Report: Sales and Marketing Misalignment is Hurting the Customer Experience

Although both marketers and sales personnel strive to provide an optimal customer experience, new research shows that their misalignment may be holding them back.

SharpSpring recently partnered with Ascend2 to conduct “The State of Marketing and Sales Alignment 2022,” and statistics indicated that only 18% of respondents believe the customer experience they offer is “excellent.” The majority (59%) claimed that it is “above average” at best, while 21% said it was only “average.”

When asked to identify the factors contributing to a disjointed customer experience, most respondents (41%) cited differing/misaligned goals. About 36% pointed to complex processes/workflows, and 29% said there was frustration between departments.

In the year ahead, 28% of marketers stated that they would like to align the marketing and sales teams. Approximately 22% of sales personnel said the same.

Marketers Strive for More Alignment to Reach Key Goals

Sales and marketing alignment has been a struggle for quite some time, and previous research shed light on just how little marketers and sales personnel have been working together.

The Pedowitz Group teamed up with Ascend2 to publish “The RevOps Difference: How Revenue Operations Align Business Units to Drive Greater Revenue,” and data suggested that only 36% marketers believe the efforts, strategies, and goals of their marketing, sales, and customer success teams are “fully aligned.” Approximately 15% stated that they are only “partially aligned.”

In general, most marketers (55%) believe that the primary benefit of aligning efforts, strategies, and goals is an improvement in the overall customer experience.