In many organizations, marketing and sales are not failing. They are simply not aligned.
On paper, both teams may look successful:
- Marketing delivers leads.
- Sales works to close deals.
But the gap usually appears in between.
Here’s where alignment often breaks down:
- Different definitions of success
- Marketing measures performance through reach, engagement, and lead volume.
- Sales measures success through deal quality, conversion, and revenue.
- When “a good lead” means two different things, friction is inevitable.
- Lack of shared objectives
If marketing is rewarded for quantity and sales is pressured for revenue, both teams optimize for their own KPIs, not the business goal.
- One-way communication
- Marketing hands over leads.
- Sales struggles with quality.
- Feedback either comes too late or doesn’t come at all.
- Without a feedback loop, the same mistakes repeat.
- Misaligned messaging
- Marketing attracts attention with one promise.
- Sales is left to sell something slightly different.
- This disconnect weakens trust and slows down decision-making.
True alignment doesn’t come from more meetings or reports. It comes from:
- Shared goals
- Clear lead qualification criteria
- Continuous feedback between teams
- One consistent value proposition
Marketing without sales is awareness with no outcome. Sales without marketing is effort with higher cost. Alignment is not an operational detail. It’s a growth requirement.