What’s the difference between MARKETING & SALES?

Have you ever wondered why you see many Sales & Marketing Directors and no Marketing & Sales Directors?

Yet it seems there is a constant debate as to what are the differences between Sales and Marketing.

In practice a Sales & Marketing Director will be responsible for the production of the marketing collateral required to support the sales effort, vital of course, but marketing kicks in long before that point. Although it does explain what so many people feel that marketing is dying or has been simply subjugated to this narrow function. Yet the brand has never been more important and the customer has more opportunities to exercise choice than ever before. Perhaps it is best summed up that marketing should spend more time thinking so that sales doing can be more effective.

Just compare these two lists:-

Firstly this is what Sales see as its priorities…
SALES

Targets
Units
Products
Benefits
Buyer
Turnover

Whilst Marketing sees these as being important

MARKETING
Objectives
Market share
Brand
USP & values
Customer
Profit
Objectives

What do you think?

And how to we all work to achieve a better overall relationship between the two functions?

These ideas are taken from The Marketing Directors Handbook shortly to be published see www.themarketingdirectors.co.uk/handbook.htm for details

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1. Help is at hand
2. TEN SECRETS of SUPERIOR MARKETING