Is marketing really selling?

J.Brendan O’Reilly, Grad.M, FMII, FCIM.

Do you know the difference between marketing and selling?
To the uninitiated the title “marketing” is much more acceptable than the title “selling”. How many times have we heard a mother or father say, “My son/daughter is in marketing”! What they may really mean is “my son/daughter is in sales”. A recent announcement in the press by an auctioneering firm proclaimed that they were “marketing” a new block of apartments and the public were invited to visit their “marketing suite”. Really! It appeared to me that the marketing had already been done and now they were “selling” the apartments and it was their “sales office”. Why is marketing so much more acceptable than sales, when they are both at the dynamic core of every business, that they are both the engine of any organisation, that they both are inextricably linked and that neither can survive without the other? When sales and marketing work in harmony, everybody wins, when they are in conflict, companies can never realise their full potential.

The difference between marketing and selling
A simplistic quote that I like is, “Marketing is everything that makes the phone ring, while selling is actually collecting the money”. And, again, “If sales is the rifle, marketing is the sights”!
We all know what sales represent to us. A definition of selling is as follows.
“Sales, or the activity of selling, form an integral part of commercial activity. Mastering selling is considered by many as some sort of persuasive "art". On the contrary, the methodological approach of selling, refers to it as a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesperson may relate his offering enabling the buyer to visualize how to achieve his goal in an economic way. ...” Or, more simply put, the “Transaction that involves the transfer of services/products for money.”

Marketing Defined.
Two of the definitions of marketing defined by specific groups of marketing practitioners, can be described, as follows. The first group consisted of definitions which conceived of marketing as a process connecting a producer with its market via a marketing channel such as, “the primary marketing function which organises the aggregate of business activities involved in converting customer purchasing power into effective demand for a specific product or service and in moving the product or service to the final consumer or user so as to achieve company set profits or other objectives”. (Rodger, 1971)
The second group consisted of definitions which viewed marketing as a concept or philosophy of business, suggested the following, “selling is preoccupied with the seller’s need to convert his product into cash; marketing with the idea of satisfying the needs of the customer by means of the product and the whole cluster of things associated with creating, delivering and finally consuming it”. (Levitt, 1960) Here the relationship between marketing and selling is also defined.
The Marketing Institute of Ireland also has its view of marketing. Dr. Patrick Keogh, past Chairman, sees marketing as, “the delivery of a better standard of living!”
Hopefully, we have helped you to understand the difference between marketing and selling.
Let us look at the how critical it is that both of these business strategies work in tandem with each other in an organisation and examine the consequences when they do not.
It has been proven beyond doubt, that where marketing and sales teams work together to achieve the goals and objectives of an organisation, everybody wins. Conversely, when they are in conflict, there is an inordinate job for managers to try to decipher the conflicting messages that are delivered to the marketplace by the sales team and the reaction of customers, to the resulting confusion, is self-evident.

Communication is the key!
The profit targets, goals and objectives that the company sets out in its corporate plan, should be clearly and concisely, communicated, explained and accepted by all involved. The plan and the strategies adopted to achieve the objectives should be discussed and agreed to by all the parties involved. Consider the confusion that arises when the marketing department conceive and design a marketing campaign for the organisation and then try to deliver the concept to the sales force, without having communicated to them, what it is they, marketing, are hoping to achieve. Without the input and cooperation of the sales team, the marketing department runs the risk of failure. How often would the following mistakes have been avoided, if the marketing team had consulted with the sales-force?

What is required of the sales-force is unrealistic both in timescales and in the size of the market penetration target that is set.
The budget for the launch and the promotion is insufficient and the material provided is either badly written or does not properly describe the product or service that they are trying to promote.
The prices that have been set make the products totally uncompetitive
The initial order volume is insufficient to meet the expected demand
Add to this the circumstances where the competition steals a march on the company by coming out with a similar product, better presented, more professionally promoted and with a more substantial launch budget.
Often, by listening to the sales-force, disasters, such as these, can be avoided. The sales team is the “eyes and ears” of the organisation and should be acknowledged as such. One of the common failings and the cause of considerable disgruntlement occurs when the marketing team expect the sales team to launch and promote a new product or service and while they continue to do their existing jobs - and at the same time try to achieve their targets. If they had discussed and communicated with the sales team, what it was they had in mind, beforehand, none of these obstacles would have arisen.
If the sales force is not “on board” with the marketing team, no plan will succeed.
When they are working together with common goals and objectives and each one respects and recognises the duties and responsibilities of the other, the results can be outstanding. How important it is for a marketing team to be kept advised of the customer response to their latest offering and to the continuing success or otherwise of the existing range of products or services. If a sales representative is fully aware of, and supportive of, the marketing department’s objectives and goals, that sales representative can often determine the success or failure of the marketing department’s efforts by his or her contribution. It is crucial to any successful marketing plan that a full and exhaustive training programme supports the required deliverables in the plan. Each marketing and sales person needs to know and be trained to know, not alone what roles they play in the campaign, but also the roles of everyone else who is involved in it. They should be encouraged to work as a team. Only then can they understand how the whole plan can come together to ensure complete success for them and the resulting reward for the company.
There is a story told about a salesman and a marketing man and their respective philosophies. They both went to see a customer together to try to resolve the problem of the late delivery of an order. When asked by the customer what they intended to do about the failed delivery, the marketing man said, “We will not charge you for the order”. Later, outside the call, the salesman, thinking of the commission that he had just lost, fumed, “What on earth did you think you were doing?” The marketing man responded, “We have held on to the customer and we will continue to get his business!” When this was pointed out to the salesman, he saw the logic of a continuing relationship with the customer, rather than a short-term gain. Can short-term results and immediate gain be two distinct differences in their respective and different goals? It is certainly in the sales psyche. These need to be understood and dealt with. Sales is a short-term contingency, whilst marketing is cognisant of the fact that the market and the customers’ needs change.
There are several clients that I have had the pleasure of working with over the years and I have been amazed at how fastidious they were in assuring that both marketing and sales worked together. They ensured that their people fully understood what was expected of them and how they combined as a unit to deliver customer satisfaction and excellence and contribute sustained success to their company. It was endemic to the whole company and its staff. What I also noted about these companies was that every employee in the company was imbued with the passion and the need to achieve the company’s goals and objectives. These were continually stated and re-stated so that no one felt left out or was confused or unaware of what it was that the company was trying to achieve, through them. It is worth recommending here, that everyone in the company should be encouraged and trained to be a sales and marketing person. Some 30 years ago, one of what I like to call, “companies of excellence” who I recruited for, had their Mission Statement posted on the wall of their reception area in their company premises. This is fairly common, nowadays, but in those years it was apocryphal.
Whatever your views are on this article, I am sure that you will agree, that for any successful organisation to continue to grow and develop and thrive, that both sales and marketing people should be communicated with, trained and encouraged to work together towards commonly agreed targets, goals and objectives. If this can be achieved, they will work together in harmony and they will understand and support each other’s roles. The reward will be the enrichment of their company and ultimately, themselves.

FOOTNOTE
So now you want to work in marketing!
For many aspirant marketing executives, marketing can be a rather “grey” area. Let us try to dispel some of the myths of marketing. In the minds of some people “marketing” (or “morketing” in D4 parlance) is seen as the career to aspire to.
Do you see the marketing executive, Blackberry in hand, tapping out the latest market information, whilst rushing to a luncheon engagement with his/her advertising agency; where, over a bottle of Chablis and vegetarian risotto, they discuss the success of their latest advertising campaign, followed, no doubt, by café latte? Then, the busy marketing executive has to rush back to his or her BMW to dash to a TV launch in the Four Seasons Hotel. Dream on! The reality could not be further from the truth. A career in marketing begins at the bottom. In most companies, the candidate must have a business degree, ideally in marketing, to be accepted into their apprenticeship. In the role of a marketing assistant their job entails, filing, writing reports, reading and proofing press releases and advertising and promotional material, delivering advertising copy to printers’ offices and advertising agencies. Compiling figures on product performance and market trends also lies at the heart of any marketing department and these tedious duties are usually left to the more junior members of the team. This may involves long hours of being at the “beck and call” of more senior executives in the organisation. Next step up the ladder is to assistant brand or product manager. At this level, the marketing executive completes much the same tasks but with a little more responsibility and an involvement with the marketing team in discussing and designing marketing and promotional plans and materials. As a brand or product manager, he/she now has the responsibility of monitoring and mentoring to the brands and products. He/she compiles reports on the progress and penetration of the company’s products for the information of the marketing department and ultimately, the board of directors. The next step is to that of marketing manager and, ultimately, marketing director. Many executives, who have achieved this level in an organisation, feel that they have reached the pinnacle of success. But this position of importance also carries a significant degree of responsibility. After all, it is on the performance and results of the product and/or service, that they are responsible for and the achievement of the organisations’ goals and objectives, that the marketing manager or director is judged. It is most certainly not the glamorous profession that is often portrayed in the media. It can be very hard graft and the results may not always be immediately self-evident. However, it can be a very rewarding career, both personally and financially.