I was talking with a business associate about how to grow a business. My associate made a comment that there are only two things that really matter in any business: marketing
and innovation.

My associate grouped sales into his version of marketing, because without marketing there can be no sales. Without innovation there can be no products worthy of others’ attention.

Innovation is taking your products and services and creating and promoting them in such a way that makes them unique in your industry. This can be as simple as understanding the difference between a client and a customer and creating a marketing and sales process that implements this approach.

Marketing is the lead generation side of the business, and sales generate the revenue. Sales involve taking the leads generated by marketing and moving people from suspects (someone who might use our products) to a prospect (someone who has a defined need, budget, and timeframe) to a client (someone who has purchased from us).

In many respects, the sales process breaks down because there’s a disconnect between sales and marketing. In this section, you will learn how to create a message that aligns sales and marketing and allows you to define your competitive advantage. The real key here is focus. You cannot be all things to all people, so pick your focus, define your competitive advantage, create your value proposition, and align your sales and marketing strategy around your value proposition. This allows everyone in the company to speak the same language. When everyone is on the same page, you will see your business grow. After all, the only true measure of success is revenue.

The article was taken from 49 Marketing Secrets (THAT WORK) to Grow Sales. It is available at www.49marketingsecrets.com.