How to Reduce Friction Between Sales and Marketing Teams

Leaders from Dynatrace and OneView Commerce weigh in on measuring success and forging strong partnerships between sales and marketing.
Written by Olivia McClure
September 9, 2021Updated: September 9, 2021

Sales and marketing both play a crucial role in reaching business goals. After all, without a strong digital presence, it’s nearly impossible to close deals. And without anything to sell, there would be nothing for marketers to share with prospective customers. 

Yet it’s not always easy to maintain alignment between sales and marketing organizations, which is why leaders must create a common strategy to establish an alliance between both teams. 

At Dynatrace, Senior Director of Sales Development Matt Martelle focuses on several different areas when it comes to ensuring success for both sales and marketing. In his mind, transparency is key to creating true alignment. 

“Nothing can be achieved if there are closed-door meetings where data and results are hidden in silos,” Martelle said. 

For Tod Johnson, VP of global business development at OneView Commerce, a lack of communication and common goals can lead to misalignment. That’s why it’s essential for sales and marketing teams to build a plan together in order to hold each other accountable and stay on track to meet their goals. 

Built In Boston checked in with Martelle and Johnson to learn how they forge strong partnerships between sales and marketing teams and use common metrics to measure success. 

 

Matt Martelle
Senior Director of Sales Development • Dynatrace

Dynatrace’s platform is designed to simplify cloud complexity and accelerate digital transformation. 

 

In your experience, what are the main causes for misalignment between sales and marketing teams?

Sales and marketing organizations can easily become misaligned if the end goal isn’t prioritized. Teams often get too caught up in the number of marketing qualified leads produced or deals closed within a quarter. For example, if increasing revenue by 30 percent from the previous year is the primary goal of the company, then each team should be asking themselves, “How do we support the larger company initiative?” To take it a step further, each department can then be measured against their contribution toward that larger goal, forcing each team to remain accountable and focused. 

 

How do you create a common set of metrics to measure success that is understandable to both teams?

Teams should use their funnel from marketing all the way through to revenue. They should then assign the actions and owners for every stage of that funnel and tie metrics to each phase. The most important thing is to make this funnel accessible and visible to every member of the sales and marketing departments. This level of transparency allows everyone to understand what is needed to meet goals. Additionally, if corrections need to be made throughout the year, everyone can fully visualize the impact those changes will have on the end results and the actions they need to take to get there.

 

Transparency leads to communication, which leads to trust.”

 

What’s the best way to maintain alignment between sales and marketing teams in the long term?

Having worked for sales development organizations at various companies, I have reported into both sales and marketing. At the end of the day, the reporting structure doesn’t matter. All that matters is the steps everyone needs to take in order to achieve their goals. 

Transparency is key to keeping these teams aligned. Transparency leads to communication, which leads to trust. If sales and marketing trust one another, they will remain focused on their goals, knowing everyone is taking the right actions to succeed.

 

 

Tod Johnson
VP of Global Business Development • OneView Commerce

OneView Commerce’s platform enables retailers to optimize store and digital experiences.  

 

In your experience, what are the main causes for misalignment between sales and marketing teams?

A lack of communication and common goals are two main causes of misalignment between sales and marketing. When sales and marketing teams build their yearly plan for company goals together, it becomes a shared objective that holds both teams accountable and ensures they are aligned to meet, and hopefully exceed, their expectations. 

 

How do you create a common set of metrics to measure success that is understandable to both teams?

Common metrics can be identified and agreed upon by sales and marketing teams when both work together to set realistic goals based on actual business objectives, deadlines and deliverables. Monitoring the march toward goals on a weekly or bi-weekly basis is imperative to track progress and success. That makes it much easier to pivot if an activity or program is falling short of your expectations.

 

Monitoring the march toward goals on a weekly or bi-weekly basis is imperative to track progress and success.”

 

What’s the best way to maintain alignment between sales and marketing teams in the long term?

Teams can maintain alignment by ensuring clear communication, agreeing upon goals and objectives, and holding regular meetings to stay up-to-date on the progression of the company’s overall strategy. This offers the opportunity to measure and gather valuable feedback on what’s working and what needs to be adjusted in order to continuously iterate on programs and deliverables to maximize success.

 

 

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