Marketing or Sales?

Sales and marketing are two different sides of the same coin.  In both cases it's about providing a quality product, service, or idea, delivering a clear message, and building relationships.

Sales jobs are difficult for one primary reason- people don’t want to be sold.  People want to spend or donate their money in ways that match their personal interests, desires, and values.  As a salesperson, you have to find that connection and convince your target to take action.  One-to-one relationships and face-to-face dealings are very important to people. Building relationships is important in both sales and marketing. 

Marketing is communication that opens the door and starts the connection, often supporting sales efforts. Marketing sets the stage for strong sales, providing information that can strengthen the organization’s reputation, demonstrate its values, and prove its effectiveness.  All aspects of marketing- media campaigns, collateral, events, social media, etc., build those relationships by increasing brand recognition, providing information, and continuing the conversation, allowing potential clients and donors to connect with your company on a personal level. 

A true client relationship must be built in order to attract potential clients or donors, to persuade them to exchange their hard-earned money for goods, services, or goodwill, and encourage them to refer to others.  When the marketing program is designed to reach people and interact with them on a personal level, building one-on-one relationships, the foundation for exponential growth is built.  Customer loyalty and word of mouth is the most inexpensive and effective marketing program.

In order to build these business relationships, customized marketing programs must be created.  The systems and tools a car dealership uses will be different from those that a food bank will use.  Avoid cardboard cut-out marketing plans and work with a marketing person or firm that is willing to create a program that will best serve you and your clientele.  It is important to consider your marketing objectives, whether it is to build brand recognition, increase retention, generate leads or increase sales.  Your sales staff will benefit from a solid marketing program, because it will provide evidence of the company’s reputation and capabilities. 

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If you’ve ever had to take a personality test, you may have heard of Myers-Briggs.  One of the dichotomies explored in this test is a person’s lifestyle preference.  If you are a “J” for judging, you like to have matters settled in relation to the outside world.  If you a “P” for perceiving, you tend to like to keep your options open. 

If you are a serious thinker and planner, and like to have matters settled, you may have no problem creating detailed business and marketing plans.  If you lean more toward keeping your options open, however, you may be more challenged when it comes to the business world. 

Anyone can put out a shingle and offer products or services.  Yard sale enthusiasts do it all the time.  However, if you want to have a business that is effective, efficient, and profitable, you have to have a plan.  You can’t get to where you want to go if you’re not sure where that is. 

All the technological tools in the world will not build your business if you don’t have a goal.  Even a GPS system asks you what your destination is!  If you don’t take the time to narrow your focus and plot a course, your efforts will not achieve the desired results.

Perhaps you already have a business plan and the marketing plan scares you.  There are so many options today- TV, radio, newspaper, internet, social media, billboards, mobile phones, magazines, corporate sponsorships… If you don’t plan how to target your products or services to the right people, you could spend thousands and not make a single sale. 

The good news is that you’re not alone.  People in your community and people you know are at varying levels of business experience and success.  Business coaches and marketing firms can help you clarify your goals and create a workable strategy to meet them. 

AMW Marketing is one of those companies that can help- offering customized solutions to meet your marketing needs. 

Integrity Marketing

Alan Chapman, owner of Businessballs.com out of Leicester, England, has an interesting theory regarding the foundation of marketing.

According to Chapman, the number one factor that puts a business head and shoulders above the rest is the ethics and integrity of the organization:

“Price is no longer the king, if it ever was. Value no longer rules, if ever it did. Quality of service and product is not the deciding factor. Today what truly matters is ethical and philosophical quality - from the bottom to the top - in every respect - across every dimension of the organisation.”

This seems pretty simplistic. After all, no one ever talks about ethics comparisons or philosophy shopping. However, on an intrinsic level, most people want to deal with businesses they trust, with organizations that share similar values. Your marketing methods can make or break the image of integrity your business or nonprofit holds in the community.

Some businesses have taken integrity marketing to new levels. Domino’s Pizza, for example, came right out and stated, “We know you didn’t like our pizza. We’re going to make it better.” Their newest campaign involves using customer photographs of pizzas rather than using food artists for advertising pictures. So far, sales and traffic are up at the 2nd largest national pizza chain.

However, according to Bob Phibbs of Retaildoc.com, referring to both Domino’s and Toyota: “Lesson to businesses large and small, if you want to become a larger brand, you better pay attention to the most basic brand promises:

• eating our product won’t taste bad or
• our products won’t kill you.”

In other words, it’s a lot easier to use integrity marketing when your business makes quality products or provides quality services at a fair price. It’s even better when the process of business, including hiring practices, selection of materials, and efficiency of procedures, is based more on what is right than what is profitable.

When the business is right, integrity marketing comes as a natural outgrowth. When Orville Redenbacher told us "you can taste the difference" in his popcorn, you believed him. As long as eating the popcorn doesn’t “taste bad or kill you,” people will continue to show loyalty to his popcorn brand.

In a social media world where privacy is at a premium and everyone’s opinion can be blasted to the far corners of the internet, the value of marketing that tells the truth: “Let us solve your problem, meet your need, or make you feel good” is more recognized today than ever before.

In the words of author Douglas Adams, “To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.”

What am I marketing for?

Following graduation, I worked at several entry-level positions in fields I wasn’t interested in. A few years later, I followed my vision toward a career in marketing when I took a job at a well-known advertising agency in Boston. I went on to working for several other agencies in the area further developing my marketing skills.

After 18 years in the agency world of marketing, I wondered if my time might be better spent using my skills helping others rather than increasing the bottom line for another large corporation. When working at a direct mail agency, I began to question more deeply how important was it we sell another pair of pants to a buyer that probably doesn’t need them. It was at that time I began my quest to search for what was important to me. My deep soul searching revealed that I didn’t necessarily need to abandon my years of experience, marketing knowledge and skills to help the world and make a positive impact.

That’s when my second career working with non-profits began. Looking back I was lucky to have spent five years working for a small non-profit right after college graduation. The experience I gained at that time was invaluable. I learned transferable skills and gained a great understanding about how to work with boards, committees, development teams, and executive directors.

Today as a marketing consultant, I continue to use my marketing skills to make a difference in the world. I take my expertise to serve people who are living with AIDS, to educate the public about important issues, to help those with disabilities, to assist the underserved find insurance, and work with many other organizations who support those in need.

Marketing and sales personnel are often grouped together with snake oil salesman and people who want to trick or seduce you into turning over your hard earned money for things you don’t really need. I believe marketing is a method of communicating solutions to potential problems for the consumer. By working with non-profits, I know the solutions are making a difference for this generation and generations to come.