Many of us use the word 'marketing' and 'sales' interchangeably, you ask any sales executive what does he does for a living he would say he is in marketing. One can forgive those who do not the differnce , but then there is a section which actually feels uncomfortable to say that they are sales people so they use the word marketing to glorify their jobs and designations...
A few weeks back I had watched this video by Tom Peters where he emphasized that every one is sales, thought of sharing it
Tom Peters on Yes! You Are in Sales! from Tom Peters on Vimeo.
dear sir,
ReplyDeletethis is a wonderfull tpc..
i kept many times the same qn to the mba's i interviewed in my company
i have reached an answer every time which is quite different frm others nd whih r quite satisfatory.but still i didnt find any proper definition for this exept framing smething in my mind arding to time
i have an experiene in ylc(young leaders conference by mr.suhasgopinath) there we got the same diussion one day .ppl in that conference expressed ter views in their own way i am trying to recollet a few amng them and they r as follows
1st ly my own lines on tis
marketing is figuring out what the customer needs / is going to need / latent need etc ,and finding a way to satisfy the need and make a profit doing it, while Sales, a function within marketing, is responsible for managing the customer interface and making sure it's easy for the customer to get the product/service and pay for it.
if try more clearly
marketing is the effort of mainly creating and finding the needs and wants of the consumers and then to satisfy those needs...But, Sales is only a part of marketing which aims towards making the products being in the customers hands.
another enterpreneur opinion in my wrds
Many people mistakenly think that selling and marketing are the same - they aren't. You might already know that the marketing process is broad and includes all of the following:
1. Discovering what product, service or idea customers want.
2. Producing a product with the appropriate features and quality.
3. Pricing the product correctly.
4. Promoting the product; spreading the word about why customers should buy it.
5. Selling and delivering the product into the hands of the customer.
Selling is one activity of the entire marketing process which is nothing but the act of persuading or influencing a customer to buy (actually exchange something of value for) a product or service.
Marketing activities support sales efforts. Actually, they are usually the most significant force in stimulating sales. Oftentimes, marketing activities (like the production of marketing materials and catchy packaging) must occur before a sale can be made; they sometimes follow the sale as well, to pave the way for future sales and referrals.
another opinion was frm a young manager of a mnc
marketing is a platform on which sales are driven, combing to reap profits for the organization.
anotther from a senior manager of mnc with 15 yrs(approx)exp
Marketing is a circular process where sales is a part of it .Marketing is Knowing the need of the client and can be said as customer based process. Where as sales is a company based process where the end result is getting money from client for the product.
last opinion frm another person ylc member
While marketing is about identifying and satisfying a customer's needs, sales is all about fulfilling these needs that have been created. The difference between a sales plan and marketing plan is that while sales plans are about selling the good and services that a business has to offer, marketing plans help to create the need that will ultimately stimulate the sale.
sir,i hope u understood that i hav a gr8 confusion in finding a standard answer for difference between both of them which looking
like 2 sides of a sme coin tossed high
sir if u do can prvide sme better answers or books 2 refer for this partiular tpc.. imay solve atleast 1 among lots of confusion that are among my mind
Many a time the comments tend to add more value than the original post itself.
ReplyDeleteYou have summed up many perspectives of the debate, which in many ways are true in their own ways.
Personally If i were asked to explain the differences I will use the analogy of an 'iceberg'. The whole marketing process can be seen as an iceberg , on the tip of the iceberg is sales and advertising. As consumers their interaction with the marketing process is limited to only sales people and ads. That is where as consumers we tend to assume that sales is marketing.
But being marketers we appreciate the whole range of activities that a marketer does before the product is ready for sale starting with the need identification onwards...
i appreciate u r views in this topic sir.
ReplyDeletebut an we find any universal theories in this subject?
and tanx for usin such a nice exmple which made understnding the explnation rather easy
Useful video.
ReplyDeleteI used to work for a large global IT company in a technical role. A lot of people - in particular technical people (including me) - seemed to forget, at times, that our raison d'etre was to help sell IT solutions that the customer would love. I guess people need reminding!
Eamon. Account Planner. UK. www.spotlightideas.co.uk