Sales and Marketing: Let’s fix this relationship
Hey there, Sarah Reece here, Director of Demand Generation at Orum. If you’re in the B2B space, you already know that sales and marketing can sometimes feel like two ships passing at night—or worse, two battleships warring in broad daylight.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. When sales and marketing work together, magic happens. But let's be honest, it’s not easy. It takes effort, empathy, and a whole lot of communication.
So, let's explore some practical tactics for building a healthy, productive relationship between your sales and marketing teams. Spoiler alert: self-awareness and checking egos at the door are requirements to read on. Deep breath, friends. It’s therapy time.
1. Marketing as a Catalyst for Change
Why does Marketing have to be responsible for everything? If you’re feeling this way, you’re not alone. Every marketing leader has been there. And there are so many reasons that it makes sense for Marketing to be the catalyst for change.
- If you want to change the world or your organization, start with yourself. You can’t change the sales team. But you can change the Marketing team.
- Second to the People Team, Marketing has the most latitude in incorporating humanity into our metrics. This translates to more flexibility in testing new processes without as great a risk to the bottom line.
- Marketing is powerful. And with great power comes great responsibility, Spiderman. Marketing is a linchpin organization and this is our burden to bear.
Now that you’ve agreed to take responsibility, read on.
2. You Are an Extension of the Sales Team - Act Like It
Let’s start with the basics. How many people are on your sales development team? Can you name each one of them? If the answer is no, start there. Because to be successful in this endeavor, you must start to treat sales like your first team. This means more than just knowing what sales do but truly understanding what makes the team tick. And that starts with people.
Your strongest ally is going to be the sales development leader. Their strategy is your strategy. Your strategy is theirs. It must be. You two share the same job: convince people to want your product and qualify those who raise their hands. With velocity.
This might sound like an obvious place to start, but if you’re honest with yourself, I bet less than half of marketers are thinking this way.
Practical Tactic: Attend your sales team’s meetings. Don’t just send over leads and hope for the best—be there, listen, and learn. Every. Single. Week. You’ll learn your reps' voice and tone and hear the actual objections they’re facing instead of the generic ones you cook up in persona building.
Your campaigns will be 10x more effective when built with direct input from the sales floor. As a bonus, you’ll strengthen relationships with subject matter experts so that when you create content and campaigns, you can rely on them to provide honest feedback.
3. Consistency and Cadence: The Power Duo
Consistency isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the backbone of collaboration. Weekly meetings? Non-negotiable. Regular feedback loops? Mandatory. You need to make it so that not a single week goes by without sales and marketing syncing up.
You may think, “Isn’t this the same tip as above?” It’s not. We’re talking about cadences with leaders here. Connect at a higher level in addition to attending those sales meetings. In one, you’re a passive member listening to their experiences. In the other, you’re an active collaborator, co-creating a better path forward.
Practical Tactic: Establish a set cadence for communication. Whether it’s weekly meetings or bi-weekly check-ins, ensure a rhythm to your collaboration. And don’t just leave it to the leaders—get the whole team involved. The more feedback from the ground level, the better.
4. Lead with Vulnerability and Mutual Respect
Let’s get one thing straight: Ego has no place in a successful sales and marketing partnership. You’ve got to put your pride aside and be willing to say, “I don’t know what I’m doing here, help me out.” I’ve done it more times than I can count, and it’s always paid off.
Understand that sales are under a different kind of pressure than marketing—commission-based pressure. Be aware of how your actions affect their ability to hit their numbers. When you approach your relationship with this mindset, you’ll build goodwill, crucial for real collaboration.
Practical Tactic: Make it a habit to ask for feedback from your sales team—whether it’s on campaign ideas, lead quality, or anything else. And then, actually listen.
“But we’re already asking for feedback and we get crickets!” Been there. May I suggest you get more specific with the feedback you’re asking for? “Were the leads good?” doesn’t give a junior sales rep much to go on.
5. Get on the Sales Floor—Literally
If you’re serious about improving your collaboration with sales, you’ve got to get out of your marketing bubble and onto the sales floor. Whether virtual or in-person, just being there, listening to calls, and understanding the daily grind will do wonders for your relationship.
The Orum platform has a virtual Salesfloor where reps make daily cold calls. Our marketing team spends time on there each week, so now we’re not just hearing about their experience, we’re seeing it in action.
Practical Tactic: Schedule time to sit with your SDRs during their power hours. Listen to their calls, understand their challenges, and celebrate their wins. Trust me, the insights you’ll gain are priceless—and so is the bond you’ll form with the team.
As an added bonus, joining the Salesfloor doubles as market research as you hear customers give feedback on scripts, pitches, and marketing activities in real time.
6. Focus on High-Intent Leads, But Don’t Ignore the Bigger Picture
Sure, bringing in high-intent leads is essential—demo requests, product trials, all that good stuff. But don’t sleep on your responsibility to support the outbound function. My goal? I want to ensure that when our SDRs are cold calling, the person on the other end of the line has already heard of Orum and is excited to hear from us.
We loosely define Orum’s brand as “vibes,” but what that really means is that we find daily ways to be noticed and memorable in a crowded marketplace.
Practical Tactic: Work with your sales team to identify which types of leads convert best and focus your efforts there. Collaborate on outbound strategies and content to ensure your brand is top of mind even before that first call is made.
7. Respectful Challenges and Data-Driven Discussions
Sometimes, sales will push back on the leads you’re handing over. Maybe they’re saying, “Why should I work this lead who just grabbed a hat at our booth?” And you know what? They have a point. But rather than getting defensive, dig into the data together.
Maybe that lead just grabbed some swag at our booth, but they might have also then had a fifteen-minute conversation with our SVP of sales about Orum’s latest AI-powered platform features. Perhaps they saw a report we wrote about how most of the sales pipeline comes from the phone. They may not have virtually raised their hand by requesting a demo on our website, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a hot lead.
Practical Tactic: Perform a split-funnel analysis with your sales team. Compare high-intent leads against low-intent leads regarding conversion rates and pipeline generation. Use that data to adjust your strategies and make a business case for changes.
8. Marketing Collateral That Actually Gets Used
You can create all the flashy marketing materials you want (and we do!), but what's the point if sales aren’t using them? The secret is simple: Involve your sales team in the creation process. Ask them what they need, and then deliver it.
This is especially important for early-stage sales organizations. SEO-driven content is excellent for increasing website traffic. Still, your front-line sellers need customer stories that hit their ICP and content pieces that answer daily challenges their prospects experience.
Practical Tactic: Focus on creating customer stories and persona-specific collateral that sales can use in their outreach. And don’t forget about internal resources like buyer persona cheat sheets—these can be game changers in helping your sales team craft messages that resonate.
9. Celebrate the Wins Together
Finally, remember that it’s not just about hitting numbers; it’s about creating a team environment where sales and marketing feel supported, appreciated, and connected. Show up for each other and celebrate each other’s wins, and success will follow naturally.
Practical Tactic: Make it a point to celebrate when your teams hit milestones—a record pipeline, a killer campaign, or just surviving a particularly tough quarter. It’s the little things that build a strong, unified team.
Sales and marketing are two sides of the same coin. When you work together, you’re not just filling the pipeline—you’re building a growth powerhouse for your company. So, let’s keep the lines of communication open, keep the egos in check, and, most importantly, keep our eyes on the shared goal: driving success for everyone.
About the Author
Sarah Reece is the Director of Demand Generation at Orum, where she specializes in bridging the gap between sales and marketing with a blend of sass, strategy, and empathy. When she’s not crafting killer demand gen campaigns, you can find her on the Salesfloor, cheering on the SDRs and ensuring Orum’s marketing efforts always align with real-world sales challenges.
