Both jobs can have a lot of overlap in knowledge I think. The difference is that marketing has a wider umbrella of tasks and skills that they may be responsible for. Sales has a more direct job. They still have to have broad product knowledge in sales but they use it to sell. They are working with the people who buy the products very directly in most cases and they do not do research or make ads. Those things benefit sales, but they are the job of the marketing department and sales should not be spending their time worrying about things like that. They get the information that marketing produces and then they can use it to turn it into improved sales. They definitely work hand in hand. 

I believe the main differentiation between marketing and sales is the depth of knowledge that is required regarding the medical device. Due to FDA regulations regarding advertising, the marketing department has to be aware of certain aspects of the device so they know what they are allowed to include in their advertising. Further, it is possible that they are involved throughout the entire duration of the device's development, which would result in them having a broad understanding of different aspects of the device. A salesperson has a more 1 dimensional role, in that they just need a baseline understanding of what the device is and what it does. A salesperson's job can be thought of as an extension of the marketing department, in that they simply take knowledge and information from marketing and apply it to a one-on-one sales call situation. 

I agree with ag2357, I think that both careers have an overlap in knowledge and that they rely on each other. I'd say that the biggest difference between the two would be that marketing is more focused on pushing the product out in a way that would create interest in it and "entice" potential customers to learn more about it. I believe that sales, on the other hand, focuses more on capitalizing the interest that marketing generated. Kind of like marketing being the radio broadcast blasted across the nation that has, for example, caught the interest of a specialized medical practice like dermatology. Sales would then be the focus of converting that interest by convincing these medical practices why their product is what they need. It has a smaller population focus. I think that sales would hold more product knowledge and customer contact as they are the people whose main goal is to secure the sale. You wouldn't want to buy a product from an apathetic salesperson that doesn't understand how what they're selling works. 

I think that both marketing and sales do have a lot of overlap within their skills and knowledge and how they apply to their responsibilities. However, I think that rather than the overall knowledge of the skill, the main thing that separates the two is that marketing does a lot of the backend planning while sales is the one who is physically selling the product and talking with the customers. As discussed in the lectures, a lot of the responsibilities of the two departments in terms of knowledge of the product is important in different ways and this is why its beneficial to have members from both marketing and sales present at meetings for the product. Sales can get honest and direct reviews of the product from the customer themselves and marketing can use this feedback to plan on how to better the product and present the changes in the most positive manner. Essentially, while they can seem similar and intertwined at times, sales and marketing do have the main difference of who actually sells the product and communicates with the consumer. 

As @ms2768 and @ag2357 both mentioned that there are similarities between marketing and sales as they both deal with a product and the space involving the advertisement of that product. Both marketing and sales are responsible for advertising a product to market and getting consumers to buy it, however, the way the two departments function are vastly different. Marketing focuses more on the research side of advertising while sales focuses more on the selling side of advertising. Marketing's roles may include the slogan of the product, or the story behind how the product was made while sales focuses on creating the physical advertisement and the actual pitch that is involved in getting the consumer to purchase the product. Marketing lays all the groundwork for the sales team to operate and generate revenue. I personally think that marketing is more important than sales just because without marketing even the best salesmen will have trouble closing a deal. Marketing provides the basis as to how the salesmen should pitch the device and without a set plan the sales representative can only rely on their skills so much before the customer sees through their lies and realize that there is no substance to the product. However, with all this being said I do not think that one can operate without the other and that they have a symbiotic relationship where if one is lacking, it will show on the other side. I think that both sales and marketing have an extremely strong control of product knowledge while sales is more in tune with customer contact and marketing is more aligned with organizational power. Both sides have to have a cohesive understanding of the product but sales deals with the customer more frequently than marketing and marketing defines how the product is being pushed to the market which in turn creates an identity for the company and can lead to organizational power.

Marketing meets needs in a strategic manner whereas sales meets needs in an opportunistic manner. Marketing is driven by metrics but sales is driven by human interactions. Focus of marketing is typically long term, sales is typically focus on short term. Though both hence more product knowledge and people interaction are mostly controlled by sales. 

@ms2768 Marketing professionals research markets, industry norms, and consumers. They use data gathered through these vehicles to perform analyses that help understand the interests of potential consumers. They then draw conclusions with marketing professionals can create campaigns using a variety of platforms.  The platforms that marketing professionals use is to to encourage brand engagement, loyalty, and recognition to influence high demand of sales.

Marketing and sales are two critical functions of any business. Both are aimed at generating revenue and increasing customer base, but they differ in their approach and goals. Marketing is the process of promoting and creating brand awarenress through various channels, including advertising, public relations, and social media. Sales, on the other hand, is the process of converting leads into customers by demonstrating the value of the product or service and closing deals. One of the primary similarities between marketing and sales is their needs and preferences. Both functions aim to understand the customer's needs, wants, and preferences to develop targeted strategies that can attract and retain customers. Additionaly, both functions require strong communication skills and the ability to build relationships with potential customers. However, the primary difference between the two is their goals. While marketing docuses on creating brand awareness and generating leads, sales focus on converting those leads into paying customers. Marketing efforts are more long term and focused on building relationships, whereas sales are more short term and focused on closing deals. 

Marketing and Sales are very similar.  I would say they the same thing.  The only difference is the route you go to get there.  In marketing you are trying to sell a product through advertising, consumer interests and subliminal hints of convincing.  In sales you are using knowledge of the product and communication skills to convince someone they need it.  If you switched the marketing explanation with the sales explanation that I gave above, it would be the same as well.

This is actually pretty interesting as I have seen "marketing and sales" collectively as a single group or department in the medical device industry. In my experience marketing is responsible for ensuring the customer is informed and that any marketing material is reviewed and approved from a compliance perspective. Marketing also handles product training or knowledge transfer of new or existing devices. Both marketing and sales are responsible for ensure they are knowledgeable of the devices and can explain them in layman's terms. The sales team are primarily responsible for communication with the customer until the sale is made. Afterwards, any issues going forward is the responsibility of Quality and/or Regulatory.

I'm not a business owner, however I strongly think that someone needs to market their product well before selling it. Marketing helps build awareness and attracts leads to your business. Marketing focuses on reaching an audience, the sales deals more on the bottom-of-the-funnel transactions, to make sure customers go through with their purchase. Basically, sales convert marketing leads into paying customers.