Difference Between Sales and Marketing

While sales is more of transaction-based, marketing aims at winning and retaining the customers for the long term. These two often share a common goal of increasing the company’s revenue but differ in their functions and process. Basically sales imply the exchange of products and services for money or money’s worth. On the other hand, marketing is an umbrella term which indicates a set of activities that starts with the market research and ends with consumer satisfaction.

The focus of the two is on two different ends, as in marketing stresses on fulfilling the needs of the customers, whereas sales is all about reaching the company’s sales targets, i.e. it focuses on fulfilling company’s needs.

Marketing tends to identify the needs, wants and demands of the customers, so as to satisfy them profitably. Conversely, sales is about pushing the company’s products and services onto the customers, by convincing them to buy. So, let’s dig a little deeper to understand the two terms better.

 Contents: Sales Vs Marketing

1. Comparison Chart
2. Definition
3. Key Differences
4. Video
5. Example
6. Conclusion

Comparison Chart

Basis for Comparison	Sales	Marketing
Meaning	Sales refers to the process of selling, whereby product is offered for sale to the customer at a certain price and at a given period of time.	Marketing is understanding the requirements of the customers in such a way that whenever any new product is introduced, it sells itself.
Orientation	Product-oriented	Customer-oriented
Approach	Fragmented approach	Integrated approach
Focus	Company needs	Market needs
Related to	Related to flow of goods to customers.	Related to all the activities which facilitates flow of goods to customers.
Duration	Short-term	Long-term
Objective	To instigate shoppers in such a way that they turn out as buyers.	To identify the needs of customers and create products to satisfy those needs.
Relationship	One-to-One	One-to-Many
Target	Individual or small group	General Public
Scope	Selling of the product.	Advertisement, Sales, Research, Customer satisfaction, After sales services etc.
Activity	Customer driven	Media driven
Strategy used	Push Strategy	Pull Strategy
Process	Involves exchange of goods for adequate consideration.	Entails identifying and satisfying customer's needs.
Rule	Caveat Emptor	Caveat Vendor
Technique	Price promotion, Discounts and Special offers.	Customer relationship through integration of organization with the needs of customers.
Skills required	Selling and Conversational skills	Analytical skills
Aims at	Profit maximization through sales maximization.	Profit maximization through increased consumer satisfaction and market share.

Definition of Sales

Sales is nothing but the primary aim of any business enterprise, in the sense that all the activities of a company are directed towards the increase of sales. Basically it encompasses the activities which result in the selling of “what the company offers to its customers” in a given period of time, by convincing the customers that buying the company’s product will be beneficial for them.

For this purpose, the salesperson should have exceptional communication and persuading skills, to convey the benefits of the product or service to the customer effectively, while answering their questions.

Every company has a specific department for sales of its products and services which are often divided into different teams, on the basis of:

• Geographical location, where the teams offer the product and service to,
• Product and services, which the teams have to sell,
• Target Customer, whom the products and services are to be offered.

Each team have their sales volume goal, for the month, quarter and year which they have to reach. For increasing sales, special offers such as coupons, free gifts, etc. and discounts are used as a strategy, to seek customer’s attention and instigate them to buy the product or service.

Do not confuse the term ‘sales’ for ‘sale’, sales involve sale which means the transfer of possession of the product from the manufacturer to customer, for adequate consideration, i.e. price.

Process of Sales

The process of sales is presented in the figure below:

Definition of Marketing

Marketing is a process which involves a spectrum of activities carried out by the enterprise so as to promote the company’s sales of product or service. The process begins with identifying the needs of the customers, meeting those needs profitably by creating, communicating and delivering the offerings, in exchange for a price, that is valued by the customers.

It is a means to create the interest of the target audience in the company’s offerings. All the activities which attempt to draw the attention of the customers towards the company’s offerings and to retain them are covered under the term marketing, such as market research and analysis, product development, promotion, distribution methods, sales and after-sales service.

In finer terms, whatever strategy or activity the company applies so as to communicate with the target customers in order to instigate them to buy the company’s offerings will be termed as marketing.

Marketing is about what you convey about your offering, how you communicate the value of your offering to the target audience and why customers should pick it out of all the available options in the market. It is a promotion of the offering through ads using various platforms, such as newspaper, televisions, pamphlets, social media, such as Facebook page, Instagram account, Twitter account, etc.

Process of Marketing

The process of marketing is discussed as under:

• Research: To gather data so as to know the market and customers in a better way.
• Segment: To divide the customers into different groups called segments, as per similar characteristics, to serve them in a better way.
• Target: Focus on the segment that needs the offering that you are selling, as they are going to value it most.
• Position: Distinguish your product from that of the competitors, through a unique selling proposition.
• Strategize: Create strategies for the 4P’s i.e. product, price, place and promotion.
• Implement: Best strategy out of all the strategies is to be implemented.
• Measure: Measure the results, by making a comparison.

Video: Sales Vs Marketing

Example

Miss Hazel wants to open a unisex beauty salon and spa in a suburban area whose population is around 1,00,000, where all types of beauty treatments and makeup is available. For this purpose, Miss Hazel arranges money and place of rent, purchases furniture, tools, machinery, cosmetics and other important stuff required, hires some beauticians and hairstylists.

But due to less reach, there are only a handful of customers in the salon and Miss Hazel is not able to make good sum out of it. Then one of the beauticians suggests that advertising the salon will help in increasing revenue. After which she decides to advertise the salon and spa, through various media like radio, televisions, posters, social media, pamphlets, newspapers etc. Moreover, the staff also convinces the customers to try their products, which increases sales too.

And so the results are positive and this is the power of marketing and sales.

Conclusion

Despite many differences between sales and marketing, these are not contradictory in nature. Both these terms are closely interlinked to each other and play a very important role in the survival of business in the long run.

The sale is a human-oriented function, so the personnel involved in the sales activity should be given proper training and incentives to boost morale and earn higher pay in return. On the other hand, Marketing is a media-oriented, so the best channels of advertisement and promotion should be adopted so as to achieve an increase in sales along with the enhanced brand image.