• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, February 24, 2026

Their sales and marketing units are aligned for the most part, according to The Anatomy of Aligned GTM Teams, a study by Unbounce and Ascend2. 

“Today, just over half of GTM professionals (56%) describe their organizations as highly aligned, operating as a unified system with shared goals and shared data,” the study notes. “Another 36% report partial alignment, in which teams collaborate regularly but still experience disconnects, while 8% continue to operate largely in silos.” 

Moreover, highly aligned GTM teams garner benefits like more effective data sharing, better lead quality, and smoother workflows. These teams are “3.5x more likely than others to have strong data sharing across teams,” the study notes. “They are also 2x more likely than others to report high-quality leads and 2x less likely to report fragmented processes as a barrier to alignment.”

But there is a price for failure. Poor alignment leads to:

• Employee frustration or lower morale—29%
• Lost opportunities or lower win rates—28%
• Delayed or inconsistent lead follow-up—28%
• Duplicated work and wasted resources—26%
• Inefficient or inconsistent tools and workflows—23% 
• Lack of clarity on target customers (ICP, personas)—23%
• Poor prospect experience or inconsistent messaging)—22% 
• Misaligned goals or KPIs—20%
• Slower deal cycles or stalled pipeline progress—20%
• Limited visibility into cross-team activities—18%
• Other—6%

Then there are these difficulties: 

• Operational issues (e.g. tools, processes, workflows)—53%
• Goal or incentive misalignment (e.g., KPIs, targets, compensation)—43% 
• Cultural issues (e.g. communication, trust, mindset)—40%
• Structural issues (e.g. org design, reporting lines)—34%
• None of these—10% 

So how are SMBs coping with these challenges? They are working toward:  

• Improving communication and collaboration frequency—54% 
• Standardizing tools and platforms across teams—46% 
• Enhancing sales enablement support from marketing—42% 
• Unifying data, analytics and reporting systems—39% 
• Integrating campaign planning and execution workflow—35% 
• Defining share goals and KPIs—32% 
• Aligning lead qualification and handoff processes—32%
• None of these—7%

And tech stacks? Among the respondents, 44% say their stacks are balanced and efficient with a few specialized tools that work seamlessly together. And 24% describe their operations as “lean and focused.”

In contrast, 17% say their stacks are “heavy but optimized,” and 7% admit they are redundant and fragmented.”

Companies tolerate ineffective tech stacks because they fear disrupting current systems, while 34% cite data migration challenges. And 35% blame their leadership for being hesitant to execute a change in tooling.  

Ascend2 surveyed 500 United States GTM professionals in sales, marketing, and revenue roles at SMB companies in November and December 2025.