I would like to make a public service announcement. Sales is not marketing, and marketing is not sales! I can’t tell you how often those terms get used interchangeably by the business owners I speak to. It wouldn’t be a big deal, if it was just words. But that represents two separate departments in your company. And when you have a problem, you don’t know where to adjust.
Think of it like this. What if you went to a doctor for chest pains and they believed that the heart and lungs were basically the same. So in fixing your chest pains, he decides to do lung surgery. BIG problem right?
The same thing happens in your business! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a company say they have problems with sales, but when we get into the numbers, their problem is actually in marketing. Or vice versa.
Let’s get these straight!
Marketing is lead capture and lead nurture.
Sales is lead conversion.
Example one: Most businesses can and should be generating leads online. Some businesses don’t sell well online. Their product or price point requires an in person experience, demonstration or a personal conversation. When the business owner puts sales and marketing together, they may think, “My business just doesn’t work online.” And they would miss out on all the potential for online growth.
Example two: A company is struggling with low sales numbers so they assume they have a problem in sales. They hire another salesperson. They play around with their price points. They are stressed about how to get more sales. But when we dig into the numbers, they actually have a good conversion ratio for their industry. They just REALLY underestimated how many leads they would need to reach their sales goal. If they don’t separate out marketing and deal with it independently, they’ll spend time, energy and money fixing things that were never broken.
Example three: A company is successful at generating an online following and can’t understand why the thousands of likes, shares, and fans aren’t turning into sales. They have made the big mistake of thinking blasting their info to the world counts as marketing and sales. It doesn’t. They haven’t taken the time yet to build an online sales funnel that matches their online audience.
When you group marketing and sales together, your business comes out the loser! Each department is an invaluable piece of your business. Each department deserves individual focus and attention! And now that we are clear on the difference, I’d love to hear your favorite marketing or sales strategy that is working well for you in your business!