AUDIO: The war between marketing and sales

CLEARWATER, FLA.
September 14, 2007 12:01am

Is selling dead? Is marketing the new way to move products or services?

No, says sales trainer Patrick Valtin.

What’s missing and must be rediscovered, he says, is the human factor between buyer and seller.

“The key to getting the buyer to buy your product … is not related to your product or to your service,” says Mr. Valtin.

He says merely ramping up marketing as a solution to weak sales techniques can add to a company’s problems.

(Mr. Valtin explains what the real key to selling is in our CVBT Audio Interview. Please click on the link below to listen or to download the audio to your iPod or other MP3 device.)

Mr. Valtin contends that old-fashioned, classical selling does not work anymore because whatever great argument you present, someone can present a better one.

However, Mr. Valtin, who lives in Clearwater, Fla., but travels the world as a sales trainer, says putting too much emphasis on marketing is wrong.

“In today’s electronic age, the customer needs more than ever a trustworthy communication line,” he says. “People forget that marketing helps people to sell better – it is not a substitute.”

The solution is to train sales people to sell the human relationship, he says.

“You really have to reconnect with salesmanship. Put back some basics of relationship,” he says.

About today’s interview guest:Mr. Valtin is founder and chairman of U-Man Belgium, one of the largest consulting and training firms in Europe. He is also former president of Hubbard Management Consultants Association in Europe. He is currently president of M2-TEC USA Inc., a management consulting and training firm. He says he has personally trained over 60,000 people in more than 25 countries in sales and marketing strategy, people management and leadership.