How many times have we heard of the love/hate relationship between Marketing and Sales? The two entities can sometimes take on an “it’s complicated” relationship status instead of a harmonious one. We’ve all seen the stats saying the number one reason couples fight is due to money and finances. This could be said about Sales and Marketing.

Sales can be yelling to Marketing about generating terrible leads and spending money frivolously. In return, Marketing is yelling back at Sales to get off the computer and start working on closing leads.

So how do we patch up this train-wreck waiting to happen? Let’s start by identifying what makes this relationship complicated in the first place.

Sales thinks…

• Marketing doesn’t do anything to contribute to the bottom line

• Marketing doesn’t generate enough leads, and if they do, they are unqualified

• Marketing’s job is easy and that they have brainstorming pow-wow sessions all day

Marketing thinks…

• Sales is lazy and wastes leads by ignoring them and not following them up

• Sales isn’t communicating the company’s value proposition properly

• Sales has an easy job and that they have lunch dates and drinks in the afternoon

Just like your typical marriage therapist would say, all these issues stem around communication, trust and collaboration. So in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, here are 3 simple tips on how to get Marketing and Sales “in a relationship” again.

1. Get Connected – The best way to re-ignite that flame is to get connected again. Whether this involves having marketing listen in on sales calls or having sales contribute to marketing content, opening up the relationship for communication can help fuel alignment.

2. Wear New Shoes– Ever heard of “putting yourself in another’s shoes”? Even if only for a day, letting Marketing and Sales walk in one each other’s shoes can give a better understanding of what each party brings to the business. Examples might include sales training sessions for Marketers where a sales call is played out. Another might be to let Sales come up with a strategy to target a specific market.

3. Set Goals – How do you know your relationship efforts are working? Setting goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely (SMART) for each team will keep them accountable to each other. A SMART goal might look like this: Marketing will increase new leads by 10% in Q1 and Sales will have a quota of $30,000 set in Q1. This way, nobody blames the other for “not knowing” what’s going on.

It really is possible for Marketing and Sales to go from “it’s complicated” to “in a relationship”. It might be a little awkward at first, like all first dates; but before you know it they’ll be going steady!