Sales and marketing are supposed to be on the same team, but too often they operate like distant cousins – vaguely aware of each other, meeting awkwardly at the occasional family reunion. Cue the “alignment” town hall: two hours of buzzwords, a few awkward questions, and everyone leaving with more confusion than clarity.
There’s a better way.
Start with the story, not the meeting.
Most misalignment isn’t about effort, it’s about language. Marketing talks “personas” and “value propositions,” while sales talks “pain points” and “closing deals.” Strip it back. What’s the one sentence you want every rep, marketer, and even your intern to be able to say about your company? Get that story straight first.
Make feedback loops part of the workflow.
Don’t wait for quarterly check-ins to share insights. Sales hears objections in real time; marketing sees what messages are getting clicks. Swap those findings weekly in bite-sized updates: a two-minute Slack video, a quick bullet-point email. The goal isn’t to hold another meeting. It’s to make sharing part of the everyday rhythm.
Use tools everyone actually checks.
If your “alignment plan” lives in a dusty shared drive, it’s already dead. Whether it’s a shared dashboard, CRM notes, or even a pinned Slack channel, put the agreed-upon story and key updates where people are already working.
Celebrate shared wins.
When a deal closes because of a campaign lead, or a campaign converts because of sales feedback, call it out. Alignment feels real when both sides see how their work connects.
Skip the big, formal “alignment summit.” Keep the story tight, the feedback flowing, and the wins visible, and you’ll have a team that’s genuinely on the same page, without forcing everyone into another conference room.
If your sales and marketing feel like strangers, let’s fix it together – reach out and I’ll help you build a story both teams can own.
#Salesand Marketing #TeamAlignment #ConsistentStory #FinancialPR
