‘Parallel universes’: B2B marketers on navigating the ‘healthy tension’ with sales
While some tension is normal, shared goals and data-driven strategies can bridge the gap between B2B sales and marketing teams.
Sales and marketing teams are two sides of the same coin. When aligned, they hold a business firm, generating leads and converting them into sales. But sometimes the teams can find themselves at odds with each other, focused on their separate functions and objectives.
Marketing Week’s new and exclusive State of B2B Marketing survey reveals more than a third of B2B marketers ‘often’ find they are in conflict with sales, with misaligned priorities emerging as the most prominent reason why teams end up clashing.
Seasoned B2B and B2C marketer Jon White, most recently CMO at industrial products distributor RS Group, explains there is always a “healthy tension” between marketing and sales in any business.
He argues in the B2C world, this tension is often constructive as the relationship between the two teams is a “well-trodden path” and consumer facing businesses have been navigating this dynamic for years. However, White says in B2B businesses, sales has traditionally dominated.
