--- title: is your sales + marketing aligned - or falling behind? description: Is your sales and marketing aligned? If not you are running the risk of falling behind. Learn more here (includes link to free white paper)... --- This is a search field with an autosuggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. # is your sales + marketing aligned - or falling behind? ![Bob Apollo](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/78fa41976d534cacbb0e22e151bc6816) Post by [Bob Apollo](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/author/bob-apollo) June 15, 2010 ![Compass](https://www.inflexion-point.com/Portals/41408/images/Compass%20B+W.jpg?width=143&height=138&name=Compass%20B+W.jpg)Is your sales and marketing aligned?  If not, you are running the risk of falling behind.  Sometimes the signs of a lack of alignment are obvious. Marketing spends money generating leads the sales force never follow up whilst sales people "reinvent the wheel" because they don't want to use the sales tools marketing has created.  The [Aberdeen Group](http://www.aberdeen.com/) concluded that the average sales person spends 40-60 hours a month re-creating sales-ready, customer-relevant material they think marketing could and should have produced better in the first place. It's strange to observe that these remain such common experiences when [CSO Insights](http://www.csoinsights.com)’ 2010 Sales Performance Optimization survey of more than 2800 sales leaders identified “achieving better sales and marketing alignment” as one of the most important revenue-driving initiatives for the year ahead. #### alignment brings benefits The [Harvard Business Review](http://hbr.org/) has confirmed the often dramatic benefits enjoyed by well-aligned organisations - they observe that “When Sales and Marketing work well together, companies see substantial improvement in important performance metrics: Sales cycles are shorter, market entry costs go down, and the cost of sales is lower”.  Hugh Mcfarlane of [Mathmarketing](http://www.mathmarketing.com/) found much the same.  He surveyed 1,400 people in 84 countries around the world, and found that well-aligned organisations grew 5.4% faster, closed 38% more proposals and lost 36% fewer customers than their inadequately-aligned rivals. The evidence seems to be clear - when sales and marketing organisations get aligned, great things happen.  So it ought to be a question of how, not if.  Most of my recent work with clients has been on sales and alignment issues.  I'm pleased to be able to report that we've seen some pretty dramatic benefits along the lines quoted above or better, albeit with a smaller sample size. #### the foundations of effective alignment What's the formula for success?  Naturally the precise approach will vary from one company to the next, but I'm confident that there are at least 7 common factors.  Sales and marketing organisations that are well-aligned: > - Have agreed "ideal prospect profiles" > - Involve sales in active market research > - Craft "messages that matter" to their prospects > - Manage an integrated revenue cycle > - Share a common language > - Establish shared metrics > - Enjoy executive commitment #### download the white paper I've encapsulated what I've learned about these factors in a new white paper, entitled "are you aligned - or falling behind?".  You can [download it here](https://www.inflexion-point.com/Default.aspx?app=LeadgenDownload&shortpath=docs%2fInflexion-Point+Sales+and+Marketing+Alignment+Black%2bWhite+Paper.pdf).  It includes a 20-point questionnaire that I think you'll find illuminating.   No registration is required, but I'd love to hear your comments - let me know what you think. ###### Tags: [CSO Insights, ](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/cso-insights) [Sales + Marketing Alignment, ](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/sales-marketing-alignment) [Aberdeen Group, ](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/aberdeen-group) [Scalable Systems, ](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/scalable-systems) [Complex Sales](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/complex-sales) ![Bob Apollo](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/78fa41976d534cacbb0e22e151bc6816) Post by [Bob Apollo](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/author/bob-apollo) June 15, 2010 Bob Apollo is a Fellow of the Institute of Sales Professionals, a regular contributor to the International Journal of Sales Transformation and Top Sales World Magazine, and the driving force behind Inflexion-Point Strategy Partners, the leading proponents of outcome-centric selling. Following a successful corporate career spanning start-ups, scale-ups and market leaders, Bob now works as a strategic advisor, mentor, trainer and coach to ambitious B2B sales organisations - teaching them how to differentiate themselves through their provably superior approach to achieving their customer's desired outcomes. [Follow me on my website](https://www.inflexion-point.com) [Follow me on LinkedIn ](https://uk.linkedin.com/in/bobapollo) [Follow me on Twitter ](https://twitter.com/bobapollo) ### Comments ###### Related Articles ### [Aberdeen proves that Sales and Marketing Alignment pays off...](https://www.inflexion-point.com/Blog/bid/47796/Aberdeen-proves-that-Sales-and-Marketing-Alignment-pays-off) Posted by **[Bob Apollo](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/author/bob-apollo),** **Oct 05, 2010** The Aberdeen Group have just published a must-read report entitled “Sales and Marketing Alignment Collaboration + ... ### [7 Key Initiatives to Drive Sales + Marketing Alignment](https://www.inflexion-point.com/Blog/bid/49243/7-Key-Initiatives-to-Drive-Sales-and-Marketing-Alignment-in-2011) Posted by **[Bob Apollo](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/author/bob-apollo),** **Oct 26, 2010** Sales and marketing alignment is increasingly recognised as a critical contributor to sustained business success. ### [Why Sales and Marketing Alignment Really, Really Matters](https://www.inflexion-point.com/Blog/bid/80213/Why-Sales-and-Marketing-Alignment-Really-Really-Matters) Posted by **[Bob Apollo](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/author/bob-apollo),** **Jan 09, 2012** According to a recent Aberdeen Group report, “alignment of marketing and sales goals is a key strategy for many ... [![Outcome-Centric Selling Academy offer](https://www.inflexion-point.com/hubfs/OCSA%20CTA%20300x300.png) ](https://inflexion-point.thinkific.com/) Subscribe Categories - [Complex Sales (375)](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/complex-sales) - [B2B Marketing (200)](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/b2b-marketing) - [B2B Buying Process (122)](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/b2b-buying-process) - [Value Selling System (114)](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/value-selling-system) - [Outcome-Centric Selling (100)](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/outcome-centric-selling) - [Scalable Systems (89)](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/scalable-systems) - [Thought Leaders (75)](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/thought-leaders) - [Revenue Management (59)](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/revenue-management) - [Opportunity Qualification (36)](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/opportunity-qualification) - [Intelligent Targeting (35)](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/intelligent-targeting) - [CSO Insights (32)](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/cso-insights) - [Sales Enablement (31)](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/sales-enablement) - [Selling in the Breakthrough Zone (31)](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/selling-in-the-breakthrough-zone) - [Sales + Marketing Alignment (30)](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/sales-marketing-alignment) - [CRM (24)](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/crm)