One of the areas that we’re always watching, along with the industry in general, is the challenge of Sales and Marketing Alignment.   Very recently we came across a great article on the subject and wanted to ensure our readers were made aware of it.

A recent post by Christine Crandell entitled “Sales and Marketing Need to Sleep in the Same Bed” illustrates the need for alignment to improve sales while optimizing marketing spend – something that all CEOs and business owners are interested in!

Referenced early in the piece is the 2007 Aberdeen study where it was “found that 56 percent of Best-in-Class companies identified sales and marketing alignment as one of their top operational goals.  Yet, 60 percent of those same companies also ranked alignment as their top challenge”.  A clear sign of the ongoing struggle for alignment between Sales and Marketing.

Telltale signs of misalignment can be seen in the industry statistics: 80 percent of leads passed on to sales are dropped; 90 percent of collateral is unused; and the total cost of winning a net new enterprise customer via direct sales carries a hefty average price tag of $500,000. Even worse, fully 80 percent of deals won are not influenced by marketing, at all.  That means these sales are much harder won than they need to be. Why is this essential collaboration so elusive? And once established, why is it so hard to preserve?