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September 20 2024
A conundrum facing most companies is where should the focus be maximum – on marketing or on sales.
For us to cogently answer this query, we need to clearly understand the difference between the two.
Marketing refers to all activities related to creating demand for the brand of product or service produced by the company. It spans activities ranging from regular above-the-line marketing campaigns ( eg through mass media that targets a wide audience eg TV, press, radio et al) to below-the-line marketing activities (eg activities that focus on targeted or personalized communication, trying to establish one-on-one customer relationships and thereby drive the desired purchase action eg, direct mailers, exhibitions, fairs, point of sale marketing, experiential marketing et al) to through-the-line marketing activities (which is a hybrid of above-the-line & below-the-line marketing eg social media, web marketing)
The prime goal of marketing is to create awareness, interest & desire, leading to a discernable action to purchase that brand of product or service.
Sales refers to all activities related to fulfilling the demand, created through marketing. This fulfilment can happen through either traditional channels ( eg mom & pop stores, modern retail formats et al) or through online channels ( eg e-com). The consumer has a need (backed by adequate purchasing power), that has been created through adept marketing & sales and then fulfils that need, by making the product easily available to the customer, at a place & format of his choice.
Now, coming back to the initial query, which of these two is more important — creating demand ( marketing) or fulfilling the demand ( sales )?
For us to grasp the correct answer to this question, we must get back to rudimentary arithmetic. A 100 when added to 0, gives 100 as the result. But, a 100 when multiplied by 0, gives 0 as a result. So, is the case for marketing & sales. Both are equally important activities, either of which is un-substitutable by the other.
If there is a lacuna in marketing, it will impact revenue growth in the medium-term to long-term time horizon. A company cannot grow unless more & more demand is ceaselessly generated for its products & this will not happen, without successful marketing.
On the other hand, if there is a lacuna in sales, it will impact revenue growth both in the short term & in the long term. If customer demand cannot be satisfactorily fulfilled, it will move irrevocably to competition.
A company needs to understand the critical value add that each of these two functions brings & allocate its scarce resources accordingly.
One cannot be sacrificed for the other.
