Connectnigeria Articles

By Kobe Eru Godwin

Marketing and sales are important activities for every organization. They are the two main tools that keep a company running, their focus being to minimize the cost of any project and maximize the output at the same time. Marketing activities are numerous and varied because they include all the techniques needed to get products off the shelf and into the hands of the consumer. A sales pitch on the other hand, is an element of the marketing process that closes the deal by providing a potential customer the basic incentive to make a positive purchase decision. Marketing includes product designs by using tools such as marketing research and pricing; while sales covers product promotion using tools such as public relations, advertising and marketing communications. Marketing and Sales; similar but different in myriad ways. People often misconstrue marketing for sales. Marketing targets a large group or the general public. Sales on the other hand targets individuals. Marketing means generating prospects while sales means converting the prospects into orders or purchases. Marketing is data driven. Marketers analyze data and do tests. Sales are relationship driven. In terms of ratio, sales are ratio 1:1 (seller:buyer), while Marketing is 1:many, and with online marketing (using social media) it is 1:1:many (one post to another person that is shared to an entire group of people). Marketing is related to educating and creating awareness of the product or service in the market. Sales are also related with educating and creating awareness but the difference is scale, as explained using ratios. Marketing does its activities on a huge scale while sales does its activities on very short scale, and most of the time, one on one basis. Sales is more closely related to interpersonal relations and interaction with prospects. Marketing is considered to be a wider term than sales; it includes identifying customers, producing innovative products, branding, advertising, public relations, sales, etc. Thus, sales is just a stage or an activity of marketing. Marketing creates the demand for a product in the market whereas sales satisfy this demand. In terms of activity, sales is more direct, while marketing is an indirect activity. Marketing helps the organization to create a brand image of the product or service (Marketing manages reputations) while sales only involves the selling of that product or service. Marketing is about finding customers. Sales are about getting those customers to buy the products or services. Marketing can reshape product/service offering to meet customer demands. Marketing assists in building long lasting business relationships. In terms of focus, marketing focuses on long term concerns, while sales is related with short term focus. Marketing helps to define and qualify prospects by concentrating on who to call, sales concentrates on executing the call. Marketing creates the path for sales to follow. Today, image identity is placed under marketing and called ‘BRANDING’. Marketing and sales comprise the overall style of your company and the meaning it has to clients. To succeed via marketing and sales, it is of paramount importance to have an understanding of the needs and wants of both your present and prospective customers. Both activities become interrelated at some point in time. Though Marketing and Sales differ, they are interlinked and interconnected to increase revenue. Without marketing you cannot sell products or services effectively.

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This article was first published on 25th March 2013

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Chojare Pamela Agboga is a Legal Practitioner, Writer, Editor, Chartered Secretary and Administrator. She is currently working on her first novel 'Weekends are for Loving' as well as a devotional for women.