Marketing vs. Selling
Many people confuse selling and marketing as one and same thing. In reality both are quite
different from each other. Selling is an important part of marketing but its not marketing.
Marketing is much wider in scope than selling.
Selling is characterized by product focus approach. It has short term goal of achieving market
share. It does not consider a planning for building up the brand in the market place and
doesn’t have a high loyal set of customers. The end means of any sales activity is maximizing
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profits through sales maximization. The marketer is of the view that once the production
completes, the task of sales force begins and it’s the duty of the sales force to sell what has
been produced. Aggressive selling is adopted for achieving the sales which gives cash to the
company.
Marketing as a concept is wider than selling and focuses on customers’ needs and wants
rather than the product. Marketing starts before the production and product is produced
according to the needs and wants of the customers. Customer satisfaction is given vital
importance and changes are made if customer is not satisfied. It is a long chain of activity,
which comprises production, packing, promotion, pricing, distribution and then the selling.
Profits are not ignored but they are built up on a long run basis and realized with customer
satisfaction.
Every business is for profit even marketing believes in profit maximisation but through
following pillars:
Identification of target customers of target market
Understanding of needs and wants of customers
Developing products or services as per the needs and wants of customers
Satisfaction of needs of customers