According to research from digital marketing agency Kingpin Communications, only three out of 10 organisations say their sales and marketing teams are aligned.
Kingpin’s research reveals where marketing and sales professionals fail to see eye to eye and provides insights businesses can apply to improve alignment. Some 55% of sales professionals rely on insights provided by marketing to prioritise leads, but only two in five professionals are satisfied with the quality of those insights.
Interestingly enough, 53% of marketing professionals believe they’re fully aligned with sales, compared to just 35% of sales. Kingpin’s research reveals that despite alignment being a core requirement for successful account-based marketing, sales and marketing teams struggle to cooperate effectively.This tension suggests that businesses must focus on integrating the two functions for maximum success.
Matt Ramsay, senior account manager of Kingpin Communications, said: “Integration means that sales and marketing are consistently working together to set, monitor and reach joint KPIs and targets. Integration is the key to ABM, but it will take senior management from both functions to lead this in practice.”
Some questions that popped up because of this disparity includes: Do sales think marketing is underperforming? Are sales satisfied with guidance? Do sales understand the job of the marketer? Who is more senior?
Kingpin answers these questions in its latest research provided here: Report on sales and marketing alignment: Examining the relationship between B2B sales and marketing teams in the era of ABM
