Sales vs Marketing

Difference Between Sales and Marketing

Obviously they are related and can’t really exist without each other. In the marketing process, a need in the market is identified and a product is designed to fulfill that need and advertising is used to get the message to the consumer. Selling is the last step in the process; delivering the product to the customer. It is considered a “pull” approach. Marketing pulls the consumer to the store to purchase the product. Sales is focussed on convincing the customer to purchase a ready made product. The focus in the sales approach is to move inventory, not to identifiy individual customer needs and custom make a product to match their needs. Sales operates on a “push” approach; pushing the product on the customer.

There is an insinuated higher value placed on the marketing approach as it is more customer focussed, but selling plays an important role in the overall marketing strategy. For example, if you are launching a brand new product such as the plasma car that kids ride, consumers may be interested in buying based on advertisements that they see, but a skilled salesperson is able to present features, advantages and benefits of the product. Very few of these ride on toys would have been sold without the knowledgeable sales people available to answer customer questions and solve problems.

So, in summary, sales pushes an already existing product and marketing recognizes a need to be filled and creates a product to serve that need.