One of the most common misconceptions that I come across with business owners is the tendency to muddle up marketing and sales. ‘Marketing’ is finding people who are interested in buying your product or service. ‘Sales’ is actually getting them to buy – closing the deal. Activities that people might think of as Sales, such as cold-calling or door-knocking, are, in many cases, marketing activities, for example, if the desired outcome of the phone-call is to make an appointment for a company representative to visit and put a proposal together. It isn’t ‘sales’ unless you’re actually seeking the prospective customer’s agreement to buy.
Why is this distinction important? It is imperative that business owners think about their marketing in its own right, rather than thinking that it will happen automatically as part of their sales process. For example, if you’re not getting enough business, hiring a new salesperson might not be the right answer if you’re expecting them to seek out new prospects – for that, you need someone with marketing ability. Likewise, the person who is skilled at finding you interested people might not be the best person to close the deal with them. Some are talented in both areas, some are not.
The process of finding people who are interested in buying what you offer needs to be considered separately from the procedure of getting them to buy, although the two are naturally linked. It is important to understand that Marketing does not deliver customers. domain list . Marketing makes people aware of your product or service, delivers you people who want to know more, and, critically, if you’re getting your marketing right, it should only deliver people with a serious interest in you.
To find out more about how to get your Marketing right, you can attend our training morning on Monday February 17th at Wolverhampton Novotel. E-mail Doug@exec-tc.com for details. You can also check out the ‘Sales’ and ‘Marketing’ Advice Sheets on our website.
Source material, Getting Down to Business by Doug D’Aubrey and Matthew Chuck.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles, freedigitalphotos.net