So you want your business to get more customers. Fair enough. Don’t we all?
But the million-dollar question is: How do you get more people to buy into your brand?
Or, you might ask yourself: What do you want to focus on: the people who buy or the money they spend? This is the crux of the marketing vs sales conundrum.
Now, if you’re in a position where you can devote equal time and resources to sales as well as marketing, then that’s your prerogative. Or you can hire one person to perform sales and someone else entirely to handle your marketing, then more power to you!
But if you can’t do both, read on.
What’s the difference between marketing and sales?
Marketing is aimed at people. Sales are aimed at money.
Of course, that’s a little reductive. Both specialties need to make your brand appealing to people while encouraging them to spend their money.
But if you don’t know the difference, and you’re trying to figure out what works best for your small business, we’re going to get into the nuances. And, when it comes to hiring a sales rep vs a marketing pro, those nuances have to do with their goals, their methods, and their overall, long-term outcomes, as well as their potential downsides.
How is sales work different from marketing work?
Salespeople talk directly to customers and request that they make a purchase.
Marketing pros develop a brand message and use it to establish a relationship with a customer base. What the customers do with that brand awareness is ultimately up to them.
SIMPLE GOAL
A salesperson secures a single transaction with a single entity (individual or business)—whether it’s a one-for-one exchange of money for goods and services, or it’s a contract detailing ongoing payment in exchange for periodic delivery of goods and services. They aim for “completion” in the form of a completed sale or signed contract.
A marketing pro establishes a broader message for your brand and then develops efficient, engaging ways to communicate that message to prospective customers. They begin and continue an ongoing conversation rather than aiming for a “completed” endpoint.
SCOPE OF THEIR WORK
A salesperson not only must identify a broad customer base, but must single out individual targets within that base and sell to them, essentially, one at a time.
A marketing professional establishes relationships between your brand and your whole customer base. They might target demographics (age, location, interests, etc.), but their message reaches groups.
OVERALL, LONG-TERM OUTCOMES
Sales lock in that money, right here and now.
Marketing appeals to immediate buyers as well as future buyers and repeat customers.
POTENTIAL DOWNSIDES
Sales, while often immediate and concrete, only lock in one customer, one transaction at a time.
There is also a major risk of driving away business with sales tactics that can seem pushy or downright underhanded. After all, customers can sense when you’re interested in their money, not their needs. Not only does this lose one single sale, but it can damage your brand’s reputation and hinder future sales. Call it anti-marketing.
Marketing’s only downside is that, like everything else in business, it’s an investment and not a guarantee.
And while sales make an immediate, measurable impact on income, marketing’s measurable effect on your bottom line must be interpreted through more sophisticated evaluations.
Should my small business hire a sales rep or a marketing pro?
Ultimately, that depends on you and your small business.
There are a lot of factors to consider, like what your business does, how it makes money, who your customers are, and how much time and money you have to invest in finding and talking to your customers.
If your goods or services have a particularly lengthy or complicated sales process—if they’re hard to understand, if there are an extended number of customizable options for each and every sale, if customers must sign a lot of contracts, for example—then a salesperson can help walk each customer through that process to guarantee they reach payment. It can be helpful to have a sales rep take care of this stuff!
But marketing is often the best first step, especially for small businesses. A salesperson will not be able to do their job, or do it well, if they cannot find prospective customers. Or if your brand and products are not recognizable. Or worse, if your brand has a bad reputation.
With a boutique marketing agency, especially one that is located in and specializes in the same community where your small business operates (Hello Bradenton, Florida and Western North Carolina), marketing creates awareness and even affection for your brand.
And ultimately the value of your brand is what will carry your company long-term.
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