While the marketing function within an organization aims to establish the requirements of actual and prospective customers and promoting the company’s products or services, the sales department actively sells the company’s products to customers.
The fundamental distinction between the two departments is that the marketing department’s efforts cost the organization expenses whereas the sales department generates revenue to the company.
The Sales Process
A sales event involves the customer directly, where he or she can buy goods or services directly or order a specific product via a sales quotation.
Typical sales processes involve the customer approaching a sales person with a specific requirement while the salesperson attempts to convince the customer that the specific product offered by the company offers the best value offer.
The sales process will terminate successfully when the salesperson manages to make a sale. Making a sale refers to the situation when a potential customer becomes an actual customer.
Sales Process Training
Training the members of the sales team are crucial to empower the staff with the essential skills and closing sales techniques that assist them to close sales and turning a potential sale into an actual sale. Training sales staff usually involves training the sales team about the products or services they are selling and be in a position to explain complex and technical issues to the prospective customer.
Product Marketing Process
The product marketing process is a vital element in an organization whose aim is to attract customers since the marketing of products or services can ultimately determine their success and failure in the competitive market.
One of the most salient activities in the marketing process is the advertising and the promotion of a product or service. The aim of an advertising campaign is to entice a potential market into actual demand.
Market Research Services
The purpose of the marketing research process is to identify new markets and prospective customers and analyzing the demand for a product or service in the business market. The information collected from an effective marketing campaign will determine how a marketing strategy to promote a new or existing product is carried out in different locations and to attract new customers.
The market research also yields significant benefits in identifying purchasing trends. For instance, in the last years, the Internet witnessed a steady increase in online shopping since more and more customers prefer to purchase products online.
Sales and Marketing Skills
To summarize the aims and functions of the marketing department is to promote products and services based on thorough marketing research into customer demands. The sales function is to support the marketing department and it ensures that customers are provided with a quality product in a timely manner.
Neither function operates in a vacuum and both functions rely heavily on each other to achieve sales and marketing effectiveness in an organization.