Marketing is one of those much misunderstood disciplines in business that is generally considered to be another word for ‘advertising’, but actually incorporates every aspect of an organisation’s operations.

The official definition for marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing states: “Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.”

The key point about this statement is that the customer is at the heart of everything a business does. So when you consider it in the context of the marketing mix, or the four ‘Ps’ – Product, Price, Place, Promotion – marketing drives the processes that:

1. Develops a PRODUCT that responds to the customer’s need.
2. Produces it at a PRICE point that offers both value to the customer, as well as profitability to the business.
3. That the product is accessible to the customer at a convenient PLACE, whether that is online, delivered to the door, or in stock on a market shelf.
4. And finally that the PROMOTION of the product ensures the customer is informed.

So how does marketing help sales?

How does marketing help sales? Or the question should also be, how does sales help marketing?

The one cannot survive without the other, and although it is generally believed that sales is the most important function (without which there would be no revenue), if there was no marketing then new business leads would soon dry up, product development would stumble, and the company would fall quickly behind its competitors.

Communication

Maintaining the momentum in the communication flow is crucial to a successful business – not just between the sales and marketing teams, but along the entire supply chain, from the original manufacturers right through to the end user. The marketing function is crucial to keeping that flow moving if the sales team are to have the right information to perform well. Comments from the end user can be passed back to the product development team, or the distribution team, who can make the necessary improvements, which can then be communicated back to the sales team to incorporate into their sales pitch.

Increase the desire to buy

The more ‘desire to buy’ the marketing team can generate in the prospective customer before the sales team gets to them, the easier it will be to close that sale and increase your sales conversion rate. That ‘desire to buy’ can be achieved by:

• Accurately identifying the client need and ensuring the product or service responds to it in a way that represents a fair exchange of value. This includes following changing trends and ensuring that the product or service is regularly updated to stay ahead of those trends.
• Establishing a consistent marketing communications programme that informs and educates, as much as promoting your organisation, and optimising opportunities available through the many channels now available – social media, SEO, traditional media, advertising, PR. 
• Develop a voice and a story that matches the goals and values of the organisation and engages potential customers, creating a ‘know, like, trust’ element to the overall brand proposition that builds a growing ‘fan base’.

The focus of these activities is to develop a consistent pipeline of good quality, qualified leads that feed into a high conversion rate.

Involve the sales team

By bringing the sales team into the different marketing activities it not only helps them to be more aware of what marketing does, it also helps to motivate them and make their own function in the overall process more relevant, feeding into a greater sense of purpose.

For example, a great sale may be the basis for a great customer success story that can then be used to promote the overall company values and proposition. The sales person’s role in that story is instrumental, and recognising this in a ‘pubic’ way will both boos confidence and provide great content across the marketing communications mix.