Email teams may feel siloed off from other marketing units. But here’s an even bigger organizational problem: The split between sales and marketing.
The two sides are fully aligned at only 32% of B2B firms, achieving that rare state known as “smarketing,” according to “The 3 biggest Wins and Losses In Sales and Marketing Alignment,” a new study from Convince & Convert, conducted in partnership with Ascend2.
But things could be worse -- 44% say the sides are strongly integrated, with most technologies and goals aligned. And 23% say things are somewhat integrated. Only 17% say they are not at all aligned.
Moreover, 48% say the two teams share management responsibility for success metrics, with 16% who say that marketing mostly to fully handles it, and 18% who report that sales does. At 18% of firms, sales and marketing manage metrics separately with little or no collaboration.
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But the two sides view metrics differently. Among sales respondents, 12% claim that marketing totally runs metrics, while 24% claim that sales mostly or fully does so. In marketing, 21% say they run metrics, while 10% agree that sales runs it.
Who is at fault when the departments fail to line up? There’s blame to share, but marketers are more likely to complain of a lack of cooperation from sales than the other way around.
Yet 46% of sales teams say they are likely to “heavily involve” marketing in their strategic decision making, while only 37% of marketers include the other side.
Sales contends that these top factors prevent alignment:
Marketing sees things a little differently:
In addition, sales respondents cites these areas that need to be improved if true collaboration is to be achieved:
In contrast, marketers list things in this order:
Perceptions of success also differ to a degree. On the sales side, 96% say they are successful, and 40% say they are very successful. Marketing is only slightly less boastful — 94% rate themselves as successful, 36% in the upper bracket.
Marketers even think that the other side is doing well (if slightly less than they are). Among salespeople, 93% see marketing as successful, with 37% giving them the top rating.
The big three wins and losses? They are:
Ascend2 surveyed 346 B2B marketing and sales professionals. Of those, 184 were on the sales side and 162 in marketing. Overall, 79% were at the manager level or higher.