Many small business owners confuse the disciplines of Sales and Marketing, in this presentation, we look at how they differ, and why companies should align both.

1. Marketing
isNOT
Sales

2. For many big companies, there will be a marketing department and a
separate sales department.
But in smaller businesses, the roles may merge and people wear more than
one hat. However, this can lead to a confusion about the difference between
the roles that means sometimes people think that a marketing expert is a
sales expert.
The truth is very different and here’s why.

3. TheRoleofthe
Marketing
Department
At the most basic level, the role of the marketing
department or marketing specialist is about two
things – the company brand and ways to generate
leads that create customers. There are many paths
that they take to reach this goal and to manage this
brief.
For example, a marketing role might involve
managing a prospect database. This is a list of
people who may purchase from the company, be it
services or a product. They will keep this database
up to date, ensuring contact information is accurate
and that people are still with the same company or in
the same role.
As well as managing existing leads, marketers will
formulate strategies to find new customers. These
can be in any one of a huge list of ways from
newsletters and email communications to
promotions, competitions, social media events and
even to old-fashioned phone calls or personal visits.

4. They will often have a target of a certain number of leads
generated each month – that are then passed to the sales
department to handle.
Working on the brand of a company is an ongoing process that
never really stops. From major rebranding exercises to subtle
changes in the brand that better position it against its
competitors, this is another area that the marketing expert
excels at.
Working on the company’s website and social media presences
are often a key part of this as are the creation or publishing of a
company blog – often the writing itself is done by a blogger or
content writer under the guidance of the marketing expert.
A marketing expert will often have good knowledge of how the
selling process works in order to best prepare the customers for
the next stage of the process. They will know the wording that
has the best effect, the approaches that will most likely move a
lead to a customer.
But their skills lie in the creation of marketing materials and
processes, not the actual sales process – this is best left to the
sales expert.

5. How Sales and
Marketing Work
Together
The confusion about the difference between sales and
marketing is understandable but for a business to get the
best from both of these experts, understanding sales and
marketing difference is key.
Essentially, the marketing department creates the
business’ presence online and offline and through this,
creates leads.
These leads are maintained in various ways, often in a
database. But the marketing expert doesn’t sell to these
people – that is the job of the sales department

6. The sales team or person is the one who takes that
lead and builds it into a sale, a repeat customer and
even a brand ambassador in some cases.
The sales person uses an array of tools like the
marketer but these are different tools and often
involve a lot of interpersonal communication. The
old saying about ‘people buying from people’ is still
very accurate even in the internet age and that’s
why sales people have to have exemplary
communication skills.
In a sense, the two disciplines form a cycle. The
marketing expert creates a presence for the
business, say through a website.
People visit the website and express interest in the
product or service that the business offers. That
lead is then filed into a database and passed to the
sales expert.
The sales expert contacts the lead and begins
discussion their needs and requirements with the
aim of making a sale.
If no sale is made, the person might go back onto a
warm lead database to be approached again in the
future. Or they may go back to marketing to receive
further approaches such as promotions, newsletters
or blog posts that may help them become a
customer.

7. To get the best from a marketing expert or team, it is also
important to understand what marketing is not, what the
marketing expert does not do. It is important to see why
marketing is not sales.
Marketing is not sales – these are two very different skills. A
salesperson focuses on making the sale, securing the client or
gaining commitment from the customer. While they will
provide information to reach this aim, they are focused on the
end result. The marketer is more about nurturing the lead,
building a relationship and offering the customer something
useful that helps them see the company in a positive light.
Marketing isn’t about being creative, it is about using
information, acting on data and understanding the information
you can access. There’s a little creativity to the role, such as
creating ideas for promotions or content for a blog. But
creativity is more useful to graphic designers and web
designers than a marketing expert.
Marketing is also not customer service. While the role of the
marketer will involve building a relationship, their aim is to pass
that lead to the sales team. Once the sales team have made a
sale, then the customer service team are available to handle any
follow-up queries or problems.
Why Marketing is Not Sales

8. While the marketer will know the inside and outside of every product or service the company
offers, they aren’t the people that deal with problems that come after the sale. Likewise, they are
not product support, there to tell a customer how to use a product or deal with defective
products.
Marketing might help with staff recruitment but they are not HR experts. They might be able to
produce the materials needed to advertise a role within the company and sell the benefits of
working for the business but they aren’t the ones who do the interviews or make the selection.
Finally, marketing is not about crisis management – that’s where PR experts come in. If the
company finds it has a problem, such as a defective product or a faulty piece of software and
there is negative publicity around it, don’t ask the marketing expert to deal with it.
Instead, get a PR expert to look at the best course of action to restore the company’s

9. The Difference
between
Sales and Marketing
Perhaps the best way to understand the sales and
marketing difference in approach is to look at the
mindset of the individuals involved.
For example, the goal of marketing is around
positioning the business, aligning the brand within
an industry or niche to make an impression on those
potential customers and transform them into leads.
But the goals of the sales team are simple – make
sales. Their mindset is about the numbers – how
many sales, how much profit.
The marketing state of mind is about the ongoing
success of the business from the viewpoint of the
marketing strategy.
It is about evolving this strategy as needed to make
the best use of resources. The sales state of mind is
about using tried and tested strategies to reach set
goals, usually on a monthly or quarterly basis.

10. Marketing knowledge is as changeable as the
environment in which they work.
The internet is the classic example – websites
need to change, social media algorithms evolve
constantly, new trends impact what competitors
do.
This means marketers are constantly learning
new technical aspects to their job.
Sales people tend to have a knowledge of sales
and learn techniques and tactics on top of this
that best suit their role or their aims. The core of
sales remains largely unchanged.
While both departments are all about the
business for whom they work, the sale team is
often more customer focused.
After all, they are the ones responsible for ‘selling’
the company and need to be the intermediary
between the company and the customer.
For the marketer, it is more about focusing on the
company and making sure that everything is right
for the business with a view from the customer.

11. In summary, marketing is said to be a ‘one to many’ strategies while sales are about ‘one on one’.
For the best success, the two should work in harmony, fulfilling that cycle mentioned above and
complementing the work that each other does to get the business to where it wants to be.
The role of the marketing department or expert is to look at the company from the viewpoint of
the customer.
Their job is to help look into the future and see where the company needs to go, directing the
organisation towards customers and channels where the most profit can be made. The marketer
also understands market trends and tools that can be used to create leads and build
relationships.
Their job is to aim the sales department or experts to where the customers are and how they
should approach them then allows sales experts to do their thing.

12. Thankyou
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