• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, December 3, 2021

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.   

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:

• Lack of time — 52%
• Lack of resources — 43%
• Lack of an overall strategy — 39%
• Lack of appropriate technology — 26%
• Lack of confidence in results — 20%
• Lack of executive support — 18%
• Lack of cooperation from other team — 16%

Marketing sees things a little differently:

• Lack of time — 48%
• Lack of overall strategy — 43%
• Lack of resources — 41%
• Lack of cooperation from other team — 35%
• Lack of confidence in results — 25%
• Lack of appropriate technology — 23%
• Lack of executive support — 19%

In addition, sales respondents cites these areas that need to be improved if true collaboration is to be achieved:

• Target accounts — 29%
• Content planning — 28%
• Budget planning — 27%
• Regular joint meetings — 27%
• Lead quality review — 25%
• Feedback between groups — 25%
• Use of content — 18%
• Incentive/bonus programs — 16%
• Shared KPIs — 14%
• Integrated tech stack — 11%
• Lead scoring — 11%
• Shared buyer personas — 7%

In contrast, marketers list things in this order:

• Feedback between groups — 32%
• Regular joint meetings — 29%
• Lead quality review — 25%
• Budget planning — 24%
• Use of content — 24%
• Target accounts — 22%
• Shared KPIs — 19%
• Content planning — 19%
• Incentive/bonus programs — 15%
• Integrated tech stack — 14%
• Lead scoring — 14%
• Shared buyer personas — 9%

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: 

1. Win: more successful bottom line. Loss: failing quarters and unmet goals. 
2. Win: Support among one another. Loss: wasted time and drama. 
3. Win: one dashboard and place of truth. Loss: multiple technology systems and reporting styles. 

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.