Sales vs. Marketing: Is There a Difference?

When it comes to Sales and Marketing, it’s all about perspective. A company’s Sales Department works within a company to look outward to the consumer. They create a need for the company’s product in an attempt to, well, sell the product. These team members have a “Here and Now” perspective– their measure of success is focused on this week, this month and this quarter. After all, if Sales are not focused on the now, then the revenue for this week, month or quarter could be endangered.

But how do you create the connection between the consumer and your company? Well, that’s where we, as Marketers, come in. Marketers take on the perspective of the company’s target consumer, which allows them to shape the company and meet the consumer in the exact right place, time and language. When it comes down to it, Marketing is all about casting a vision for the future and communicating that vision to the company– but that doesn’t make us all a bunch of dreamers. There’s a whole lot of data and strategy that goes into the way Marketers reach the consumer– leading them to the Sales Department and, hopefully, fostering a relationship with them. This is where the confusion begins, though.

Although Sales and Marketing do work together they must fundamentally be kept as two separate entities. The two departments work in relationship– Marketing directs sales in the right direction and propels future success, and Sales captures leads and creates customers, but if they begin to morph together disaster will be inevitable. Without both Marketing and Sales, you risk either present success or future success, there is no way around it.

Without Marketing, the longevity of success will be compromised because there is no force perpetuating consumer reach, and without Sales there is no presence that is actually capturing leads and converting consumers into customers. Both are essential to success but play centrally different roles within a company.

So what do the Sales and Marketing Departments do? Now you know.