Without marketing there’s no selling which means for selling to occur marketing must take place.
A lot of times people confuse marketing for selling though they are interwoven but definitely not the same. So let’s look at the definition of both and point out the differences.
Marketing is simply researching customer wants and needs, introducing a product to match the customer’s wants and needs, creating awareness for the product, letting the customer know the benefits of the product and making it available for the customer. Marketing is meeting customer needs through the product itself.
Selling is exchanging a product for legal tender, the main aim behind selling a product is to make sales and profits. Selling is turning product into cash.
Now that we are clear on the definition of both, let’s talk about the differences.
1: Marketing focus on the customer needs while the other focus on the seller needs.
2: Selling is simply turning product into cash while marketing is satisfying customer needs through product.
3: Marketing is a strategy based on different activities aimed at increasing sales while selling is the strategy aimed at meeting the needs of individuals which is driven by human interaction.
4: In marketing customer satisfaction is the main motive while in selling sales is the main motive.
5: Marketing is finding the right product for the customer while selling is finding customer for an existing products.
6: Marketing starts before product of goods and services while the other happens after production which result into payment and delivery.
In conclusion, Marketing is a really wide concept and making sales itself is part of it. At the end both are aiming to drive revenue and accelerating the company’s growth. If you can align sales and marketing together there’ll be great revenue and growth which result into substantial improvements. Unfortunately many companies allow marketing and sales operate as different entities which is a huge mistake.