Marketing vs. Sales

Michael Evans had an excellent post in the Harvard Business Review on the difference between marketing and sales that I’d like to share with you readers:
“Sales and Marketing should arrive at one to three
USP’s, that are memorable emotional and meaningful (MEM’s).
The job of marketing is to put sales in a position to score a goal. No matter how compelling USP’s are…salesstill has the job of maximizing the company’s product strengths and mnimize the weaknesses. Unless everything about the company and the product is perfect and unbeatable. In that case, why would you need a sales force? I would just place an Ad or two and the market would fall over themeselves to the product or service.
The Science is marketing’s job (research, product development, messaging, etc.) The Art is sales’ job (customer relationships, rapport, establishing credibility and making the prospect ‘want’ the product/service by painting pictures of the life after th aree product/service).
USPs are, as you point out, essential. BMW identified its market-precisely- and offered a very compelling USP – THE ULITMATE DRIVING MACHINE.