Sales is not Marketing and Visa Versa

I've held both marketing and sales positions, I love both and they are not the same. As you may know from my other posts, I am reading Seth Godin's book, small is the new big. Good book, thought provoking and insightful regarding the new marketplace. However, he does spend a lot of time discussing how corporations and middle management won't change their way of marketing or take on any risk. He is obviously frustrated with them and I can understand why. When you are asked for your opinion and a plan, you do expect to see some type of open mindness and willingness to change. Seth may have done a great job at marketing analysis for the company, he may have also done a terrible sales job. (I wasn't there, I can't say)

Marketing is about identifying how the marketplace spends their money and then telling them a story to bring them to your business thereby, generating leads. Marketing analysis is about looking at what a company is doing now, how the marketplace is behaving and aligning the two. With the internet changing the marketlace and creating a global market never before seen in history, people like Seth Godin are in high demand, and rightly so.

Sales on the other hand is about negating the risk and building trusting relationships. If you have a marketing analysis & plan which the company doesn't buy into it, you failed to sell it. You failed to negate the inherant risks change brings and create a measurable benefit that outweighs any risk the company or managment are willing to take. If the prospect does not trust you and you are giving them too much risk, then they will not buy from you, no matter how great your ideas are.

Ever marketer and salesperson needs a certain level of ego and self confidence. After all they are doing something that is out of most peoples comfort zone, putting their ideas and themselves out into the marketplace to be judged. Marketing and sales need each other in order to create a complete trusting sales cycle. It is the job of the marketer to create a brand that the marketplace as a whole trusts and wants to know more about (lead generation). It is the job of the sales person to take the business to the lead, present the benfits and close the sale.

There are some, like myself, who love both marketing and sales. There are others who are wonderful marketers but would benefit from having a competent salesperson to partner with and visa versa. As I read Seth's book I can't help but wonder if he would be so critical of managements unwillingness to change if he had a partner who was able to present his analysis and reduce the risk associated with it.