I come across so many people who confuse sales and marketing. They put one inside of the other. Either sales is marketing or marketing is sales. In reality, there is a HUGE difference between the two!
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing my friend Connie Whitman and we had a great conversation about how sales and marketing are both super important, but very different.
Known for her high-energy, passionate, heart-centered, and enthusiastic approach to sales, teaching, and coaching, Connie Whitman has been the CEO of Changing the Sales Game for 20+ years helping business owners, leaders, and sales teams build powerhouse organizations.
A three-time #1 International Best-Selling author of her book ESP (Easy Sales Process): 7-Steps to Sales Success, speaker, and podcast host, Connie’s inspired teaching, transformational tools, and content ensure that business owners and salespeople grow their revenue streams through enhanced communication skills.
She is thrilled to share inspiring content on her international podcasts Changing the Sales Game and Enlightenment of Change
Today, I want to share with you my top takeaways from our conversation about changing the sales game.
Here are 4 Misconceptions About Sales and Marketing
1. Sales and marketing are the same things.
Marketing is the full scope of activities an entrepreneur undertakes to promote their product, service, or solution to their ideal client. This could include (but is not limited to) paid ads, email campaigns, funnels, social media, blog, video, and podcast content.
Sales is a transaction between two or more people where a customer or client receives a tangible product service or solution in exchange for payment.
Because they are very different, it becomes even more important that your marketing matches your brand. You don’t want someone to fall in love with your marketing and then meet you and feel like they don’t fit.
Sales and marketing are married and they thrive off of each other – they are not the same thing.
2. If you’re great at marketing, you don’t need to sell (and vice versa).
This is patently false. As we discussed, sales and marketing are two different things. You may be better at one than the other, but your business needs both!
Even if you are great at marketing, it can’t stop there. You still need to sell. And, no matter how good you are at selling, if you don’t market, no one will even know what it is that you are selling.
You need both! You can’t have sales without marketing. You can’t have marketing without sales. They thrive off of each other.
3. There is no secret sauce to sales.
Connie has a tried and true seven-step process, a logical approach to sales. It is an organized thought process for a really good, dynamic conversation. This is the secret sauce to selling!
- Be prepared
- Build rapport
- Question
- Listen
- Present
- Ask for the business
- Follow up
4. Sales is scary.
I see so many people who are scared of sales. Or they are certain they are bad at sales. Or they see sales as this icky word. So, they try to outsource sales.
The problem with outsourcing your sales? No one is going to be as passionate about your product, service, or solution as you are.
You don’t suck at sales! Take the time to truly understand your sales style, the gifts, and the challenges that come with that. Once you do, you will be in a position of power and sales will never feel scary again.
As business owners, we are all salespeople. If we follow Connie’s method and make it authentic to who we are, it becomes easy instead of scary.