A very simple and generic question yet for me the most difficult thing to understand..Different between Sales and Marketing.?

Lets make it very simple 

You go to a shop and ask for a brand of biscuts 

Making you ask for that brand of Biscuts is Marketing 

Making it availble in the shop is Slaes 

The major difference between Sales & Marketing in my opinion :

Sales is the general flow of business which you are getting already but Marketing is the skill used to get the maximum benefits at appropriate cost.

For example:

When we go to market, sales is going on every shop, but a shopkeeper inspires us to purchase the thing which we do need in current but may in future and that shopkeeper make us to purchase, this is marketing.

Difference between Sales and Marketing.?

Many think that marketing and Sales functions are one and the same. Let us  define these two functions

Marketing is finding out what people want, why they want it and how much they’ll spend. Don't confuse marketing with advertising.

Sales is sales! It's converting an inquiry or lead into a contract or shipment. Sales is not market research, business development or advertising.

Marketing consists of all those activities that are associated with product planning, pricing, promoting and distributing the product or service. The task commences with identifying consumer needs and does not end till feedback on consumer satisfaction from the consumption of the product is received. It is a long chain of activity, which comprises production, packing, promotion, pricing, distribution and then the selling. Consumer needs become the guiding force behind all these activities. Profits are not ignored but they are built up on a long run basis. Mind share is more important than market share in Marketing.

Marketing is everything that an organization does to reach and persuade prospects. The sales process is everything that it does to close the sale and get a signed agreement or contract. Both are necessities to the success of a business. One cannot do without either process. By strategically combining both efforts an organization will experience a successful amount of business growth. However, by the same token if the efforts are unbalanced it can detour your growth.

marketing will consists of the measures to reach out to and persuade prospects that you are the company for them. It's the message that prepares the prospect for the sales. It consists of advertising, public relations, brand marketing, viral marketing, and direct mail.

The sales process consists of interpersonal interaction. It is often done by a one-on-one meeting, cold calls, and networking. It's anything that engages you with the prospect or customer on a personal level rather than at a distance.

Your marketing efforts begin the process of the eight contacts that studies show it takes to move a prospect or potential client to the close of the sale. If marketing is done effectively you can begin to move that prospect from a cold to a warm lead. When the prospect hits the "warm" level it's much easier for the sales professional to close the sale.

The difference between sales and marketing is that sales involves the act of persuading consumers to purchase a product or service while marketing refers to the activities that support sale such as identifying market needs, production, branding and promoting the product. Marketing involves creation of demand of a product in the market while sales fulfil this demand. In small businesses marketing and sales are handled by the same department

Marketing activities include consumer research to identify the needs of the customers, product development, designing innovative products to meet existing or embryonic needs, advertising the products to raise responsiveness and build the brand. The typical goal of marketing is to generate interest in the product and create leads and sales prospects.

 The marketing force covers a much broader spectrum. They are long term strategists who add value to the sales processes by creating environments, process, products and services that stimulate the customer immediate need for products/service.

Sales create short term push based strategic activities that helps companies meet their immediate sales targets.

if you can understand this you'll get your answer quesiton...marketing is the culture and sales is part of this culture

Marketing is broad perspective, where as sales is part of that..

I. Marketing is identifying the needs what customer wants, manufacturing & satisfying the need.

   This involves all the processes like Branding, creating value through advertising & distribution.

   For example Pepsi its just  a need for thirst, where as companies spend crores to create brand      for it when you have it u feel pride in it.. Though there are n number of soft drinks available the          moment u thing of soft drink u will remember pepsi or coke. This is branding and also to ensure        distribution available of product in handy, if not the whole exercise of branding goes for a toss.

   It also involves Product Quality, Pricing, Promotions & Place Which is called4P's of Marketing..

II. Sales is just part of product promotion which is available with us, they generally promotes thru           dealer / consumer schemes..

Its very simple i will explain a few difference like Selling focus need of the seller whereas marketing focus need of the buyer.Selling is preoccupied with the seller need to convert his products in to cash.Marketing with the idea of satisfying the need of the customers.

lets make more clear if someone understand the advantages of the products which is most suitable for his/her need is marketing and availability of that particular product is selling.

Requirement of brand is called marketing,fulfill the requirement is called sale.