Short and sweet blog post today by Seth Godin on the difference between sales and marketing.  Reads like this:

“Marketing tells a story that spreads.
Sales overcomes the natural resistance to say yes.

If you don’t pay the salesforce (because you go direct, or you go free), then who is going to do that for you? The only answer that occurs to me is, “your users/fans/customers.”

This means that a critical element of any strategy that ditches the salesforce is to figure out how you will empower and encourage your customers to take their place. Easier said than done.”

We’ve been tracking the interaction of these elements at our agency for some time now, with some interesting findings.

• Sales and marketing isn’t integrated or aligned very well.  There’s a body of research and evidence that verifies this problem.  It’s an issue of growing importance because the way people consume information and buy products and services has changed.  The days of ‘tell and sell’ are over.  Now it’s about building relationships and building trust – something that doesn’t occur naturally when sales and marketing are on different planets.
• The integration of marketing and sales is different (as Godin points out) when customers buy direct and don’t go through traditional sales channels.  In this case, marketing has to align with the world (users / fans / consumers).  It’s all tied to the same thing – building relationships and building trust.  The challenge is you don’t have control over the world.  Folks are out selling (being advocates for) your product or service, but they’re doing on their terms not yours.
• Success in the future will be built on the ability of companies to bridge the critical disconnect between marketing, sales and the world.  Companies that can’t bridge these gaps internally (getting marketing and sales on the same page) or externally (building valued connections through social channels) will find it increasingly difficult to meet the buying public’s demand for trust and authenticity.  Without this bond, customers will continue to roam from company to company – in search of relationships that provide value and meaning in their lives.

The trick is most companies aren’t wired this way.  It’ll happen – but it’s just going to take time (change is a process not an event).  Companies can start by taking an honest look at how well their departments and people work together (start with marketing & sales), how effective they are in satisfying their customers’ real needs (the intangible things that drive decisions), and how your company engages with the world (beyond telling them you have a product to sell).  It’s quite a challenge – and we love it.