Sales professionals at companies with aligned sales and marketing teams are 103% more likely to outperform their yearly targets than their counterparts at companies whose teams are disconnected, according to HubSpot’s 2024 Sales Trends Report.
When sales and marketing teams work closely together, the marketing activity is much more likely to generate quality leads, making it much easier to close deals. Different types of content, platforms and campaigns can even be trialled and tested, with feedback used to drive iterative improvements for growth.
Despite this obvious advantage for the company, however, just 30% of sales and marketing professionals say they are strongly aligned with one another, according to the same HubSpot report. It’s not that the remaining 70% are unaware of the value derived from coordination, either. The same study also found that the majority of businesses know that growth can be achieved by improving alignment, with 61% of those working in sales pushing for greater collaboration, believing it will help their organisations to navigate current challenges within the economy. Over 40% of these professionals felt the leads they are getting from marketing were insufficient to secure new sales – proof that marketing misalignment really is a silent killer of growth.
The cost of incohesion
A disconnect between sales and marketing efforts only leads to missed opportunities and a diluted customer-facing message. Company time and resources are wasted, and more sales attempts fall through, as the sales team is ill prepared to persuade and secure the kind of leads being passed over. Even in cases where successful sales are made, the cycle is likely to be longer, creating greater inefficiency within the company – not to mention the fact that customers who signed up despite not fitting the target audience criteria are much more likely to drop off.
Company reputation is likely to decline because of this, with customer trust potentially eroded by inconsistencies in the messaging being shared. Discordant messaging also leads to a fragmented customer journey, further damaging experience, retention rates and more.
Internally. misalignment leads to blame and finger pointing, creating significant cultural issues and team friction. Sales might blame marketing for poor quality leads, for example, as marketing blames sales for poor follow-up. In either case, the company loses out on opportunities for growth, with frustrated employees and the fragmented efforts that follow only compounding the problem. Repeated failures due to misalignment can completely demotivate both teams, leading to low company morale, with the siloed workflows created through poor communication adding further inefficiencies to processes already thwarted by low engagement. Much of the work getting done thus becomes redundant – far from ideal at a time when the majority of businesses are turning to AI and automation to drive more efficiencies to allow them to remain competitive within their sector.
Perhaps most significantly of all, however, is that misalignment drains revenue. When teams don’t know how to work together – or lack the resources and strategic direction to be able to do so – the company will be much slower to adapt to changes in customer needs, preventing your business from remaining agile. Nevertheless, agility is paramount for any modern company hoping to achieve survival and sustained growth successes.
Closing the divide
With so much at risk, businesses must naturally make efforts to resolve disconnections – and these efforts must be deliberate and strategic. Company leaders must unite teams by presenting them with a set of clear, unified goals and performance metrics first and foremost. Once these are in place, teams will automatically be working together towards the same outcomes, not only ensuring a better use of company time and resources but also fostering a positive culture of collective purpose.
When followed up with regular, interdepartmental standups and meetings, such efforts can become even more synchronised. Open communication channels are a great opportunity for teams to share feedback, praising one another for the positive things that are being done rather than allowing for resentment. If there are any discrepancies, these can also be addressed professionally and swiftly, before they are able to create new divides.
Similarly, leaders must ensure that both teams are involved in the development of any communications materials, as collaborative creation ensures that messaging algins with both sales and marketing strategies, whilst meeting real-world customer needs. This makes campaigns and outreach much more effective.
Technology can also be used to support this. For instance, shared tools for customer relationship management would allow seamless information flow between teams, helping to speed things up and maintain cohesive efforts. With everyone working with the same data and files, both teams are on the same page. The more a company can bring understanding together, the more it can prevent costly inefficiencies, mistakes and misunderstandings.
Investing in growth
Cohesive teamwork requires much more than communication. It also requires dedicated strategy. If your company is showing signs of misalignment, it may be worth investing in CMO services, which can help to introduce new cultures and procedures seamlessly, without disrupting operations or allowing room for resentment.
Many businesses make the mistake of blaming creativity for poor marketing results, meanwhile reprimanding sales representatives for not meeting targets. Failure to recognise that the lack of coordination and cohesion between teams, which leaders continue to treat as two separate entities, is nonetheless the real enemy of growth. Without addressing the issue and bringing departments together, no amount of innovation, creative messaging, personable sales strategies or deep understanding of the customer can rescue businesses from the silent growth killer: internal misalignment.
