Content marketing

Introducing “The Payoffs of Improved Sales and Marketing Alignment”

There have been some famous feuds through time:

  • Cats and dogs
  • The Houses of Montague and Capulet
  • Sales and marketing

But there’s evidence that these feuds are not all they’re cracked up to be. This video, for instance, shows a cat and dog getting along quite well. And by the sorrowful end of "Romeo & Juliet," the Montagues and Capulets have ended their animosity. 

When it comes to sales and marketing, the latest global research from JointheDots and LinkedIn shows that these two departments are much better aligned than conventional wisdom leads us to believe. In fact, the research shows that 79 percent of marketers and sales professionals agree that there is a culture of collaboration between sales and marketing at their company.

That and other details of this research are included in a newly released resource, “The Payoff of Improved Sales and Marketing Alignment.” Read on to learn some of the key findings from this research, which surveyed 3,516 sales professionals and 3,627 marketers from Australia, India, Southeast Asia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Strong Sales and Marketing Alignment Contributes to the Bottom Line

The research indicated that sales and marketing alignment pays off:

  • 70 percent of sales professionals and marketers say alignment delivers a better customer buying experience.
  • 58 percent say collaboration delivers improved customer retention.
  • 54 percent say it boosts financial performance.

At the same time, the research revealed that a lack of alignment between sales and marketing had a direct negative impact on customers and business:

  • Weaker financial performance (60 percent)
  • Poorer customer experience (59 percent)   
  • Reduced customer retention (58 percent)

Revenue is the Best Way to Measure Sales and Marketing Alignment

If you can’t measure something, you can’t improve it. To know your sales and marketing teams are collaborating you need to measure their alignment. Revenue growth (78 percent) and pipeline growth (58 percent) were the leading indicators of  sales and marketing collaboration.

Additionally, our research revealed a fairly even distribution between those who said their companies measured sales-marketing collaboration and those who said their companies didn’t measure collaboration:

  • 41 percent of respondents say their company is measuring sales-marketing collaboration
  • 38 percent say their company is not measuring collaboration
  • 22 percent say they don’t know if their company is measuring collaboration

The research offers proof that measurement leads to increased collaboration (and eventually to reaping its benefits). The research showed that sales and marketing collaboration among businesses that measured collaboration a significant 91 percent said they collaborate well while only 7 percent said they don’t collaborate well. However, sales and marketing collaboration among companies that didn’t measure collaboration, 70 percent said they collaborated well and 26 percent said they didn’t collaborate well.

How Sales and Marketing Can Boost Collaboration

Collaboration is improving between sales and marketing, but work remains. Sales and marketing professionals told us these are the top actions to get right to ensure collaboration between their departments:

  • Have shared objectives and KPIs (52 percent)
  • Generate better customer insights and understanding (52 percent)
  • Ensure clear accountability and workflow (47 percent)
  • Adhere to a schedule of regular team meetings (45 percent)

For a deeper dive into the research, download the guide, “The Payoff of Improved Sales and Marketing Alignment” today.