The Magic of Sales and Marketing Alignment (and the Red Flags That Kill It)

At a panel I moderated last week at the C&EN Media Group Marketing Elements Summit 2025, I asked 50 sales and marketing pros whether they agreed with the statement: “In my company, sales and marketing target the same audience, and leads are followed up quickly.”

Only a few hands went up.

That gap isn’t just a process issue. It’s an energy drain. Silos and the “blame the leads” game create a demotivating culture. Shared goals, shared KPIs, and shared language create momentum, better buying journeys, and revenue. The unifier: a clear North Star and transparency.

What is and isn’t sales and marketing alignment?

If the gap is real, what does “good” look like in the wild? We framed the panel, and this post around three practical questions:

• What does it look like when sales and marketing are in alignment?
• What are the red flags that your commercial team isn’t aligned?
• How do we partner to effectively move leads from one team to another, and down the pipeline?

The panel agreed with the feedback from the LinkedIn polls.

Biggest red flag of misalignment

Silos with no shared plan (76%), followed by blame for low-quality leads (20%), and “most MQLs rejected” (4%). Two spot-on comments: without standard definitions there is no alignment; and MQL rejection is the visible smoke that reveals hidden silos.

So what? Make the hidden visible.

Start here: Publish a one-page dictionary, a simple follow-up agreement, and a monthly report of stage-to-stage conversion and MQL rejection reasons.

Single metric that best unites teams

Voters chose total qualified pipeline (40%), lead-to-customer (33%), closed-won revenue (27%)—and one comment nailed it: pipeline progression wins for both mature and scaling teams.

So what? Volume isn’t unity, progression is.

Start here: Make the North Star Qualified Pipeline Progression in ICP accounts and show weekly stage movement by ICP segment.

Those findings tell us what to measure; purpose and trust determine how we work together to move real accounts.

Purpose over metrics, trust over transactions.

The polls tell us where to look; purpose and trust tell us how to act. If we reward vanity numbers, we’ll chase them. In life sciences, where buying is consensus-driven and risk-sensitive, transactional tactics stall.

Shared purpose reframes the work:

Before: “Hit 200 MQLs.” → After: “Help the right accounts (think ICP) make confident decisions.”

Trust changes the conversation:
Before: “Book a demo?” → After: “What risk are you managing right now, and what evidence would make this a safe move?”

Aligned teams don’t ask for more dashboards, they ask for clarity (who we’re for), consistency (how we pursue), and confidence (we do this together). When teams lead with purpose and speak like humans, the right metrics follow.

5 Steps to an Alignment Operating System

Here’s the minimal set of habits that change outcomes, even in small teams.

1) Radical transparency

What: One shared view of language, follow-up, and movement.

How: Publish a one-page dictionary (ICP, MQA, MQL, SQL, SAL, Opportunity, Disqualifiers), a written follow-up SLA, and a single dashboard with territory + account views, stage movement, and MQL rejection rate. Transparency turns the blame game into a learning loop.

2) Common North Star

What: Qualified Pipeline Progression in ICP accounts. Progression forces the team to ask: “Are the right accounts actually moving?” It aligns SDRs, AEs, marketers, and CS around the same movie, not different snapshots.
How: Report movement weekly by ICP segment. Retire any KPI that doesn’t predict revenue.

3) Co-create anything that touches the account

What: Build it together so it gets used.
How:

• ICP & persona pack: one page per ICP, with triggers, buying-group roles, top objections, and what we won’t pursue.
• Joint account plans: 90 minutes monthly with AE, SDR, marketer, and CS (for expansion plays). Agree on the next 3 moments that matter in the journey and the 2–3 experiments you’ll run.
• Conversation kits: call openers, email angles, and 3 proof points in plain English. If it doesn’t sound human, it won’t earn the second meeting.

4) Recognition locks-in behavior

What: Rituals beat rules; recognition cements habits.
How: 20-minute weekly huddle on the same dashboard; bi-weekly no-blame retro. Celebrate fast, helpful follow-up and good-faith disqualification as loudly as wins.

With your buyer: In life sciences, decisions live in a web of scientists, procurement, QA/RA, and legal. Read the culture of the account: who moves first, who needs air-cover, who decides by evidence vs. precedent, and then adapt your play.

5) Put conversation back at the center

What: Curiosity earns the second meeting.
How: Use prompts like: “What are you under pressure to solve this quarter?” “If you did nothing for six months, what breaks?” “What evidence would make this safe for your team?”

These questions anchor to purpose and risk reduction, the two currencies that matter in complex B2B buying.

A 30-day alignment plan

Commercial Alignment Magic

Companies where sales and marketing are highly aligned have 19% faster growth and 15% more profitability. 

B2B organizations that unify commercial strategies and leverage multithreaded commercial engagements will realize revenue growth that outperforms their competition by 50%. 

Takeaways on Transparency, Trust & Tracking

Transparency turns friction into learning. Make language, follow-up, and outcomes public.

Chase one North Star: qualified pipeline progression in ICP accounts, then use lead-to-customer and revenue as health checks. ABM wins when it’s co-created. If both teams didn’t build it, it won’t be used.

Culture > process. Rituals and recognition make alignment stick.

Trust over transactions. Real human conversations reduce risk for buyers, and for your team.

It’s your turn now, run an “alignment check”. Score your team across 10 behaviors (e.g. language, agreements, progression, huddles) and get a prioritized fix list you can action next week. Want to check-in with me before running your alignment check, please send me an email at jasmine@strivenn.com. 

Yah, I went a little bit acronym crazy on this post. Here’s a glossary of terms: