First Things First: Sales and Marketing Basics

The Relationship Between Sales and Marketing

Like two peas in a pod, these two have always been together. Ever wonder why?

MOST ENTREPRENEURS HAVE a common sense idea of what sales and marketing are all about, and what makes selling different from marketing. Marketing opens the gate between customers and the products or services they want; sales ensures that the buying happens. So rather than discuss the obvious differences between sales and marketing, let's focus first on the real question: how sales and marketing are connected and how, without one, the other would probably fail.

Sales and marketing are two segments of business that work hand in hand. Marketers identify customer needs, help open ways for the company to sell something to meet those needs, and try to ensure customers come back for more. If a consumer only hears about a product or service for the first time when someone is trying to sell it, the odds of a purchase go down.

So as an entrepreneur, you most likely will be spending money on marketing before you spend on sales. This is no doubt where the saying, "You have to spend money to make money" comes from.

Organizations of all sizes have to deal with this dilemma every day, because marketing is not only about introducing the product to the consumer. It's also about the prior processes of developing a brand, conducting market research to support product development, alpha and beta testing, and holding trials. The costs for these activities are incurred by all businesses. So remember, when creating your marketing plan, to budget for all appropriate marketing expenses. Then you can think about budgeting for sales.

Sales can be handled in many ways. Some companies choose direct selling. This is when the company sells its products or services directly to customers through salespeople, electronic stores (websites), or storefronts. Other companies partner with intermediaries, both nationally and internationally, who take charge of selling on their behalf. These intermediaries are commonly called distributors, wholesalers, representatives (sales reps) or brokers. Regardless of the way a business decides to sell its product or service, the sales force counts on the marketing of that product to facilitate brand awareness, brand recognition, and trust. If the marketing is executed correctly, a much better sales conversion rate should develop.

As a result, if the sales of a product or a service go well, the business will earn more and be able to fund a larger marketing budget, refueling the next cycle of the entire process.

Some companies see sales as a late stage in the overall marketing process, and the sales team may be part of Marketing. Others see marketing as supporting sales, with the schema inverted. The truth is that both models can generate excellent business, provided the two functions coordinate well. Needless to say, in a small company, sales and marketing may be done by a single person. But it helps a lot to clearly see which function is in play at the moment, so your goals are crystal clear.

Sales and Marketing: The Winning Team

While closely related, they are not the same. Nevertheless, never leave home without both.

SALES AND MARKETING are close to the heart of a business. Through marketing you can get clear indicators of your target market; with these, projections and marketing leads can be established. Through sales you can translate your product or service into income. Sales needs marketing to get customers; marketing needs sales to fund its operations and help move your company to the next level. You need both, functioning smoothly together, to ensure growth.

Marketing activities target many people, whereas selling deals with target buyers — individuals and groups clustered around some common factors. Without effective marketing, nobody will know what you offer. Without effective selling, your business has low prospects of surviving and growing. So the two functions are complementary and have equal, important value.

Marketing means all activities that are undertaken with the aim of reaching out and convincing the prospect to buy. Sales processes often involve activities to ensure that a customer buys a product, signs a contract or an agreement, or exchanges something of value for your offering.

The marketing process can vary a lot. It mainly consists of the following:

• Spotting unmet needs, a gap in the market, a new market sector where some opportunities for new offerings may lie

• Finding out the kind of product or service that will serve the needs of your potential customers

• Developing the product or service

• Ensuring that it has the attributes which meet the need of the customer

• Determining a fair price, effective name, appealing packaging and branding, and compelling proposition for the product or the service

• Making the product known to the customer

• Communicating why the customer ought to buy it (vs. the competition, or to solve a need or problem)

• Ensuring customers remain loyal, often by asking them for new concepts or enhancements on existing products, streamlining processes (think of rental cars), or building a community of users — but also offering rewards for continued purchasing

Promotion is done through different media platforms such as radio, print media, broadcast services, mobile phones, and Internet-based platforms, and includes activities such as advertising, public relations, and brand marketing. All of these are relatively distant means of contact with prospects and customers.

Another important difference is that the development and production of marketing materials, such as attractive packaging, brochures, or information booklets, is usually done before selling starts. Of course the marketing process cycles on, even after a sale is made.

Selling, on the other hand, depends a lot on effective interpersonal communication between the seller and the buyer. In the selling process, the level of contact between the seller and the buyer is generally high and the distance is often short. The duty of the seller is mainly to persuade or influence the customer to buy the seller's product or service, get a contract signed, or to have the customer give the seller something of value in exchange for what is being offered.

Selling is commonly done through activities such as personal meetings, telephone conversations (including cold-calling), or using contacts within the social or corporate networks of the prospect (networking) to offer the product or service to them.

The final, and most gratifying, component of the promotion and sales process is the delivery of the product to the customer, but both sales and marketing can play critical roles in the post-sale period. Finding out how satisfied the customer is, what future needs are pending (for either new things, or more of the same thing), and launching a whole new cycle are what really leverage a company's growth and success. So if you perceive the intricate intersections between sales and marketing, you can ground your enterprise in productive synergies between the two and expand your business quickly.

Creating Marketing Collateral

Always remember that people want to buy — they just don't want to be sold.

MARKETING COLLATERAL — things like catalogs, websites, booths at conferences and exhibitions — is designed to widely distribute information about your products and services. You use these things to generate sales opportunities that will bring in revenue to sustain the future growth and profitability of your business.

When developing materials to communicate about your goods or services and the needs they serve, you need to know what influences buying decisions among your prospects. This knowledge will help you to develop communication strategies that increase sales or build brand loyalty.

What's the first impression you want to create for prospective customers? You must catch the attention of the prospective customers immediately; after all, you only have one first impression, so make the most of it. Your marketing collateral should target your prospect's problem or needs, then illustrate how your offering addresses them. Your message needs to be both factually informative and enticing. The customer should be able to "get" what it is you offer with very little work. Use language or imagery in a way that ensures the prospect is both comfortable (by using appropriate language) and well-informed.

The message within the collateral basically tells the prospect about the key benefits of your product or service. Compared with an in-person selling scenario, the message in the collateral should be concise, complete and clear, so that the customer can easily find answers to typical questions: specifications, where she can find the product, price, how to order, etc. In an in-person selling scenario, you would be answering questions raised about the offering in the course of meetings and conversations, and eventually negotiating the sale.

Your materials should persuade your customers and inform them that you have something valuable to them. They should motivate them to purchase your product or service. You can do this by simply putting your collaterals through the following simple six-point test:

Question 1: Are you defining the nature of your product and/or service by highlighting all of the features that would interest the prospective consumer?

Question 2: Have you positioned your product or service to clearly define why it is different from your competitor? Have you touched on the pain-points that your offering eases? Why do prospects need it?

Question 3: Does your marketing material sound like your prospect? You should know how your prospects talk and think. If you don't come from your own customer base (and even if you do), you'd be wise to do a demographic study of your potential customers, including surveying the collaterals of your competitors. Keep in mind that as a result, you may find you need a couple of different versions of collaterals. A catalog company that sells toys for special needs kids may want a teacher version and a parent version, written and perhaps illustrated in different ways, to sell the same goods.

Question 4: Is your collateral easy to understand? Does it flow smoothly and logically, without causing confusion? Does it use a friendly, neutral tone? Is it uncluttered, persuasive and involving?

Question 5: Is your marketing collateral well-designed? The layout of the collateral should not only be informative, but also attractive to the eye. A homemade look may work for some kinds of business, but for many others, the investment you make to have your collaterals professionally laid out may pay you back many times over.

Question 6: Can your sales team distribute the material and know that it will pique the interest of your customers? They may not have final say on design and content, but if they really hate your collaterals you're rolling rocks uphill.

Keep these questions in mind when you are writing newsletters, advertising copy, website marketing messages, supporting collateral, and sales letters. Always keep your readers in mind, and always remember people want to buy — they just don't want to be sold (yes, we mentioned this earlier, but it bears repeating). With these important guidelines in mind, you can create marketing collateral that will lead to increased sales and take your business to the next level.

16 Marketing Tips That Work

These low-cost, highly effective marketing tips will help you find customers and generate sales quickly.

ENTREPRENEURS HAVE so many things on their minds that they don't always take time to prioritize and plan realistically. Here are some tips that will keep you on track when you're planning your marketing.

1. Don't expect to play right away like the big guys: Large corporations advertise to create brand recognition and future sales because they can afford it; a small business typically can't do that. Instead, think short-or mid-term and design your advertising to produce sales now — on your budget.

2. Make an offer: Always include an offer or discount in your advertising.

3. Set up joint promotions: Reach out to some non-competing small businesses serving customers in your market. Offer to publicize their products or services to your customers in exchange for their publicizing yours to their customers. This can produce sales for little or no cost.

4. Seek out endorsed relationships: An endorsed relationship is similar to a joint promotion — with one big difference. The person you do the venture with actually gives you their professional or personal endorsement.

5. Build a well-connected network: One of the biggest myths in business is that you must have a large network if you want to succeed. The reality is that the size of your network is not what's important; it's the influence of the people within your network that counts.

6. Offer a "No Frills" version: Some prospective customers can't, or are not willing to, pay what you're asking for your product or service; others would rather pay a low price than get the best quality. (Ever seen a $6.99 all-you-can-eat lobster feast restaurant? Same concept.) You can avoid losing sales to many of these customers by offering a no-frills, stripped-down version of your product or service at a lower price.

7. Throw your antiquated marketing guide in the trash: If you want to avoid wasting piles of money and missing countless sales opportunities, toss your old marketing textbooks and audio books in the dumpster. (Well, skim for the key concepts first.) See what's working now, and take advantage of the fact that lots of current marketing tools are free or low-cost. You can learn to use them as well as the youngest whippersnapper you know.

8. Use Attraction Marketing, not Pursuit Marketing: The most successfully marketed businesses gain the attention and interest of potential buyers by making themselves attractive. In short — they invite customers to come to them. This is where the development of a good brand will pay dividends for you. When people find a blog, page or site attractive, they recommend and forward it to their contacts, colleagues and friends. People hate being chased or pursued. Spend a day doing cold-calling and you will learn very quickly just how much people love to buy, but hate to be sold.

9. Offer a "Platinum Edition": While a cheaper version (see tip 6 above) will broaden the number of customers who can afford your product, not all customers are looking for a cheap price. Many are willing to pay a higher price to get a premium product or service. You can boost your average size sale and your total revenue by offering a more comprehensive product or service, or by combining several products or services in a special rolled-up premium package, offered at a higher price. As long as the higher price renders more (or better) products at a good value, someone will always be there to buy it.

10. Research your competitors: It's impossible to effectively sell or market your services unless you have researched your competitors. You need to know what offers, guarantees, prices or terms you are selling against in order to make your offering the most attractive to prospects.

11. Try some outside-the-box, unconventional marketing methods: Look for offbeat, perhaps humorous marketing methods that your competitors have overlooked. Surprise and delight people. You may uncover some profitable ways to generate sales and trump the competition.

12. Use email and text marketing: If you're not already using it, you're behind the curve. The reality is that email marketing is extremely cost-effective and is perhaps the single most powerful marketing tool available to small businesses, followed closely by text marketing. This is because it provides predictable results and costs little or nothing to use. Here's a fun fact: text messages have the highest open rate (the percentage of recipients who at least open the message) of any marketing platform. The reason why email marketing is considered more effective, however, is because it enables you to send more info, images, links, etc.

13. Downsize your ads: Reduce the size of your ads so you can run more for the same price. You may even be surprised to find that some of your smaller, shorter ads generate a better response than their longer versions.

14. Try Internet marketing: Most small businesses are missing out on stacks of high-quality inquiries, leads, phone calls, and orders from prospective or actual buyers. They don't know that if they had a professionally designed website, one that has been search engine optimized (SEO) by a proven SEO expert, they'd have much more business.

15. Leverage keywords: Learn to make the words that deliver information on your website work for you with keyword optimization, too. It all adds up.

16. Don't mistake movement for progress: People sometimes think that the harder they work, the more successful they will be — but then, think of a hamster on a wheel! Make a conscious effort to work smarter, not harder at your marketing, keeping your goals in mind, and you will be amazed at the results.