The Difference Between Sales and Marketing

Many people, on the producer side as well as on the consumer side, are confused about the functions of sales and marketing. When is a tactic a marketing tactic and when is it a sales tactic? When is a person a marketer and when is he a salesman? Are sales and marketing interchangeable?

Now, I will seek to answer these questions without splitting academic hairs. Of course, marketing is a lot more involved than sales in that it includes product development, pricing, distribution, and advertising as dimensions of getting the product into the consumers hand. In sales, these parameters are already in place. Although marketing and sales have the same end-goal--to get the customer to buy--there is something different about them regarding the context in which they operate.

In short, sales differs from marketing in that it requires direct person-to-person contact. Yes, it is possible for marketing to sell products without a sales force--if it is really good. If the marketing is executed well enough to convince the customer to buy upon hearing the advertisement, a separate sales division is no longer needed. Sales becomes customer service. But, many times, marketing is subject to high competition and must have a sales team to market the product directly to the customer.

Let's think about it in some other contexts. In the context of religion, let's say you are a Christian practicing what Christians call Evangelism. Carrying your Bible around is marketing. Actually talking to someone about Jesus is sales. In the context of social media, updating your Facebook status is marketing. Responding to someone's comment on your status--that is sales. Let's say that you are a member of your favorite band's street team. Posting flyers throughout the college campus is marketing. Inviting someone to the show is sales.

Oftentimes, both marketing and sales are essential to selling the product, service, or idea you are offering. Marketing provides a solid message about what you are offering and primes the customer for the salesman. Essentially, the salesman is nothing but a closer. It is the salesman's responsibility to execute what began in marketing, closing the sale by engaging the customer directly.