Why Your Sales & Marketing Teams Aren't Aligned and How to Fix This

Sales and marketing teams must synchronise in the competitive B2B market. However, conflicting priorities between these two divisions have caused numerous companies to struggle. This article examines the origins of such misalignments, their negative repercussions, and ways to close the gap to achieve company goals.

Covered in this article

What is Sales and Marketing Alignment?
The Core of the Misalignment
The Dangers of Misaligned Goals
Bridging the Gap
Leveraging Technology for Enhanced Collaboration
An Overview of Sales and Marketing Alignment
FAQs About Sales and Marketing Alignment

What is Sales and Marketing Alignment?

Sales and marketing alignment refers to the strategic harmonisation of the sales and marketing teams' goals, strategies, and processes within an organisation. This alignment is crucial for ensuring that both departments work towards common objectives, leading to improved business efficiency, customer satisfaction, and revenue growth. When sales and marketing teams are aligned, they share insights, collaborate on strategies, and communicate effectively, creating a cohesive approach to market penetration and customer engagement.

• Shared Goals and Metrics: Establishing common objectives and performance indicators to ensure both teams are working towards the same business outcomes.
• Integrated Communication: Regular and open communication channels between sales and marketing to share insights, feedback, and updates.
• Collaborative Content Creation: Marketing teams produce content that directly supports the sales process, while sales teams provide customer insights to marketing.
• Joint Strategy Development: Collaborative planning sessions to align marketing campaigns with sales objectives, ensuring a unified approach to market engagement.

The Core of the Misalignment

The misalignment often stems from disparate strategies and goals set independently by sales and marketing teams. For instance, a Fortune 250 company faced a product line failure not due to delivery issues or lack of sales effort but because of a fundamental misalignment: the product was priced to gain market share, while the sales team was incentivised on profit margins. Such discrepancies can demotivate sales teams and encourage decisions that might not be in the company's best interest, sacrificing long-term gains for short-term personal achievements.

The Dangers of Misaligned Goals

Harvard research, involving over 150 B2B sales professionals across various industries, has highlighted three primary dangers associated with misaligned goals:

1. Demotivation

When sales and marketing goals conflict, it undermines the sales team's confidence in achieving either objective, leading to demotivation and decreased organisational commitment. Salespeople become disillusioned when faced with pricing and compensation strategies that do not complement each other, fostering a culture of defeatism and reduced motivation.

2. Perceived Unnecessary Difficulty

Sales teams often view misaligned goals as overly challenging or unattainable. The perception that these challenges are needless or that success is impossible under the current goal framework can lead to lost sales opportunities and a reluctance to endorse and promote certain products fully.

3. Compromised Goal Achievement

To navigate the discord between pricing strategies and compensation goals, sales teams might resort to offering additional services at a cost, such as free training or customisation. While these strategies can temporarily mask product shortcomings or pricing misalignments, they can also erode profits and disguise deeper issues within the sales strategy.

Bridging the Gap

Involving Sales in Pricing Discussions

One potential solution is to include sales teams in pricing discussions, providing them with a platform to express their on-the-ground insights and concerns. However, our research indicates resistance from management, who often view pricing as a factor rarely impeding sales success, thereby excluding sales teams from critical pricing decisions.

Recognising Sales Team Insights

Sales professionals possess a nuanced understanding of market dynamics and customer perceptions, which can be invaluable in setting realistic and competitive prices. Acknowledging and integrating these insights can lead to more informed pricing strategies that align with both sales objectives and market expectations.

Joint Strategy Development

Establishing a collaborative environment where sales and marketing teams jointly develop strategies and set aligned goals can significantly mitigate the risks of misalignment. This collaborative approach ensures that both teams are working towards a unified objective, with clear understanding and support for each other's roles and contributions.

Leveraging Technology for Enhanced Collaboration

Technological advancements play a crucial role in facilitating effective collaboration between sales and marketing teams. Integrating cutting-edge tools and platforms can significantly enhance communication, data sharing, and performance tracking, thereby fostering a more unified approach towards achieving common goals. This section explores how leveraging technology can bridge the gap between sales and marketing, ensuring a seamless alignment that drives business growth.

Data-Driven Decision Making

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and analytics tools allow both sales and marketing teams to access real-time data and insights. This shared access to customer data, sales trends, and marketing metrics enables both teams to make informed decisions, tailor their strategies based on actual performance and customer feedback, and quickly adapt to market changes.

Unified Communication Platforms

Communication platforms such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Asana can streamline interactions between sales and marketing teams, ensuring everyone is on the same page. These platforms facilitate the sharing of updates, ideas, and feedback, making it easier to align strategies, campaigns, and objectives. Regular virtual meetings and brainstorming sessions can further enhance this alignment, fostering a culture of open communication and collaboration.

Automated Workflow Systems

Automating workflows can reduce manual tasks, minimise errors, and ensure that both sales and marketing teams are focusing on their core activities. Automation tools can help in scheduling email campaigns, managing leads, tracking sales progress, and delivering personalised content, ensuring that both teams are working efficiently towards common goals.

Training and Development

Investing in joint training programs for sales and marketing teams can promote a better understanding of each other's roles, challenges, and contributions. Workshops focusing on the latest market trends, customer behaviour, and digital marketing strategies can equip both teams with the knowledge and skills needed to collaborate effectively.

Performance Tracking and Feedback

Implementing a shared dashboard that tracks key performance indicators (KPIs) relevant to both sales and marketing can encourage a shared sense of accountability and progress. Regular reviews and feedback sessions based on these metrics can help identify areas of improvement, celebrate successes, and adjust strategies as needed to ensure alignment.

An Overview of Sales and Marketing Alignment

The alignment between sales and marketing teams is not merely beneficial but essential for the sustained success of any organisation. By recognising the value of collaborative goal-setting and strategy development, companies can avoid the pitfalls of misalignment and harness the collective strength of their sales and marketing teams. It's time for businesses to foster a culture of unity, where sales and marketing work hand in hand, propelling the organisation towards its overarching goals.

In a competitive market, aligning your sales and marketing teams is not just an option; it's a necessity. Let Velocity help your business streamline its efforts for optimal growth and success.

FAQs About Sales and Marketing Alignment

1. Why is sales and marketing alignment important?

Alignment between sales and marketing teams is crucial for streamlining communication, ensuring consistent messaging, maximising efficiency, and ultimately enhancing customer experiences and business outcomes.

2. How can sales and marketing teams achieve alignment?

Teams can achieve alignment by establishing shared goals and KPIs, facilitating open and regular communication, aligning content and messaging, and collaborating on strategic planning and execution.

3. What are the common challenges in aligning sales and marketing?

Challenges often include differing goals and metrics, lack of communication, misaligned strategies, and disparate tools and systems that hinder collaboration.

4. How does technology facilitate sales and marketing alignment?

Technology, such as CRM systems, unified communication platforms, and automation tools, supports alignment by enabling data sharing, streamlining communication, and automating aligned activities.

5. What role does leadership play in sales and marketing alignment?

Leadership is pivotal in fostering a culture of collaboration, providing clear directives for alignment, and ensuring that both teams are resourced and incentivised to work together effectively.

6. How do sales and marketing alignment impact customer experience?

Alignment ensures consistent messaging and seamless customer journeys, leading to improved customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy.

7. Can sales and marketing alignment affect revenue growth?

Yes, aligned sales and marketing teams can drive more effective lead generation, higher conversion rates, and increased customer lifetime value, contributing to revenue growth.

8. What metrics can be used to measure sales and marketing alignment?

Metrics may include lead conversion rates, sales cycle length, marketing-sourced pipeline contributions, and customer acquisition costs.

9. How often should sales and marketing teams review their alignment strategy?

Regular review sessions, such as quarterly or bi-annually, are recommended to assess progress, adjust strategies, and address any emerging challenges.