Companies that align marketing and sales grow their revenue faster, are more profitable, and are a lot better at closing deals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fact that marketing and sales are siloed functions, especially in knowledge-heavy B2B organizations, is costing you dearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, let’s talk about bridging that gap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But first, a bit of history…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To understand where the gap is coming from, you need to appreciate that marketing was in fact born out of abundance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Second Industrial Revolution (from the late 19th century until the early 20th century) was a phase of scientific discoveries, standardisation and mass production. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you had a good and affordable product back then, it would literally sell itself. Simply because demand exceeded supply.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But then, mass production became widespread. Supply began to exceed demand. And competition increased. Companies had to shift their focus from manufacturing enough to selling what they had made.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This then evolved into something else: understanding (potential) clients’ needs and wants before developing a solution.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n From the mid-1950s on, creating, delivering, and communicating superior client value became the key to organizational success.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, the marketing function evolved. Separate from sales, which evolved as well.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And here we are, a full century after the industrial revolution… <\/p>\n\n\n\n In an era, where standing out from the crowd is almost impossible and closing a deal requires you to be a seasoned subject matter expert. No wonder there’s a gap between marketing and sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay, so how do we bridge the gap?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marketing and sales may have evolved into separate, specialized functions. Their ultimate goal however, has always been the same: generate revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first step in bridging the gap between marketing and sales is defining common, revenue-based<\/em> Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to double your revenue in 2026, make it explicit: By the end of 2026, we’ve generated \u20ac 10 million in revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, determine how many times you need to sell your solution in order to achieve that revenue goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And from there, reverse-engineer a ‘funnel’ to get an idea of the amount of prospects, leads, and deals you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This brings us to step 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\nStep 1 – Establish shared goals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Step 2 – Structured processes and tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n