The founder and CEO of a well-established group of companies noted that the first and most important rule in sales and marketing is to educate yourself first. That is the primary reason why you go through the long years of education, work hard to earn your sales or marketing degree and prepare yourself to go out to the very competitive sales and marketing world.

Many people have the impression that sales and marketing are one and the same. While the there is a direct, significant correlation between the two, they are also significantly different. Marketing is about reaching and persuading prospective customers to avail of your products and services. Sales, on the other hand, is the process of sealing the deal through a signed contract or an availed product or service. Without marketing, you would not have prospective customers what it is you are selling. Yet, without sales, your daily closing income would be depressing. To put it simply, marketing only matters if it is, at the end of the day, converted into sales. There is a continuous cycle between marketing and sales, and you must be able to understand it in order to be successful in the field.

It is but natural for new graduates to want to land a job that would hasten their way up to success. Many of them believe it is the graduate marketing and sales job they are aspiring for that could bring them to that desired disposition. Graduate jobs in sales and marketing are the fastest path for college graduates to corporate success. This can be attributed to the fact that sales and marketing jobs are people-oriented occupations.

Marketing plans are important to a business’ success. The weight of this responsibility is typically carried on the shoulders of college graduates who occupy marketing positions. Most fresh graduates start out as marketing agents in various firms. The job responsibilities will challenge you to produce results in the form of sales. In addition to the training that the company you are working for provides, you also continue to develop certain skills that are necessary for you to communicate better with your prospects and customers. Those skill will keep the company moving in the direction that would meet the needs of your target market.

On the sales front, you should learn how to treat every customer like royalty. Relieve the customer of any obstacle in order to make things easier for him or her. Remember that a single obstacle might cause him or her doing business with you. Because of today’s highly competitive markets, it is very difficult to acquire and retain loyal customers. You have to keep giving them what they want and, at the same time, do so in the most pleasing and professional manner. Sales professionals continuously learn how to read their customers in order to provide better service. Passion grows for their customers that enables them to understand their thinking and reasons for buying.

It is important to note, however, how imperative it is for sales and marketing professionals to allow their target clientèle to take the lead. Instead of offering new products and services that are not necessary to the prospects and customers, they should offer instead things that will provide genuine solutions. Knowing your target market needs will get you a long, long way.

Those who are able to come up with intelligent marketing strategies as well as those who are able to significantly raise the company’s closing rate will definitely be recognized. This success does not come without the individual’s constant willingness to learn new things and continuously develop the skills they already possess. Those attributes are the things that companies are looking for in every employee. Having those capabilities will definitely get you recognized and promoted in the long run.

Many people believe that the motivation that drives sales and marketing individuals has to do with the commissions companies usually offer when reaching a specific quota. It is no denying that this is partly true. However, the more important motivation are the individuals that sales and marketing people deal and commit with everyday. As already stated above, sales and marketing is all about people. Sales and marketing jobs require the individual to deal with people everyday. With the training that you gained from school and the company you work for, the skills you learn everyday and the passion you develop for your job, is what makes a real difference to your clients and to your overall success.

Being successful in sales and marketing may come relatively faster than other careers, but it still requires time and practice. If you commit yourself, keep an open mind, learn from your mistakes and be patient, your success will follow shortly.

Tomer Harel
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/why-sales-and-marketing-jobs-are-the-fastest-path-for-college-graduates-to-corporate-success-719012.html

Economies do not exist until somebody BUYS something! And economies cease to exist when a sale is not made.  Management then decides “customers aren’t buying anything so let’s just cut heads, slash budgets, hunker down and shrink our way to  greatness!” 

Prospecting, Interviewing customers to properly identify problems and opportunities and then collaborating with  them to find appropriate solutions seems to be a skill set lost to an entire generation.   How did this happen? 

Two major shifts drove this change. In the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, virtually every company had a sales force that were required and depended on things like; prospecting- the creation of customers, product knowledge, application knowledge and selling skills.  <strong>Great companies were built on great sales teams who were responsible for creating opportunities not for just selling them. </strong>The sales team was the engine, leading the  charge, driving the revenues of the company!  In the 90′s sales teams were deemed to expensive to maintain, inefficient, difficult to manage and the responsibility for driving revenues shifted to the marketing department.  The theory was that the company could create demand for products and services through advertising, promotion and gimmicks then the company could merely harvest the flood of incoming  orders with call centers or order desks. The second major shift currently taking place is from traditional marketing to internet marketing. 

But, what happens when customers stop looking and searching the net and the phone stops ringing?  Because selling is a lost art the solutions are limited to- increase the advertising, make even bigger claims of the importance of customer satisfaction, lower prices (again) and increase gimmicks like no money down, rebates, zero percent interest and free trips.  Companies started spending more money on ad campaigns and google search then the entire sales force makes in salaries and commissions.  While these marketing shifts created breakthroughs in the ability to reach greater numbers of potential customers, the fact is it failed!  You don’t have to look far to see the corpses of companies who relied on marketing and disregarded the sales team;  Circuit City, Heard Automotive, Dilliards, Sears, Washington Mutual, Wachovia and Merrill Lynch.   These companies failed because of their dependence upon their marketing campaigns and their inability to sell their products!  Marketing without a trained sales team is a “one  way” vehicle, causing the company to only activate at the point of marketing and then become passive at the point of creating an opportunity or even closing on those created.

These marketing methods virtually eliminated management’s expectation of the sales team and their abilities. This is a critical problem in a recession, maybe event the cause of it, whereby the customers stop looking for new products and services, and therefore are immune to the wiles of marketing and promotion. The consumers’ focus in now also on cutting expenses and unless your product or service can help them save money without any investment, they simply won’t pay attention. Search engine optimization is useless when potential customers stop searching.  

Companies <strong>must </strong>return to the creation of true sales skills and sales teams because without them nothing happens!  Management, marketing and customer satisfaction does not sell product.  Sales people sell products and you must have effectively trained salespeople that can (1) generate a prospect and (2) know how to determine what is needed, (3) how your product or service can satisfy that need and (4) how to justify a purchase decision. The lost art of real salesmanship must be restored in order to create the revenue a company desires.

A well trained sales team, not management, not the internet, not customer satisfaction and not marketing is the only thing that can cost effectively create customers in this economy.  Economies exist only when someone finds a prospect and then sells that prospect a product or service at which point they exchange money with your company.  Sales people drive entire economies and without them we have no economy.

Grant Cardone, Author of Sell to Survive

Grant Cardone
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/sales-people-make-economies-not-marketing-by-grant-cardone-746563.html

Do most companies acknowledge that it’s important for Marketing & Sales to be synchronized? Why or why not?

Most companies do not acknowledge that it is important for marketing and sales to be synchronized. The main reason is the most people do not know what Sales and Marketing truly is. Marketing is selling to the millions, but selling is marketing to one person, and there in lies the difference and misunderstanding. On one hand, there is a negative connotation about Sales that can be attributed to our society – the stereotype is of a guy in a polyester suit who talks to much! On the other hand, Marketing is thought to be brochures and advertising. Within corporations, there is no training that Sales is a part of Marketing – even CEOs do not realize this!

For B2B companies, how does the M&S relationship differ in a services organization vs. manufacturing company?

There is no difference – it is the same across all industries. In fact, the only instance where there is a difference is in small companies and that’s because the same person in these organizations does marketing and sales.

The relationship between M&S is often difficult — even hostile. From your experience, why is this?

There is no empathy for the other side. Marketing believes in the products it helped create but does not understand how the customers buy. Marketing tries to get understand the customer from a high level, but often misses from a transactional point.

The people aspect is different – to understand what is important to the customer. For instance, when you are selling a wireless phone, what you are really selling is ease, convenience, and communication. It is critical to know which one of these benefits is really important to each customer. Sales does not provide this feedback to Marketing.

Sales is unable to communicate the messages from Marketing but gives out modified messages of its own. The end result is two sets of unmatched messages aimed at the customer.

What are some of the problems in companies that suffer from a lack of alignment between these two functions?

The biggest problem they face is growing the business effectively. If these two functions could communicate better and understand each other better, they can grow their business without any additional resources. There has been significant industry research on what lack of communication costs the company in terms of acquiring new business.

Are most sales organizations customer focused or product focused? Who or what makes the difference in which approach is dominant?

Most focus on their product rather than the customer. Most sales people find it easier to talk about their product because they understand it better and the pride and ownership associated with it. It is much more difficult to talk about their customers needs.

Fortunately, there is some change. The current economy has forced management to rethink why their customers are buying or not buying. Sales people cannot cherry pick as they used in the past, and are learning to build long tern relationships with their customers. And building relationships is being customer focused.

What is it that sales really want from marketing?

Marketing can provide insights and collaboration to offer an effective solution to the customer. Marketing can be flexible and open to opportunities that Sales presents. After all, the salesman’s motto is that 10% of something is better than 100% of nothing!

How should the customer sales process affect marketing strategy?

Part of Sales’ frustration lies in that Marketing’s does not understand how the customer buys and uses the solution in different segments, markets and industries. If Marketing is open to this feedback, it will help both the Sales and Marketing Strategy.

Marketing often accuses Sales of withholding customer information that would expand strategic analysis and improve marketing decisions. Is this true? Why?

True, and it is because Sales feels that Marketing will not listen to them.

What have you found to be the biggest issues sales teams have with the marketing group?

That Marketing does not understand the reality of being with a customer. Sales must develop a relationship with the customer whereas marketing tends to be more analytical as they do not come face-to-face with the customer. The other issue is pricing – Sales would like to beat down the pricing, but Marketing (being aware of the costs) wants to maintain margins.

How can we resolve these issues between Marketing & Sales?

For a start, Marketing can involve Sales in strategic marketing planning. Even at a concept level, they can invite inputs from Sales on what they know from the customers and competition angles. Exchange of information on Timelines, needs, acceptable and rationale can only help!

Sales & Marketing should collaborate like a fence – lean more to sales (when they need to get a new business) or lean more on marketing (why it can or cannot be done in a particular way). Customers intuitively understand this kind of integrated marketing.

One on the most powerful things I have seen is when a Marketing person moves into Sales and vice versa. They are extremely successful as they bring their knowledge and applying it to the other function – they switch sides and do just great.

What are three things that would improve the relationship between sales and marketing?

Communication, understanding and trust building. Open dialogs between Sales, Marketing and Corporate management on these issues can help better align marketing and sales processes.

As a sales coach, how do you integrate marketing insights into sales messaging, objections handling and competitive positioning?

I always start with history – asking them what they know, their sales process, how they interface with the customers, and whether they believe that Marketing is supporting them or not. Often, when clients tell me that Marketing does not understand, I counter by asking whether they communicate this to Marketing or just ignore it.

It is critical for sales people to take marketing inputs and modify it with field inputs from customers and competition and feed it back to Marketing. From a coaching point, I lift a mirror to them and teach them to hold themselves accountable.

What role can technology [like CRM programs] play in improving synchronization between marketing and sales?

Synchronized and shared data makes it possible for everyone is looking at the same information. It will help greatly in developing successful lead generation, customized messaging, and personalized content programs.

Reprinted from Marketing Insights [June 2003] (http://www.rethinkmarketing.com) with permission of ReThink Marketing LLC. Copyright 2003. All rights reserved.

Debbie Mrazek
http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/is-it-important-for-marketing-and-sales-to-be-synchronized-211603.html

The word is truly a continuous work in progress. That is because it is estimated that every hour, a new business or company starts up, making up for already congested industries. Different industries have different companies and you could be surprised how the number of firms is increasing through time. Thus, the competition is so intense that the consumers are already becoming too confused on how to pick the company they would transact with. Through the years, many marketing and advertising firms have sprouted to help different companies get to their intended clients. Thus, there are numerous ads and marketing campaigns that circulate through all media portals. These services usually lead you to transacting with firms for your specific needs. Sales letters are among these new marketing and advertising tools. Through the years, companies and consumers are starting to recognize the effectiveness and use of these marketing documents. Sales letters because people always easily get bored with the conventional, companies must make sure their messages come across to prospective clients. Because there is too much going on in the media and to the working environment, ads and marketing strategies must be very creative enough to solicit attention. Because people are starting to get tired of the usual media ads, they sometimes tend to neglect uninteresting promotional and marketing campaign materials.
If that happens, then the message would not be communicated and the initiative would be futile. Sales letters are like actual business letters, only that the nature and communication style is different. In sales letters, the writer tends to be too personal and talk to the readers as if they are long-time friends, or as if they generally share the same sentiments. Surveys have found that letter readers normally pay attention to personal letters, especially those that can relate to their own and personal experiences. Sales letters initially establish that personal connection. Afterwards, they discreetly state their intention, which is to persuade you into buying a product or services. The purpose of sales letters each type of letters has its own purpose. In the case of the sales letter, the purpose is to convince the reader to move and place an order or buy / subscribe products and services. In this regard, it can be asserted that sales letters are like sales talk with prospective clients. If sales people find it challenging to convince people to buy products personally through short talks, it is more challenging persuading people to buy products through letters. But if the letters hit the right notes, the result is almost always clear: the reader would act to buy the product or service.
Thus, many marketing and ad firms are resorting to writing business letters because company clients also ask them to do so, considering the significant results of the marketing tools. Sales letters purposely influence people’s minds and perceptions so these people can be ordered to buy the products. That is why it is important that sales letters be written effectively. Writing sales letters Considering the purpose, sales letters must be written in ways that would surely persuade readers. How could that be? By getting straight to the point and honest. In writing sales letter, experts advise that you should bear the intended readers in mind while composing the content. Ask yourself, “Will this letter attract attention of readers?” If the answer to the question is yes, then proceed to another one, “How can I keep the readers engaged to the letter so they could absorb the persuasive message?” To attract attention, use strong marketing words that surely create an appeal to readers. Create catchy and interesting subject headings. Keep the readers engaged by being straight to the point. Offer the best you could, like the benefits of buying the product. Sales letters must not be too wordy. Assume that the readers are busy people who have better things to do and to attend to instead of spending a precious minute reading a letter. If the letter communicates a clear message in a minute or less, then it surely would be effective and would easily drive the reader to suggested action, which is simply to buy the product endorsed.

http://www.sales-letters-creator.com
http://www.sales-page-rapid-fire.com

 A sales letter is a contemporary sales and marketing tool. It is a material that facilitates a quick interaction and communication between you and the readers. Never let the opportunity pass.

samar
http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/sales-letters-companies-and-consumers-are-starting-to-recognize-the-effectiveness-and-use-of-these-marketing-documents-725636.html

Duration : 0:5:19

[youtube R3O9fguzwUE]

What do you think they do?

Here is the website:

http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/ApplyOnline/ExternalLinkApply.aspx?useframes=True&companyname=F.P.+Marketing%2c+Inc.&aourl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.fpmarketing.net%2f&Job_DID=J8G7XG72PFRVJHDP86W

It uses a lot of big words to say nothing at all.
Sounds like this place hires salespeople to sell WHATEVER IT CAN GET to businesses.
Probably straight commission and high turnover.

http://www.chrysler.com/300/

Comments & Forum

http://www.topix.net/autos/chrysler-300

History

http://www.chrysler300site.com/

Don’t forget to pick someones best answer please.

P.S when I say sales I mean general promotion and selling consumer goods.

Your best certification is your personality and integrity. However, I know you are looking for a piece of paper to add to your resume. I did a search on Yahoo ("Sales Certifications") and I found:

http://www.davekahle.com/certification.html – this site offers 2 certifications through self-study. each cert. has 3 levels of certification. They also offer seminar trainings.