Why your B2B Tech Sales and Marketing teams aren’t aligned and how to fix it

Sales and marketing make up a big part of your acquisition and revenue, but when these departments are misaligned, it leads to inefficient lead nurturing and lost deals. Ouch. The average overlap between sales and marketing is just 16%, which suggests that the two are not aligned most of the time. This pretty serious disconnect leads to lost revenue and wasted resources.

So, what’s causing misalignment in B2B tech companies and how can you overcome it? We’ll focus on this, and more in the following article. Let’s dive in.

What is sales and marketing misalignment?

Sales and marketing often fall out of sync because they’re chasing separate strategies in silos. Instead of working as a team, they unintentionally operate in isolation, leading to a disjointed approach and underwhelming results.

Common issues causing misalignment between sales and marketing teams

There are a few reasons your sales and marketing teams may not be well aligned that could be harming your growth. Here are some of the common issues we notice.

Different goals

Not only can it create tension when teams are misaligned, but it can be difficult to reach your end goal when it’s different for each department. Marketing teams are often focused on broad reach and a high volume of leads, while sales teams focus their efforts on closing small numbers of high-value deals. 

Lack of shared data

If marketing departments are measuring success based on the number of leads they bring in, but sales measure success by the number of leads that convert then success looks different for each team. By sharing lead quality and the types of leads that sales can successfully convert, marketers can use this data to target the same type of customers in the future for ongoing success.

Inconsistent messaging

For a joined-up approach, sales and marketing teams should agree on what benefits and value propositions they want to push. However, this doesn’t always happen, and if each department is pushing different customer benefits, it can lead to inconsistent messaging. Not only is this confusing for your customers, but it can also weaken your brand’s credibility and make you seem less trustworthy. A nightmare scenario.

How misalignment reduces conversion rates and slows growth

Misaligned sales and marketing teams can reduce conversion rates and, as a result, revenue too. If the leads that marketing teams are bringing in are not high quality and not converting, then you’ll have slower growth rates than you’d like. One contributing factor could be the content you are producing.

Your marketing teams may be producing high-quality content, but if it’s not serving your customers or helping them to convert, you may need to rethink your strategy. Speaking to sales teams to identify customer pain points can inform your content strategy so you can create content and nurture journeys that help customers solve a problem and lead to more conversions.

Strategies for improving sales and marketing alignment 

Unifying your sales and marketing teams is key to growing your business and increasing your revenue. Here are some things your team can do to create a more cohesive customer experience.

Shared KPIs

Is it the number of leads or the lead quality you care about? What do you want to report on? What metrics do you care about? These are the questions your sales and marketing teams should be answering together. By agreeing on your KPIs and how you’re going to measure success, you can be sure that both departments are working towards the same goal.

Better communication

The messaging in ads, emails, campaigns, signage, and blog posts should be the same as that used by sales reps when they speak to customers over the phone. To achieve this cohesive approach, sales and marketing teams need to work together to decide on messaging that works throughout the customer journey.

In addition, sharing sales data can inform marketing teams what messaging sticks and the type of customers who are converting. But communication starts with your teams, so organising regular meetings to agree on KPIs and messaging is a great place to start.

Tech integration

Integrating a shared CRM system allows your sales team to manage customer interactions and gives your marketing team access to these customer interactions. This creates a robust feedback loop between each team so marketing teams can see insights on campaign performance and sales can provide feedback on the lead quality.

Integrating a CRM is a simple way to manage the flow of information between departments so they can become better aligned and enhance their strategy together. 

In summary

Businesses can improve sales and marketing alignment by setting shared goals, implementing integrated CRM systems, and fostering better communication between teams. Regular cross-functional meetings, agreeing on KPIs and performance tracking will ensure sustained alignment and long-term growth.

Need some support to better align your teams? 

Get in touch now to see how an integrated CRM could improve your business growth.