Sales and marketing may share the same ultimate goal—business growth—but when it comes to their day-to-day objectives, they’re often like chalk and cheese. Sales is all about immediacy, focusing on short-term wins and revenue targets. Marketing, however, plays the long game, focusing on brand awareness and nurturing leads for future conversions.
This clash of priorities can lead to frustration, miscommunication, and ultimately, lost opportunities. In fact, sales and marketing misalignment can cost businesses as much as £1 trillion a year in lost sales productivity and wasted marketing efforts, according to research by LinkedIn. So how do you bring these two critical functions into alignment and ensure they’re working toward the same goal? It all starts with a deeper understanding of their metrics and objectives.
Differing Goals and Metrics: The Source of the Disconnect
This fundamental difference in goals leads to varied metrics:
Sales Metrics: Quarterly revenue, conversion rates, deals closed, and pipeline volume.
Marketing Metrics: Website traffic, social media engagement, content reach, and lead quality.
Take, for example, a scenario where marketing’s latest content campaign generates thousands of new leads. From their perspective, it’s a massive win. However, the sales team might feel differently if those leads don’t immediately convert into paying customers. This disparity in what constitutes “success” can create tension between the teams, especially when resources are stretched thin.
The Clash of Metrics: The Root of Friction
Misaligned performance evaluations only deepen the divide. If sales are solely rewarded for meeting revenue targets while marketing is praised for boosting brand visibility, it’s like comparing apples to oranges. Both teams may feel underappreciated by the other, which can lead to finger-pointing and blame when targets aren’t met.
In fact, 52% of marketers say that they’re often frustrated by the lack of recognition they receive from sales teams for driving leads, while 65% of salespeople say they’re unhappy with the quality of leads that marketing provides (HubSpot). This finger-pointing only stymies collaboration and progress.
Aligning Goals for Success
The solution lies in aligning metrics that matter to both teams. When both sales and marketing are accountable for shared performance indicators, they’ll naturally start working toward the same goals. For example, one metric to track is the conversion rate of marketing-generated leads into closed deals - a direct bridge between the efforts of both teams. Another important shared metric is customer lifetime value (CLV), which accounts for both the sales team’s efforts to close deals and marketing’s role in generating and nurturing leads over time.
Want to turn your sales and marketing teams into true allies? Start by aligning your KPIs and tracking metrics that matter to both functions. By establishing shared goals and fostering open communication, sales and marketing can move from rivalry to collaboration—turning friction into fuel for success.
