The short answer is ‘they are quite different – yet complementary disciplines’
At its most basic, ‘Marketing’ creates the sales leads, and ‘Sales’ takes those leads and converts them into customers. Furthermore, a combination of Sales and Marketing then work to retain those customers and their loyalty over time.
Marketing creates sales leads through:
- Creating a reputable brand and building the right product perception
Providing a more defined and accurate understanding of the target audience
Creating the best messaging to communicate the unique attributes of your product or service
Understanding the lifecycle of a prospect, so that sales can close the lead once they are ready to buy
Maximizing channels such as advertising, public relations, branding, social marketing and direct response techniques.
Plus a raft of other issues effecting your brand reputation including sponsorships and social responsibilities
Sales then become responsible for converting the sales lead and closing the sale – getting the contract signed, and building an on-going business relationship to gain further incremental sales from that same customer. Through their relationship with customers, Sales can also provide Marketing with many customer insights that can lead to more resonant and appealing marketing messages.
Too often, we see that many businesses treat marketing and sales as one and the same. While both should be sympathetic and assisting each other. Sales need to understand what the corporate objectives and overall strategies are so that they can deliver to the same strategies as marketing.
When you can have your sales and marketing teams working together, you'll win by having a better pipeline to sales, more closed sales and better lifetime value from your customers.