"The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous."
Wow! Make selling unimportant . . . nonessential? How? Simple. Create a brand that is rooted in the feelings of ones customers. And then constantly innovate to enhance those feelings day in and day out.
Have you ever been approached by a Google rep? An iPod salesperson. Someone from IKEA, Ebay, JetBlue or Target? Me either. And that's how you can tell that their marketplace offering is truly unique.
If your eyes are wide open in the present, you'll see nothing but constant change (is that an oxymoron?) in people's lives. And those changes are huge opportunities for you to make a difference with your people, products, services, events, etc.
Now am I saying that selling is dead? Of course not. It has simply changed (like everything else in the world of business): from trying to convince people of your point of view, to helping them achieve what they're trying to achieve, or become what they're trying to become.
Posted October 10, 2005
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Last month, my friend Helaine and I did a mini-workshop/group coaching session for about a half dozen of her clients. We talked about small business selling, and how do do it better. With a 10 year background in sales, I'm always amazed at the reaction... [Read More]
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Good stuff, as always!
Posted by: Marc E. Babej | October 10, 2005 at 08:13 AM
Drucker was right when he said that. I have always believed it.
It can also happen that a product has no big sales in a market and you think something else should be done. In these cases I think a suplementary effort should be done, but I like Drucker´s statement.
Posted by: Felix Gerena | October 10, 2005 at 08:22 AM
For-profits are bastardizing mission-based marketing. Marketing is now about how the customer feels about their Self after the buy, and not the actual product. I think this is a slippery slope that will atrophy at some point. Call me old fashioned, but I would prefer marketing concerns itself with selling a great product and not a religious experience. LOL.
Posted by: Aleah | October 11, 2005 at 10:19 AM
hi, i would like to have a clear understanding about what Peter Drucker said, The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous.please can i have this better clear for me?
Posted by: louis | January 27, 2007 at 01:09 AM
hi, i would like to have a clear understanding about what Peter Drucker said, The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous.please can i have this better clear for me?
Posted by: louis | January 27, 2007 at 01:10 AM
Hi Louis,
What is it about his statement that is unclear to you?
Posted by: Tom Asacker | January 27, 2007 at 07:49 AM
The full quote from Peter Drucker is as follows:
“The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous... to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself”
I dont think Drucker was advocating that marketing is merely a branding exercise. Selling becoming "Superfluous" is relative, not absolute.
There is no way to succeed in the global consumer market, without making selling entirely superfluous. But in the B2B world, or service oriented markets, selling cannot be completely removed from the equation. Peter included "service" in his original quote, so we know that this concept was not excluded from his thinking.
The key is to "know your customer" and that "your product fits him like a glove." But it is self evident that your customer must also know about you and the excellence of your product in order to reach a buying conclusion.
Sometimes sales is required, sometimes it is not. But marketing must make the selling process quicker and easier, or the company is in deep trouble.
Posted by: Bert McComas | September 15, 2008 at 07:08 PM
could you please send me the full article on what peter drucker said and i quot "the aim of selling is to make marketing superfluous"
Posted by: harison yeboah | October 31, 2009 at 02:28 PM