how to bridge the gap between sales and marketing for growth. Image of laptop and hands with puzzle pieces being fit together and a green plant near the puzzle on the table. Image symbolizes synergy when sales and marketing work together for common goals.

How to Bridge the Gap Between Sales and Marketing for Growth

Sales and marketing misalignment isn’t just a frustration—it’s a major revenue leak. Yet, too many businesses operate with these teams siloed, missing opportunities to collaborate and grow. If your sales and marketing aren’t working together seamlessly, it’s time to address the strategy gap that may be holding you back.

Let’s explore why this misalignment is so costly, how to bridge the gap, and how aligned teams drive real results.

The Cost of Misalignment

Sales and marketing misalignment is far more expensive than most CEOs realize. As noted in this Hubspot article and infographic, the numbers don’t lie:

  • $1 trillion is lost annually due to decreased sales productivity and wasted marketing efforts.
  • 79% of marketing-generated leads never convert to sales, partly due to a lack of nurturing.
  • Of the leads passed to sales teams, 73% are never contacted.

This isn’t just lost revenue—it’s lost potential. When these teams operate in silos, customers suffer, budgets bleed, and growth stagnates.

The impact of misalignment extends beyond numbers. Uncoordinated messaging confuses customers, leaving them uncertain about your value. Disconnected processes frustrate internal teams, leading to high turnover and burnout.

But here’s the good news: alignment pays off in a big way (also, Hubspot).

  • Aligned organizations achieve 27% faster three-year profit growth.
  • Teams working in sync close 38% more deals.

Businesses with aligned sales and marketing generate 208% higher marketing revenue.

Key Strategies for Alignment

Alignment isn’t just about having a friendly relationship between teams—it’s about creating systems and strategies that foster collaboration. Here’s how to get started:

1. Define “Lead” and “Qualified Lead” Together

Set mutually agreed-upon definitions for what constitutes a lead and when a lead becomes sales-qualified. This eliminates confusion and ensures both teams are working toward the same goals.

2. Create Shared KPIs

Shared metrics keep everyone accountable. Consider KPIs like:

  • Marketing: Leads generated, lead-to-MQL conversion rate.
  • Sales: MQL-to-SQL conversion, close rates, and revenue growth.
  • Since many expert entrepreneurs operate with simplified sales and marketing systems, the process of qualification may be simpler – lead to buyer, or booking a call, or watching a presentation/attending a workshop.

These KPIs create transparency and measurable success benchmarks for both teams.

3. Streamline Communication with the C6 Circle Framework

The C6 Circle integrates marketing and sales around the customer journey:

  • Captivate: Attract the right audience with messaging tailored to their needs.
  • Connect: Build trust and engagement through nurturing content and campaigns.
  • Contact: Get their contact info for follow-up. For teams, this means handing off qualified leads at the right time with clarity on intent.
  • Convert: Sales teams close deals with consistent, aligned messaging.
  • Capitalize: Upsell and cross-sell opportunities keep the relationship growing.
  • Cultivate: Deliver exceptional experiences to create long-term loyalty and referrals.

By using a unified framework like the C6 Circle, sales and marketing work in lockstep to guide customers seamlessly from awareness to loyalty. Get the C6 Circle and my other frameworks for free in the Expert Systems Blueprint.

4. Regular Team Syncs and Tracking

Weekly or bi-weekly meetings help teams stay aligned, solve challenges, and celebrate shared wins. Encourage open dialogue and feedback to identify what’s working—and what isn’t. For smaller businesses, this can be a simple as tracking your chosen KPIs weekly or monthly to know what’s working – and what’s not working.

How We Optimize – The One Thing to Make Everything Work Better…

What are you optimizing for? That’s a common question when you meet with an advisor or coach. 

Marketing usually optimizes to generate leads and eventually, qualified leads (MQL). Sales optimizes to qualify leads (SQL) and for conversions – a contract, sale, etc. 

In most businesses, marketing plays their role, sales makes the sale, then hands off to fulfillment or another team or person. 

So, what if the entire team is optimizing for customer happiness instead of just the fulfillment team doing that? If marketing and sales work together and with fulfillment to optimize the entire business for customer happiness, everything works better.

When we’re engaging with new prospects or having conversations on social media, we’re thinking about how we can help them, not how we can get a lead or sale as quickly as possible. We’re considering what would be so valuable that we become their go-to resource for our area of expertise. This is investing in the third or fourth sales opportunity into the future, not just a quick win. It’s playing the infinite game – to keep playing.

This one seemingly small shift can also help you deliver higher value in the marketing and sales phases. The crazy thing? This is equally impactful for solopreneurs as it is for enterprise teams. Simple and effective.

Case Study: $2.3M in Sales from Alignment

In working with a client who specialized in coaching and training entrepreneurs, we successfully aligned the marketing and sales leading into a 3-day event. 

This alignment enabled the team to focus on high-quality leads, resulting in $2.3M in sales over one weekend while reducing the number of unqualified applications for their mastermind offer. In fact, a strategic downsell offer created new revenue where money had been ‘left on the table’ at previous events.

Conclusion: Bridging the Gap for Growth

Misaligned sales and marketing teams cost more than just money—they cost opportunities, reputation, and long-term growth. But by implementing strategies like shared KPIs, clear communication, and frameworks like the C6 Circle, you can turn this gap into a growth engine.

And when you optimize for customer happiness, everything works better!

Ready to align your teams and unlock sustainable growth?

📥 Download the Expert Systems Blueprint to take the first step toward bridging the gap between sales and marketing.

More
articles

Need help? Schedule a 15-Minute Strategic fit Call to Get started