Sales Vs Marketing
Adam Nichols
The Marketing & Sales Headhunter | Rosslyn David | Advisor to The Job Hunt Academy
Recently I called a company who sold, shall we say, ‘food distribution technology’ into other businesses. I asked if they had a marketing team. When the woman stopped laughing, she bellowed “We don’t need a marketing department because our sales team is so good!”. I was quite taken aback by this, but it was the stony end to a very long week, so I thought I would share my thoughts here, rather than lecture an innocent lady on commerciality and business…
You can have a market leading, cutting edge, even bleeding edge product or service, but without bringing the buyer and the seller together, it means diddly-squat.
“Well if we have a good sales team, job done?” Nope, not even close.
We live in a world where the vast majority of people are afraid of being sold to, both personally and commercially. Even when we have full intention to buy something; a pair of jeans, a car, some sunglasses, new aftershave or perfume; the minute we hear the dreaded “Excuse me sir/madam, can I help you?”, we all bark back behind a sweet but equally false smile “No, no, I’m just looking thanks”.
I appreciate the above example is very much consumer-centric, but the principles are the same no matter what is being sold, and whoever it is being sold to.
If you have ever bought something because you saw it on the television, walked past a billboard, or heard about it on the radio, you have made a conscious choice to buy something because of the way it has been marketed. Even when you ask someone where they got their shoes from because you want to cop a pair yourself, you’re not being sold to directly.
We all waffle on about freedom of choice, so how nice is it to be able to make your own choice to buy something? Feels great, right? But have you really made that choice all on your own?
Think about the last mid-sized purchase you made where you were not convinced by a young man in a cheap shiny suit to buy it (I can make this statement because I once was that guy!). Not a packet of crisps, or your current home, something in between. Now think about WHY you bought it.
I almost guarantee in all cases this was because of a clever piece of marketing. For those of you feeling smug thinking it was because you woke up that day and decided you were going to make that purchase autonomously, I have two words…subliminal messaging.
The point I am trying to make here is marketing is as equally a powerful tool to drive revenue and profit as outbound sales.
Whether it’s a multi-billion-dollar corporation, or a small boutique high street store; internal and external purchasing is all left to us humans, and boom, it’s cliché time… “people buy from people”!
This is very true, but people buy on emotion, and fear is an emotion. So if we live in a world where we don’t trust our banks, our estate agents, our car sales men and women, or our retail sales people, even when we know we need/want what they are offering; that in itself proves that business is not all about direct sales.
Maybe marketing is a subtle but deadly weapon!
…And in the words of my dear old business studies teacher…DISCUSS!
Sr. Loan Officer NMLS #132702 | Recruiter | Corp NMLS # 1660690
8 年Marketing is a lethal weapon Adam. It can make or break the game. If you can successfully get into a consumer's attention, you win the game. And sales team should not be blamed for lead generation. I have also written a post on Sales vs Marketing. Would love to know your opinion on the same. https://www.donriggs.com/sales-vs-marketing/
Experienced Sales Professional in both New Business development, Telesales, email outreach & Account Management sales
8 年Subliminal messaging; Watch a Will Smith movie called 'FOCUS' as this is a brilliant interpretation of how subliminal messaging works. I won't give it away if you haven't watched it but pay careful attention to the explanation by Will Smith's character, of how subliminal messaging works after the scene in the American football stadium....
CEO | Senior Executive MBA | Ex Barclays Bank, Ex QGC (now Shell), Ex British Council | I help businesses grow by providing tailored talent solutions and Project Execution
8 年Bart Guy
Marketing is like Thinking - Sales is like Doing... Thinking without Doing is impotent, Doing without Thinking is downright dangerous. The real problem comes because many think that marketing is equivocal with promotion - where the marketing department's task is to 'produce nice stuff' and book advertising. True marketing involves branding, reputation, credibility and consistency - this type of marketing pervades the entire organisation and is seen in the sales force perhaps more than anywhere else.
Area manager Asia chez ENVEA
8 年Hi Adam, You are rigth, marketing ROI evaluation is really the issue here,, mixing marketing with sales is a convenient way to hide the topic instead of solving it.