you do to close the saleand get a signed agreement or contract.Both are necessities to the success of a business. JERRY R MITCHELL March 19 25,2011

Your marketing will consist of the measures you use to reachand persuade your prospects that you are the company for them. JERRY R MITCHELL March 20 25,2011

Its the message that prepares the prospect for the sales. Itconsists of advertising, public relations, brand marketing, viralmarketing, and direct mail. JERRY R MITCHELL March 21 25,2011

The sales process consists of interpersonal interaction. It isoften done by a one-on-one meeting, cold calls, and networking.Its anything that engages you with the prospect or customer ona personal level rather than at a distance. JERRY R MITCHELL March 22 25,2011

The concepts surrounding both selling and marketing also differ.There is a need for both selling and marketing approaches in differentsituations.One approach is not always right and the other always wrong - itdepends upon the particular situation. JERRY R MITCHELL March 23 25,2011

In a marketing approach, more listening to and eventualaccommodation of the target market occurs.Two-way communication (sometimes between a salespersonand a customer) is emphasized in marketing so learning cantake place and product offerings can be improved. JERRY R MITCHELL March 24 25,2011

A salesperson using the sales concept, on the other hand,sometimes has the ability to individualize components of a sale,but the emphasis is ordinarily upon helping the customer determineif they want the product, or a variation on it, that is already beingoffered by the company. JERRY R MITCHELL March 25 25,2011

In the sales approach, not much time is spent learning what thecustomers ideal product would be because the salesperson haslittle say in seeing that their companys product is modified.Furthermore, they arent rewarded for spending time listening tothe customers desires unless they have a product to match theirdesires that will result in a sale. (Note, however, that sales peoplearent restricted to the use of the sales concept; oftentimes theyuse the marketing concept instead.) JERRY R MITCHELL March 26 25,2011

At the heart of the sales concept is the desire to sell a productthat the business has made as quickly as possible to fulfill salesvolume objectives. JERRY R MITCHELL March 27 25,2011

When viewed through the marketing concept lens, however,businesses must first and foremost fulfill customers wants andneeds.The belief is that when those wants and needs are fulfilled, aprofit will be made. JERRY R MITCHELL March 28 25,2011

Do you see the difference? The selling concept, instead offocusing on meeting customer demand, tries to make customerdemand match the products it has produced.Whereas marketing encompasses many research and promotionalactivities to discover what products are wanted and to makePotential customers aware of them. JERRY R MITCHELL March 29 25,2011

Unfortunately, fresh graduates these days are reluctant to gointo sales roles for various reasons. It could be that it doesntsound as glamorous as marketing or because of the myths thatsurround sales JERRY R MITCHELL March 30 25,2011

For people who aspire for marketing roles, having sales experiencegives you an edge over those who dont because youll have a betterunderstanding of the product or service from the customersperspective and this understanding will help you plan moreeffective marketing strategies JERRY R MITCHELL March 31 25,2011

In fact, a sales position gives you an excellent foundation for amarketing career. Besides, clearly defined marketing positionsare available mostly in larger organizations where there is a proper(or more rigid) structure. In smaller organizations, marketing roleswill usually involve some measure of sales. JERRY R MITCHELL March 32 25,2011

Whats wrong with sales ? JERRY R MITCHELL March 33 25,2011

There are many misconceptions about jobs in sales. Let meclarify.Myth 1If youre in sales, people dont want to talk to you because they areafraid youll sell them something.FactSales today have become so niche that not everyone is the targetgroup. Sales activities are in fact planned activities with specificobjectives and goals. JERRY R MITCHELL March 34 25,2011

Myth 2If youre in sales, youll be stuck in sales for the rest of your lifeand you cant move up the corporate ladder.FactSales departments are structured departments like any other andwhen you perform well at your job, you have the opportunity tomove up as team leader or manager as well as move into otherareas of work, i.e., marketing or human resources. JERRY R MITCHELL March 35 25,2011

Myth 3If youre in sales, youll be out of the office the whole day rushingfrom one appointment to another.FactPeople in sales plan their own schedules. They are able to decidewhat they want to do in a day as long as they meet their objectives.Most sales people set appointments with clients and only go out tomeet clients when there are pre-set appointments JERRY R MITCHELL March 36 25,2011

Myth 5Sales people have to meet impossible sales targets and theyhave to work very hard to earn their commission. JERRY R MITCHELL March 37 25,2011

FactSales people work in teams with a team leader, supervisor ormanager who oversees the activities and progress of team members.The team leader provides guidance and help wherever and wheneverpossible. Sales targets are communicated at the beginning and teammembers work with their leaders to achieve their targets. Usually,when new members join the team, they will be given a list ofpotential clients to contact or to service. Sales targets are set sothat the sales people have an objective to work towards. Besides, ifthey meet their targets, they will be rewarded accordingly. Therefore,sales people who work hard and achieve their targets have thepotential to earn more than their non-sales counterparts. In fact,sales people can determine for themselves how much they want toearn in terms of commission each month, quarter, or year, JERRY R MITCHELL March 38 25,2011

Myth 6If youre in sales, your job is done when the clients buy whateverit is youre selling.FactSales is no longer a one-off transaction its a relationship youbuild with your clients. Even for perishable items, youd want yourcustomers to come back to your shop to buy the item again whentheyve used it up. While its important for clients to buy yourproduct or service, you need to ensure repeat sales, hence theability to establish and build relationships with clients is of utmostimportance. JERRY R MITCHELL March 39 25,2011

Myth 7If you cant do anything else, you can always do sales. JERRY R MITCHELL March 40 25,2011

FactSales is not for everyone. You need special skills and abilities forthe job. Besides, you need to be motivated and interested inmeeting people. You also need to be passionate about the productor service youre selling. People who are shy and retiring, or haveproblems talking to people, will not do well in sales. However,having said that, people who have the abilities but not theconfidence should not shun sales positions because 1) thediscipline of working independently, 2) the interaction withdifferent groups of people, and 3) the experience of making a saleor being rejected, will make you a better person and widen yourhorizons as an individual. JERRY R MITCHELL March 41 25,2011

Myth 8You dont need a degree to do sales.FactSales has in fact become a very complex process. While productknowledge is important, you need to know who your clients areand how to sell to them effectively. A university degree is neverwasted if youre in sales because a university education helps youdevelop the skills that you need in your job. Skills such asresearch, communication, teamwork are important skills in anyjob particularly in a sales position. Besides, successful salespeople have the ability to see the big picture and contributetowards achieving sales targets and the companys objectivesas a whole. JERRY R MITCHELL March 42 25,2011

The emerging disruptors in this is Social MediaMarketing. This new medium allows Marketing to begin ahybrid effort of passive and active marketing in oneplace. And, Sales can now join into the discussion orconversation with prospective or existing customerswithout having to be physically present. JERRY R MITCHELL March 43 25,2011

The emergence of Social Media Marketing canbreak the ties that bind you not only in relation toSales & Marketing, but those that restrain you froma closer relationship and communication with yourcustomer. But, its not unlike the implementation ofa CRM system; automation alone will not solve yourlack of customer understanding and contact . JERRY R MITCHELL March 44 25,2011

Success, in my mind, will come from knowing how to useit effectively vs. just putting it in place. JERRY R MITCHELL March 45 25,2011

Number one: Whats your objective?Number two: How are you going to measure it? JERRY R MITCHELL March 46 25,2011

These two questions arent revolutionary - theyre amongthe first questions that should be asked at the start ofplanning for any new project. Yet they often seem to getleft by the wayside, or at the very least poorly answered,when it comes to social media marketing projects. JERRY R MITCHELL March 47 25,2011

Question #1 is pretty straightforward, though theanswers are often anything but. Some days you get lucky,and the answer is clear and concise - "increase unaidedbrand awareness from 10% to 15%" or "drive 20% moretraffic to our new landing page." All too often howeverthe answer is either vague - "build buzz" - or confuses theobjective with the means to achieve it - "get more fansand followers JERRY R MITCHELL March 48 25,2011

In the latter case, a quick "why?" is probably in order, asin "why do you want to get more fans and followers?"What actually matters to the project owner? Do theythink having lots of fans and followers is a means togetting more traffic for their web site? If so, considerresetting the objective to that, and later in your planningprocess evaluate building fans/followers as one of manypossible tactics to achieve it. JERRY R MITCHELL March 49 25,2011

If the response to "whats your objective" was clear andconcise, "how are you going to measure it" has beenlargely answered. Now you can get down to the details ofwhich measurement tools youll use and whosaccountable for tracking and reporting JERRY R MITCHELL March 50 25,2011

But if the stated objective is vague or confusing,then asking "how are you going to measure it?" canbe incredibly liberating. It focuses the conversationaround what really matters to the project owner -"buzz" for example might mean getting lots ofsocial media mentions to lay the groundwork for aglitzy new PR and ad campaign. JERRY R MITCHELL March 51 25,2011

It might mean getting lots of positive blog posts pointingto a new landing page. Or it might mean inspiring a bunchof product reviews on all the right recommendation ande-commerce sites to influence future purchase decisions. JERRY R MITCHELL March 52 25,2011

Who knows unless you ask, and youre setting yourself upfor failure if you dont. JERRY R MITCHELL March 53 25,2011

By asking "how do you measure it?" you force the projectowner to cut through the fluffy vagueness of "awareness""buzz" or "education" and get down to whats actuallyimportant, what the real business objective is. And byarriving at common agreement on the actual, concreteobjective and exactly how and what youre going tomeasure, youve helped ensure the strategy and tacticsyou generate are driving to the correct goal right fromthe start. JERRY R MITCHELL March 54 25,2011

Marketings role is to create demand. Sales role isto find these people and distribute thesupply.Theres also a big difference in salarybetween sales and marketing. Sales people havethe $$ incentive and receive commission.Marketing folks dont. JERRY R MITCHELL March 55 25,2011

Understandingthis relationshipwill makea companyssuccess much easier, and much moreprofitable.This isone of the reasons some companies have attainedcultstatus. Think of it this way: when people think of Apple,do they think of the sales people closing the sales, or dothey think of the brand and have an emotional desire tobuy the latest iPhone? Thats marketing in its simplestrepresentation. JERRY R MITCHELL March 56 25,2011