From Enemies to Allies: Redefining the Sales & Marketing Relationship
What do these famous duos have in common when you think about them?
Tom and Jerry.
Woody and Buzz.
Cady Herron and Regina George.
If you've guessed it's that they're sworn enemies, pitted against one another, when in reality they often complement one another and share common needs, wants, and goals — then you've hit the nail on the head.
Now, close your eyes and think about your company. What departments come to mind that might make this list?
I'd put a lot of money down that sales and marketing are in the top three. If you're a marketer or salesperson, you're all too familiar with the stories. Hell, you might even be serving some main character energy in an ongoing version of this narrative at your organization.
(record skips)
This outdated is no longer is no longer acceptable. It’s not a vibe, and it’s time to stop the madness.
Reflecting on her experience in sales, that’s exactly what Nirvanna Lildharrie set out to help sales and marketing achieve in her MKTG WMN 2024 Virtual Summit presentation “Redefining The Relationship Between Sales And Marketing.”
You can watch Nirvanna’s full presentation after you become a member of MKTG WMN? Not a member yet? Register for a free, two-week trial and join the MKTG WMN community today!
Assessing the state of your sales-marketing relationship
First, let’s assess the situation. According to Harvard Business Review, there are four sales-marketing relationships.
Undefined
Sales and marketing have grown independently
Each largely preoccupied with its own tasks and agendas
Defined
Both set up processes and rules to prevent conflicts
Work together on bigger events
Aligned
Groups engage in joint planning and training
Other group’s terminology understood and used by the other group
Integrated
Boundaries are blurred (in the best way possible)
Both groups share structures, systems, rewards and metrics
Marketers deeply immersed in key account management
Depending on where your organization falls, Nirvana offers suggestions and strategies to create an integrated sales and marketing team, and it starts with curiosity and trust.
Building trust: the foundation of sales and marketing management
In her talk, Nirvanna shares her understanding of the state of the relationship between sales and marketing, how the departments complement one another, and the top 3 hacks that helped her create rapport with marketing in her sales roles over the years:
Stay curious
When you’ve been in any role long enough, it’s easy to fall into a confidence zone of believing you know it all: the audience, the product, the company — through and through. But the only way to truly continue learning and “knowing it all,” is to stay curious, friends.
What does this look like between sales and marketing?
As Nirvanna points out, it starts with trust. Trusting your salespeople as experts. Trusting your marketing colleagues and their complementary POV. And let’s not forget about the fundamentals:
Listen: even if a proposed idea wouldn’t be the route you’d normally run, take the time to listen to understand — not respond. You might just learn something new and unlock a new insight you hadn’t considered.
Engage: take an honest 360 look at what’s being shared, whether it be strategy, collateral, a deck, etc. Rather than blowing it off, what can you learn from it that you can admit you hadn’t thought about?
Give feedback: sales has incredible insight into customers and prospects. Marketers are experts in delivering content experiences intended to provoke thought, emotion, and action. The real powerhouse move here is to talk to each other to ensure the audience experience is as relatable (to them) as possible
Collaborate strategically
Raise your hand if you’re in marketing or sales and your teams are meeting regularly.
Every marketer and salesperson reading this better have their hand up right now.
Sales and your company’s customers and prospects are like women gathering in the bathroom at a discoteca on a high summer night in Barcelona.
Everybody looks chic. The vibes are high. Lips are loose. Secrets are being spilled. Besties are in the making.
That's what great salespeople do: get close to the customer and understand their needs on a deep and often intimate level. People are always happy to tell you their problems, if you shut up and listen.
Sales teams have priceless, precious access to customers and prospects — typically more than any other department in the company. They know their problems. Their challenges. What excites them and what keeps them up at night.
These insights are marketing gold mines. What marketer doesn't want a small pot of gold, delivered to their doorstep, that they can sprinkle like glitter all over the next campaign, product launch, or collateral?
On the flip side, there's a lot of room for sales to expand and learn from marketing, too.
More often than not, the marketing team is chomping at the bit to devour all that hot goss the sales team collected while gabbing it up with their new bathroom besties. Once digested, marketers come back with tailored content experiences (enablement) that turn convos into real, reciprocal relationships.
Win together
Nirvanna views sales as the yin to marketing's yang: while sales and marketing might think about and approach goals differently, the two departments complement one another in deeply impactful ways.
For example, marketing is focused on creating content experiences that bring in leads. They market to the masses, homing in on a specific audience to get the right message, to the right people, at the right time.
Sales is also concerned with leads, particularly with converting them to customers. Instead of talking to them en masse, they're typically focusing on customizing experiences to chop it up with prospects at individual levels as marketing reels them in.
Both departments should be considering leads, brand, buyers, and revenue. Their approaches might interchange between strategic and tactical, but ultimately sales and marketing should be running toward the same goal: using their expertise to turn every opportunity into company revenue.
Overcoming misalignment and growth bottlenecks
When sales and marketing teams operate separately, inefficiences multiply.
Marketing blames sales for not closing leads; sales claims the leads aren't qualified. This finger-pointing slows growth and wastes resources. A lack of clear communication leads to lost opportunities and inconsistent messaging to potential customers.
Eliminating friction points
One of the biggest challenges is differing priorities. Marketing teams focus on brand awareness and lead generation, while sales is measured by closed deals and revenue. Aligning incentives and setting shared goals can bridge this divide.
Closing communication gaps
Miscommunication (or lack of communication altogether) is a major roadblock for teams. For example, it isn’t uncommon for sales to be left out of the loop on marketing campaigns, while marketing may not get feedback on what's resonating with prospects. Regular meetings, shared dashboards, and real-time feedback loops can solve this issue.
Shared goals vs. siloed KPIs
Instead of treating marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) and sales-qualified leads (SQLs) as separate metrics, consider creating a unified revenue framework. Both teams should be working toward the same goals. When there’s a process for how this works and buy-in from both teams, collaboration naturally improves.
Leadership’s role in driving change
Busting up the silos between marketing and sales doesn't happen at the ground level, and no single framework will solve this dilemma on its own.
Alignment requires leadership support. Executives and department leads must advocate for a shared strategy across teams and provide the necessary resources to make it a reality. This strategy is broader than team goals and KPIs and takes into consideration how individual team and department goals are directly tied to company revenue and impact.
Beyond tools and tactics, the biggest driver of change is culture. Sales and marketing should be encouraged to view each other as partners rather than separate entities. Encouraging cross-functional meetings, shared incentives, and open communication fosters a culture of collaboration.
Real-world takeaways: how your company can successfully align sales and marketing
There is a world where Tom and Jerry can be friends.
Companies that have transformed their sales and marketing dynamics have typically done so by thoughtfully and intentionally implementing alignment strategies.
From adopting a shared CRM system to integrating AI-driven insights, the key takeaway is clear: collaboration leads to measurable results.
Best practices for ongoing alignment
Hold regular sales-marketing sync meetings
Use shared performance dashboards
Align incentives to revenue goals
Encourage open feedback and data sharing
Cultivating alignment & tracking success
Instead of only looking at lead generation or closed deals in isolation, track metrics like lead-to-customer conversion rates, sales cycle length, and customer retention. These indicators provide a clearer picture of how well sales and marketing are working together.
Small steps can lead to big results. Start by setting up a joint planning session between sales and marketing leaders. Identify common pain points and create an action plan for better alignment.
The fact of the matter is, business growth relies on a strong, unified sales and marketing relationship. Nirvanna's insights make it clear: when sales and marketing align, talk to each other, and realize they're running toward the same goals, businesses win.
By addressing common barriers, implementing collaborative strategies, and fostering a culture of shared success, companies can drive sustainable growth and customer satisfaction.
Marketing and sales can totally sit together — and as mentioned, on Wednesdays we wear pink 😜
Want to watch Nirvanna’s full presentation from the annual MKTG WMN Virtual Summit? Join the MKTG WMN community or take a membership for a spin via our two-week trial, where you can access this session as well as all of the other resources our community has to offer!