If Sales is a tower, then Marketing is a pillar holding it from the base.
Both have one common goal “Generate revenue for the business”.
Marketing is the map that guides the customer through the customer journey, with sales showing customers the road and ensuring a smooth experience to close the purchase.
The difference between sales and marketing is the focus, marketing focuses on the A to Z customer journey, and sales focuses on the buying experience of that customer.
Wikipedia says, “Sales is the process of exchanging a product or service for money.”
A salesperson in a retail store sells handbags and assists customers throughout the buying process, from helping them choose the right type of bag, addressing any concerns, providing updates, to negotiating prices and finalising the sale at the checkout counter
The dictionary definition is simple “Marketing is an activity to promote products or services of any business.”
A fashion brand creates an Instagram post showcasing its latest collection to attract customers
The simple difference between sales and marketing is that marketing creates awareness and attracts customers to generate interest, and sales convert interested leads of customers into paying customers.
Here’s a detailed difference between sales and marketing
| Sales | Marketing |
| Focus | |
| Sales drive revenue | Marketing drives leads |
| Prospects | |
| Sales targets interested buyers | Marketing works on a broader audience |
| Time Consumption | |
| Sales is a short-term process | Marketing is a long-term effort |
| Metrics to Measure | |
| Sales are closing deals | Marketing is increasing engagement |
| Approach | |
| Sales is direct interaction with a customer | Marketing is mass outreach |
| Process | |
| Lead conversions, negotiations and closing deals | Research, promotions and customer education |
| Strategy | |
| Uncertain and tactical, focuses on convincing buyers | Planned and strategically created a roadmap for the sales funnel |
| Tools used | |
| Cold calls, demos, emails, and CRM software | Seo, social media, ads and content marketing |
| Relationship with Customers | |
| Short-term relationship | Nurture a long-term relationship |
| Metric to Measure | |
| Number of revenue, deals closed, and number of sales. | Lead generation, brand awareness, and website traffic |
| Dependency | |
| Depends on the marketing team for leads | Depends on the sales team for the conversion of leads |
| End goal | |
| Closing of potential deals. | Increased engagement and brand value, online and offline. |
Marketing sparks interest, sales seals the deal… And business growth thrives when both excel.
The secret is building a system where they work hand in hand.
If you’re ready to create that winning system, this is your next step.
Sales forecasting involves predicting or estimating future revenues based on market trends and past data for a particular timeline, so the company can plan how to sell within the set timeline.
Whereas Marketing forecasting is about predicting how much impact marketing activities will have on different metrics, such as CAC, social media engagement, website traffic, and ROI.
| Sales Forecasting | Marketing Forecasting |
| Predict revenue for a particular timeline | Predict marketing outcomes for a specific timeline |
| The focus is on how much you will sell | The focus is on how effective marketing efforts are. |
| Deals with the company’s sales performance | Deals with all marketing activities and their impact |
| Key metrics are sales revenue, units sold, deal size and churn rate | Key metrics are leads, CAC, website traffic, and brand awareness. |
| Source data from past sales, market conditions, and sales team input. | Source data from marketing campaigns, market research, and customer behaviour data. |
| Techniques used are regression, time series analysis and qualitative forecasting | Techniques used are customer segmentation, A/B testing, and statistical models. |
| The forecasting period is short-term, medium-term and long-term | The forecasting includes short-term and long-term campaigns |
| Decisions include financial planning, production planning, and resource allocation | Decisions include marketing strategy, campaign optimisation and budget allocation |
| Requires minor detailing focused on specific products and regions | Works on an as-per-overall marketing campaign performance. |
| Created by the Sales manager, finance teams, and operational managers | Created by marketing managers, marketing analysts, and CMOs. |
Sales strategy focuses on how the company will sell their products to customers. It’s about building relationships through direct interaction with the customers.
Marketing strategy focuses on how the company will target its target audience and build long-term relationships through creating brand awareness in the market and generating leads.
Sales skills are important in building a connection with the customer and closing the deal.
Marketing skills are most important for targeting the audience presence in the absence of direct interaction.
| Stages in the Sales Funnel | Stages in the Marketing Funnel |
| Prospecting | Brand Awareness |
| Lead qualification | Interest |
| Negotiation | Consideration |
| Demo | Intent |
| Close (lose/win) | Evaluation |
| Account management (if won) | Buy OR Purchase |
Salespeople design pitches to convert potential customers through direct and one-on-one interaction. Here, the CTA is “Buy now,” “Sign up,” Or “Book a Call.”
The marketer uses engaging and creative messaging to nurture the target audience’s interest over time. Here, the CTAs are “Learn More,” “Subscribe,” or “Follow us.”
Let’s see the difference between sales and marketing communications for the product “Smartphone.”
| Sales Pitches | Marketing Message |
| Elevator Pitch | Brand Awareness |
| A quick pitch to spark interest. | Positioning the product uniquely. |
| Cold Call Pitch | Educational Content Message |
| 1-1 interaction with customers. | Providing the target audience with valuable information. |
| Demo Pitch | Storytelling Message |
| Showing the product in action. | Engaging with the audience to create an emotional connection. |
| Problem Solution Pitch | Promotional Message |
| Address the problem and pitch a solution to that. | Adding special discounts and offers. |
| Social Proof Pitch | Testimonial Message |
| Use of previous customers’ feedback or data as testimonials. | Using positive customer feedback and success stories. |
| Follow-up Pitch | Engagement Message |
| Personalised contact as per the needs of a customer after the first interaction. | Encourage the audience to engage with the brand. |
Yesterday, we discussed your need for a laptop with a long battery life. This model lasts up to 60 hours and charges 50% in 30 minutes. Would you like to test it out?
Without making it too complicated to understand this essential collaboration of marketing and sales, read these benefits below that you can enjoy
If sales and marketing have clear lead criteria, the marketing team will target the right customers with faster conversions.
When sales and marketing align, consistent communication throughout the channels for lead conversion improves.
Marketing support helps the sales team move leads quickly towards closures.
Sales and Marketing teamwork builds trust in customers to be loyal to the brand for a long time.
Business planning improves when marketing and sales goals and objectives are aligned.
Transparent data between both teams improves campaign planning for the highest-performing channels.
Aligned communication through sales and marketing teams to improve customer experience.
Marketing helps the sales team get potential customer leads regularly, increasing sales.
Coordinating and aligning sales and marketing team objectives can bring long-term growth to the business.
A Happy Meal by McDonald’s
McDonald’s started this “Happy Meal” for kids, which includes a burger, fries, a drink, and a surprise toy.
We all know McDonald’s is all about selling food, so why add toys?
The motive behind these toys was to attract children to their beloved characters from famous animated films and cartoon personalities like the Minions and characters from Marvel.
Every month, they came up with new toys based on new movie or series releases,
The movie makers got a premium level of marketing, and McDonald’s saw a boost in sales through Happy Meals.
Price hike of “Maggie” by Nestle
We all know Maggie and the craze behind it. At the very start, Maggie was Rs 10 (100 grams).
However, due to the market demand, Nestle decided to increase the price by Rs 1, making the purchase price Rs 11. Because of this small change, Nestle started to see a rapid decline in sales.
Note that the decline wasn’t because Nestle increased Maggie’s price but because of the discomfort and frustration of keeping that 1 rupee change every time they bought it.
Consumers started to buy other brands like Wai Wai. So, to solve this problem, Nestle came up with the idea and again started selling and marketing Maggie at Rs. 10, but with a slight change.
This time, it was 95 grams instead of 100 at Rs. 10.
The customer wasn’t bothered with this change, and they again started buying Maggie. And within a few years, Nestle kept lowering the quantity while maintaining the same price.
This increased their sales as well and met customer satisfaction, too.
By now, you might have understood that although Sales and Marketing are completely different, they are essential to all businesses and must work together.
A good business owner uses the strengths of both sales and marketing strategies to attract people to buy products from them.
It will help businesses grow faster for more profits and long-term customer loyalty.
The 7Ps of Marketing are…
No, sales and marketing goals are different from each other.
Sales work towards direct revenue and numbers, and Marketing works towards brand awareness, brand reputation and lead generation for sales.
This is the biggest myth about these two. Marketing and sales have different purposes, processes, and KPIs to measure results.
Marketing creates demand and generates awareness for the company’s products in the marketplace through product launches and brand recognition campaigns.
Sales concentrate on promoting the same product as a solution to the customer based on their needs and problems.
The marketing team have these activities done every day…
Brand awareness, market research, branding, advertising, SEO, digital marketing, Lead generation, Nurturing leads, and content creation for all channels.
Sales activities are geared toward meeting customer needs.
They include contacting leads, product demonstrations, presentations, negotiations, and closing deals.
Both are important for the business, as Marketing creates interest in customers through awareness, and sales convert that interest into sales.
Negotiation, communication, emotional intelligence, curiosity, active listening, product knowledge, and objection handling.
Technologically savvy, creative writing, copywriting, social media management, search engine optimisation, communication, content creation, and data analysis.
Not precisely, but salespeople and marketers must have basic knowledge of each other and their skill sets to communicate effectively with each other and customers.
None can destroy iron, but its own rust can! Likewise, none can destroy a person, but their own mindset can.
Former chairperson of the Tata Group
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