Report: The Gap Between Sales and Marketing Teams is Diminishing

Previous research has suggested that sales and marketing alignment can help both teams with achieving their top priorities, but does this still ring true?

To determine how factors, such as the sales and marketing relationship, play a role in the overall success of a business, LinkedIn recently published its “State of Sales” ebook. Overall, statistics showed that sales and marketing are starting to work more closely together, which is benefiting sales and decision-makers alike. Overall, the number of salespeople who work “very closely” or “closely” with marketing has grown 35 percent since 2016.

In addition, top sales professionals appear to have a stronger relationship with their marketing team members. These individuals are 13 percent more likely to say they work “very closely” or “closely” with marketers in prospecting efforts than their counterparts.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the largest), top sales performers rate marketing’s importance in closing deals at an eight or above. About 41 percent of their counterparts say the same.

The Roadblocks Associated with Sales and Marketing Alignment

Although sales and marketing are now working closer together, previous research indicates that there are still roadblocks keeping them from establishing a seamless relationship.

InsideView published “The State of Sales and Marketing Alignment in 2018: How Leading B2B Companies Drive Growth by Aligning Teams and Go-to-Market Teams” report, and discovered three major roadblocks associated with sales and marketing alignment: a lack of accurate/shared data on target accounts and prospects (43 percent), communication (43 percent) and measuring with different metrics (461 percent).

When marketers were asked what they need most from sales, the top answer (30 percent) was consistent use of systems. About 22 percent cited better lead follow-up, while 19 percent emphasized feedback on campaigns.