Responses (3)
At their best, both sales and marketing are opportunities for the creation of mutual benefit. They should never be, as depicted in The Wolf of Wall Street, a means to “get one over” on hapless buyers. What you ultimately want from a buyer is not a sale, but a relationship. Relationships should be built on trust, and while the world of sales certainly allows for the possibility of convincing a buyer to buy something they know they do not need, this requires great skill and results in an asymmetrical transaction–one that is to the primary benefit of only one party. This does not foster the trust that is the foundation of any positive brand relationship. In marketing, Convincing someone of something is both extraordinarily difficult and generally a bad idea.
Marketing and sales are both aimed at increasing revenue. They are so closely intertwined that people often don’t realize the difference between the two. Indeed, in small organizations, the same people typically perform both sales and marketing tasks. Nevertheless, marketing is different from sales and as the organization grows, the roles and responsibilities become more specialized.