Marketing vs Selling
All of us are aware of the concept of selling as we are most of the time consumers buying products and services being sold by vendors and experts. Selling is a verb that comes from the word sale. All companies that are in the business of selling a product or service also make use of another tool called marketing. Many remain confused between these two concepts as there are many similarities between them. Both marketing and selling have the same aim of maximizing sales to increase profits for a company. However, despite overlapping, there remain many differences between marketing and selling that will be highlighted in this article.
Marketing
The word marketing comes from ‘market’ that is a place where buyers and sellers gather to buy and sell products and services. The verb of market is marketing that refers to all activities that are undertaken to identify and satisfy the needs of consumers. Marketing encompasses all those processes that are essential to satisfy the needs of customers while at the same time generating maximum profits for companies that make these products.
Right from carrying market research to identify the need for a product to manufacture it and then creating positive awareness for it, marketing, finally, involves setting a price and then selling the product or service to the customer. Many experts feel that after sale service also forms a part of the large procedure called marketing. Even processing, packaging, storage, transportation, and financing are considered to be parts of the complex concept called marketing.
Selling
Selling is the last leg of marketing activities where the product is finally presented to customers through retailing. While selling is the aim of all marketing activities, it still is just one of the many activities that make up marketing. Selling is the act of closing a sale or when the product has been purchased by the end consumer. Selling requires a customer and can take place only when there is a customer for a product or service.
While the sale is a process, selling is an act that transfers ownership of a product from the manufacturer or the vendor to the end consumer. Selling is dependent upon many factors such as pricing, packaging and the positive awareness that has been created about the product. The short term goal of a salesman is selling or conversion of the potential customer into a buyer.
What is the difference between Marketing and Selling?
• Marketing is a concept, a strategy that is a heady mix of many activities aimed at increasing sales while selling is the final act of buying by the end consumer at a point of sale
• While the end result of both marketing and selling is same i.e. sale, marketing is all about creating a favorable ground for selling to take place
• Marketing requires identifying the needs of customers and then producing and introducing the product to satisfy the needs and demands of the customers
• Selling takes place in a one to one situation at a point of sale whereas marketing is all the research and planning that goes into making a product successful
• Marketing requires promotion and advertising to create a positive awareness about the product. Selling takes advantage of marketing to close the deal