What Is The Difference Between A Marketer And A Sales Person

Should I Hire A Marketer Or A Sales Person?

Very often recruiters and business owners find it difficult to figure out whom to hire between a marketer and a sales person or even both. In the end, they end up hiring the wrong person for the wrong role or even expect them to perform both the tasks of a marketer and a salesperson.

But is this the way things should be done? Is it commendable,? And are you willing to lay all your eggs in one basket in your quest for saving money?

Well, this article will help you understand the difference between a marketer and a salesperson and why you need them both on your team if you plan to do business the right way.

The terms ‘sales’ and ‘marketing’ are often thought of as interchangeable, but there are significant and important differences between the two. Each department plays a vital role within the business, but for best results, they must be aligned. To understand what the difference is between sales and marketing, we must first consider the functions of the two departments.

Both departments generate leads and bring in revenue, but in simple terms, the differences are as follows:?Sales?refers to any business activities pertaining to the sale of goods and services, and marketing refers to the activities that garner attention for the products and services in the first place. Marketing places more attention on the general public and large demographics over a longer timeframe, whereas sales will focus on smaller demographics and bringing in revenue over the short term.

What is the difference between sales and marketing?

The main goal of the marketing department is to attract and inform leads and prospects for the brand, products, and services. It encourages leads to become prospects through education, and then the sales department can focus more directly on the prospects by providing the actual solutions they need. The sales department’s main goal is to convert the prospects into loyal customers.

Both departments have the same ultimate goal - revenue generation - but each has different focal points and strategies; they must therefore work together to form a cogent process that consistently converts leads into customers. While marketing focuses on pricing, promotion, and education, sales focus on quotas, targets, and revenue goals. A practical example of the different departmental processes might be as follows:

The marketing department will use strategies such as market research, analysis, and campaigns to understand the target audience, as well as finding ways to showcase company products and services (lead generation). The sales department devises and implements methods of building and maintaining relationships with those who have registered interests (prospect nurturing); sales must provide solutions in the form of advice, products, and services.

Let me explain further so you clearly understand the difference between the two departments

Sales People and Marketers Have 2 Distinct Audiences from One Another

Whilst salespeople and marketers both spend most of their time conveying your brand's message, the people with whom they are communicating differ quite notably. Sales People Communicate with Individuals.

There may still be many mediums in which this communication takes place, be it:

-Phone Calls

-Emails

-Text Messages

-Face to Face

-Skype Calls

-Social Media

This means that salespeople must consistently frame their conversations around a very personal and individual response to the brand's USP(Unique Selling Proposition) and relate it to the individual they are talking with. Maintaining a conversation with one person needs to be conducted on a very personal level. The salesperson has the ability to utilize personal details, and other rapport-building techniques to accurately and effectively convey the brand's message. At the same time, they are viewed as an individual who is representing a brand, and not necessarily the brand itself.

Marketers Communicate with Populations. There are some key differences when you are communicating to a large population of people as opposed to an individual. Marketers rely on the segmentation of population groups in order to make their message clearer. This comes in the form of purposefully tailoring one message to a certain 'kind of person or group. Even with the best targeting possible, the marketer must still communicate in a way that is 'universally understandable'. A marketer's communication channels tend to be:

Group Emails

Advertisements

Website Copy

Blogs

Other Content (videos, radio, webinars, images, etc)

I am guessing that you now have a distinct notable difference between the two departments. Now should you have a clear decision between the two or just let one person do it?

The Benefits of a Clear Division between Marketing and Sales

Whether you are managing a team, dealing with outsourced support, or wearing every hat in your business yourself; there is a definite value in drawing a clear line between marketing and sales. To put it simply, your marketing is what brings new prospects into your network, and your sales process is what turns those prospects into customers.

To try and argue which is more important is akin to a chicken and the egg situation. If you bring in thousands of new contacts, but can never turn any of them into customers then you will not succeed. If you bring in very few new contacts but turn them all into customers then you can continue operating, but you may find it hard to grow. By breaking your marketing and sales into two clear roles, it will allow you to better track which areas need improvement, and which areas are operating well.

However, let's say you choose to let one person handle both sales and marketing make sure that you and your recruiter are on the same page as to their assigned duties.

-Be sure to make sure to get two separate strategies from them( marketing strategy and the sales strategy) This will help your business gain recognition by the right people and turn those people into buying customers.

• Make sure to get reports on the KPI's of both sales and marketing efforts as these are different( marketing KPI's include reach, brand awareness, lead generation, while sales KPI's include actually calls, age of sales forecasts, and actual sales to mention just a few)

So to answer the question on whether you need a marketer or a salesperson:

If your business is still a startup with little or no exposure, you need a marketer initially then a salesperson once your marketer has generated and qualified leads to pass on to the salesperson.

If your business is up and running you need both a marketer and a salesperson to market and sell to new clients

I hope you now have a clear understanding of the difference between marketing and sales and how they are intertwined with the same goal but different processes leading to one ultimate goal...