Sales Vs Marketing: 3 Key Differences Between Sales And Marketing You Should Know

If you find yourself confused about the difference between sales and marketing, you’re not alone. Since the two functions work (or should work) closely together, and in smaller companies, they might even be handled by the same set of people, it is easy to conflate the two. However, the two departments have distinct goals, strategies, and processes.

Sales Vs Marketing

Essentially, marketing is about creating awareness for your overall brand and forming a potential customer base. The simplest way to think about it is—When you hear the name of a brand or product or see a logo, are you able to recognise it instantly? If someone asks you about your top three preferred brands or products in a category, what comes to mind? When you think of buying a product, do you already prefer one or more brands? All of this is the result of effective marketing.

Sales, on the other hand, is about converting the person from a prospect to a buyer. The sales department is the one responsible for bringing in the actual revenue from a product. When you visit your local kirana store or supermarket, you are targeted as a potential customer. You might find your local grocer trying to sell you a particular product, or you might find salespeople prompting you to try out a new product. What you finally end up buying in the store is a result of the company’s marketing as well as sales efforts. So, the difference between sales and marketing is that while marketing efforts might bring you into the store looking for a particular brand (and also determine how much you want the specific brand), sales efforts will determine what you actually buy (and even if you end up buying something different from what you had intended to).

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Difference In Objectives

The marketing department of a company has different goals than the sales department. Depending on the market, product, and competition, these goals might vary from “establishing the brand firmly in the minds of consumers” to “getting people to switch from a competitor to our brand.” When a new product is launched in a market, or an established product is launched in a new market, the marketing team gets to work. Sometimes, an organisation might also want to change the perception of a certain product or brand in the market. This, too, is a marketing objective for a company. Traditionally, it was believed that marketing objectives can be difficult to measure as they can be vague and qualitative in nature. However, with the advent of digital media, it has become easier to track the performance of various marketing campaigns and initiatives. Nevertheless, marketing objectives tend to be broader than those of sales. They also target a much larger audience, even though people are now understanding the value of targeted and niche marketing campaigns due to the reduced costs of digital and social media marketing.

When it comes to sales, the objectives are almost always quantitative and well-defined in nature. Sales teams work on targets that are set quarterly and even weekly in some cases. Their goals include reaching those targets, increasing the monthly or quarterly revenue for the company, and increasing profit margin. When it comes to profits, it is the responsibility of the sales team that the customer acquisition cost (the amount of money that goes into converting a sales lead) is as reduced as possible.

Both marketing and sales help organisations maintain mutually- beneficial customer relationships.

Both sales and marketing teams need to make sure that their existing customers are retained, and new customers are onboarded (either those who are completely new to the category itself or those who are loyal to a competitor). However, the way they approach these goals is where the difference between sales and marketing come in.

Read further to know more about the difference between sales and marketing.

Difference In Processes

The difference between sales and marketing also lies in their processes. Most marketing departments base their processes on the “4Ps of marketing.” The 4Ps stand for—product, price, place, and promotion. These are the tools that any marketing organisation uses to reach its marketing goals. The first thing to decide is what you need to sell. Then you determine where to sell these products or services, and at what price. Once you have determined these aspects of your offering, you need to focus on promoting it in the most effective way possible. If you are a service-based company, you might need to expand to the “7Ps of marketing,” which include processes, people, and physical evidence. Think about service-based industries such as the hospitality sector. The success of these industries depends on how efficient the processes are, how pleasant and useful customer service is, and whether people can actually find evidence of the transactions that take place. For example, if your service is something otherwise intangible, like a meditation session, you will need video evidence of the session, a place where the sessions are held (either online or offline), and a way for potential customers to see the benefits of the service (through ratings, reviews, and testimonials).

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This means that the marketing department needs to study the market, conduct studies to segment the customers into different groups (based on demographic factors like age or gender or psychographics like lifestyle and beliefs), and find their target audience. After that, they need to create a specific strategy based on their target group, and work on positioning the product. Positioning is a method by which a potential customer is given a reason to buy the product based on its unique selling point (or a distinguishing feature) that solves a problem for the customer. This can be done through campaigns that are run through different media, such as television, digital, or print media. It is also important to track the performance of these campaigns and tweak them on a regular basis if needed.

Keep reading to understand more about sales and marketing differences.

Marketing is about creating awareness for overall brand and forming a potential customer base while sales is about converting the person from a prospect to a buyer.

The sales process is usually more one-on-one, as it involves converting each prospect into a customer (hopefully for life). The first step of the process usually deals with identifying a list of target customers (or prospects) and conducting research on them. After that, salespeople spend time on connecting with the clients, through cold calls, emails, or in-person meetings and trying to understand whether it is worth spending time, effort, and (sometimes) money on them. If yes, then the rest of the process involves demonstrating the product and its benefits to them, handling any concerns or issues they might have regarding the product, and negotiating a price that is fair to both parties involved. Of course, the work does not end when the customer is onboarded, as the post-sales experience is critical to their retention as a customer. It is important to regularly follow-up with customers and get their feedback on the performance of the products.

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Difference In Strategies

Depending on the customers, products, and markets, there are several differences between sales and marketing teams and they can employ different strategies to reach their goals. In terms of marketing, you can either try to focus on your product and its qualities, convincing customers to buy the products for their performance, or you can go for a price-based strategy, where you try to match the prices of your competitors or project yourself as a value-for-money brand.

In today’s scenario of social media and shortened attention spans, many organisations strive to create a more meaningful connection with their consumers. This is why most of them go for a strategy where they aim to build online (and even offline) communities, create meaningful and helpful content, and position themselves as a guide or friend in their customers’ lives. This way, they become less “pushy” and more attractive. This is also why certain organisations like Apple don’t concern themselves with talking about price or even specific products as much as they talk about being an aspirational brand, a status symbol, and a part of their customers’ personal brand. It might take a while to come up with an effective and long-lasting marketing strategy, but once you do, you have created an impact that does not fade away easily.

When it comes to sales strategies, you need to use analytics and other tools at your disposal to ensure that you create revenue at the lowest cost possible, without missing out on opportunities. This can include organising trade fairs, meeting prospects in their homes or offices, and holding demonstrations for a large audience. You might also want to invest in upgrading your current customers to a more profitable product or pitching products that can be sold in conjunction with existing ones.

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If your customers walk into a store, you will employ different strategies than if you meet them in their homes or offices. Similarly, if you decide to reach out to your customers through television or print media, you will employ different methods than if you target those people who visit your website or blog. While some people like to believe that marketing largely relies on a “pull” strategy whereas sales is based on a “push” strategy, I believe it is more nuanced than that.

As our customers evolve and become more informed buyers, it is important that we approach them with more understanding and empathy rather than by saddling them with products they don’t need. While marketing might seem to be more customer-centric and sales more organisation-centric, the truth is that both help an organisation foster and maintain customer relationships that are mutually beneficial for all parties involved. Therefore, it becomes even more important to understand the difference between sales and marketing departments and for them to work in tandem with, and support, each other.

Aishwarya is a marketer and writer. As a marketer, she has a keen interest in creating meaningful conversations. As a writer, she loves pushing the boundaries of storytelling.