One of the most common misconceptions among business owners is that marketing and sales are essentially the same thing. They are closely connected, and each depends on the other, but they have very different jobs.
Understanding that difference is especially important in business-to-business marketing, where the buying process can take weeks or months and often involves multiple decision-makers.
Simply put: Marketing creates opportunities. Sales converts those opportunities into customers.
So…what is the purpose of marketing?
Marketing is everything a company does to create awareness, build credibility, generate interest, and give prospective customers a reason to consider doing business with you.
A marketing agency helps determine questions such as:
- Who are the customers you most want to reach?
- What problems can your company solve for them, if any?
- What differentiates your business from competitors?
- What messages will resonate with prospective customers?
- Where and how should your company communicate those messages?
- How do you keep your company visible throughout a potentially long B2B buying cycle?
The resulting marketing program might include keeping your website updated with current information, SEO and search visibility programs, email marketing, social media, advertising, videos, blogs, thought leadership, public relations, webinars, case studies, brochures, presentations, trade shows, and other tactics.
But none of these marketing activities are the same as selling.
Then what is the job of sales?
Once a qualified prospect “raises their hand”, (meaning fills out a form, downloads a marketing piece, gives the company a call or an email) it’s the sales staff that takes the relationship to the next level.
A salesperson needs to speak with the prospect, ask the right questions, identify the prospects specific needs, explain how the company’s services can address those needs, overcome any objections, prepare a proposal, follow up, negotiate when necessary—and ultimately convert the inquiry into business.
If a prospect requests information and no one calls them back promptly, that’s not a marketing problem….it’s a sales problem If qualified leads enter the pipeline but aren’t converted…again that’s not a marketing problem…it’s a sales problem.
Conversely, even the best salesperson will struggle if the company has poor visibility, an outdated website, unclear messaging or little marketplace credibility.
A Confusion We See All the Time
At MarketShare Communications, we see this confusion surprisingly often—even among sophisticated business owners and executives. A company hires us to handle its marketing: strategy, website, SEO, email campaigns, social media, content, and other efforts designed to create visibility and generate opportunities. The marketing is doing its job and producing interest or leads—but the sales team isn’t following up consistently on these leads, nurturing the prospects, or converting the lead to new business. Eventually, the owner says, “The marketing isn’t working.” But we have found that often the real issue is much simpler: The sales process isn’t working. Marketing can open the door and give your salespeople a reason to walk through it, but it cannot make the sales call, build the relationship, or close the deal. Knowing where marketing ends and sales begins is critical to understanding what is—and isn’t—working in your business.
The real power comes when they work together
The strongest and most successful B2B companies don’t ask whether they need marketing or sales. They recognize that they need both…and they know that their sales staff must work closely with their marketing agency. Each has an important role.
Think of marketing as preparing the field. It helps the right prospects find you, recognize you, trust you and become interested in talking with you. Sales then develops that interest into a business relationship and, eventually, a customer.
When marketing consistently creates awareness and opportunity, and sales consistently follows up and closes those opportunities, you have a business development system designed to generate growth.