A few years ago, I sat in a GTM offsite with a SaaS company that had just missed their quarterly number. Again.

Marketing showed a beautiful dashboard: MQLs were up 40%, cost per lead down 18%, and webinar registrations through the roof. Sales… was silent. Then one rep spoke up:

“Cool story. None of those leads picked up the phone.”

Cue the tension.

Marketing blamed sales for slow follow-up. Sales blamed marketing for poor lead quality. Leadership blamed both, and quietly started planning team changes.

Here’s the hard truth: that company didn’t have a pipeline problem. They had a trust problem. Until sales and marketing started rowing in the same direction, no amount of leads or outreach would fix it.

This post is about how to avoid that mess and actually build a revenue engine that scales.

What Happens When Sales and Marketing Aren’t Aligned?

When these two teams operate in silos, it shows up fast:

• Leads that don’t convert

• Pipeline that looks healthy on paper but stalls in reality

• Finger-pointing and frustration

• Budget spent with no impact on revenue

The cost isn’t just operational. It’s cultural. Teams start to mistrust each other, and growth slows to a crawl.

The 3 Pillars of Sales & Marketing Alignment

1. Shared Revenue Goals (Not Just MQLs)

Most marketing teams are still judged on lead volume. Most sales teams are judged on revenue. And guess what? Those incentives rarely align.

The fix:

• Set shared goals around pipeline creation and closed revenue

• Define what a qualified lead actually looks like: firmographics, intent, buying stage

• Measure what matters: opportunity creation, velocity, win rates

Real alignment starts when both teams care about the same outcomes.

2. A Clear Handoff Process

If marketing passes a lead to sales and it sits untouched for 48 hours, that lead is ice-cold.

What works:

• A Sales-Marketing SLA that defines qualification criteria, response time, and feedback loops

• Fast, consistent follow-up from sales (within 24 hours)

• Clear disposition paths — when to nurture vs. when to disqualify

Speed matters. Relevance matters more. Structure ensures both.

3. Multi-Touch Campaigns that Blend Inbound and Outbound 🔄

The best GTM teams don’t divide the funnel. They collaborate across it.

Here’s how it plays out:

When both teams coordinate, each touch builds on the last. The buying journey feels seamless.

Case Study: From Silos to Shared Wins

A SaaS company came to us with an outbound engine that was stalling. They were generating over 500 MQLs a month, but conversion to opportunity was below 3%.

Here’s what we changed:

• Replaced MQL quotas with shared pipeline targets

• Tightened ICP criteria to focus on high-fit accounts

• Implemented a 24-hour SLA for sales follow-up

• Launched coordinated, multi-channel nurture and outreach

In 90 days:

• Pipeline conversion jumped 68%

• Sales cycles shortened by 18%

• Marketing-sourced revenue more than doubled

STRATEQS' Take: Alignment Is the Engine

If your GTM motion feels stuck, look at how your teams are working together (or not).

When marketing and sales are misaligned:

• Good leads go cold

• Deals stall

• Accountability breaks down

When they operate as one revenue team:

• Pipeline becomes more predictable

• Conversions climb

• Everyone runs faster in the same direction

Let’s Turn Misalignment Into Momentum

If your sales and marketing teams feel like separate planets, let’s fix that.

On our first strategy session, we’ll:

• Spot where alignment is breaking down and costing you revenue

• Rebuild shared goals, lead definitions, and handoff clarity

• Design an outreach system that works across teams, not in spite of them

Let’s get your revenue engine firing on all cylinders.

👉 [Book a strategy session]