Introduction

Every business thinks its sales and marketing teams are aligned.

“We have weekly meetings.” “We share the same goals.” “We all want more revenue.”

But dig a little deeper and the truth usually comes out: Marketing is producing content sales don’t use, sales is chasing accounts marketing never prioritised, and both teams feel like the other “doesn’t get it.”

If you’ve ever worked in a B2B organisation where sales and marketing aren’t fully aligned, you’ll know the impact isn’t subtle. It shows up everywhere - in confused prospects, missed opportunities, and, more often than not, in the numbers. Misalignment is estimated to cost businesses 10% or more in annual revenue, and for many teams, that gap is only getting wider.

But this isn’t a “sales vs. marketing” issue. It’s a shared challenge with shared consequences. And when you look closer, it usually stems from something simple: a lack of shared data, shared context, or not understanding the struggles of the other.

Misalignment isn’t always loud. Most of the time, it’s quiet, subtle, and hiding in plain sight… until it starts costing you deals.

And here’s the reality in 2026: the companies that fix it first will win.

 

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What misalignment looks like in practice (and why it’s not always obvious)

Misalignment doesn’t always look like team conflict. In fact, the biggest issues tend to show up in:

• Targeting the wrong accounts. Sales is focusing on the leads that feel warm. Marketing is focusing on the leads that are big. Neither is focusing on the leads that are actually ready.
• Content that goes unused. Marketing produces case studies, videos, insights, sector reports… and sales often barely touches them. Not because the content is bad, but because it wasn’t built with the sales conversation in mind. If content isn’t directly helping them win deals, it’s just noise.
  • Sales needs ultra-specific content: tailored industry proof; competitor positioning; ROI examples; pain-point messaging; short, snackable formats they can send instantly
• Leads falling through the gaps. Longer buying cycles mean engagement can’t stop after the first touch. Here’s what usually happens: Sales makes the first outreach → the prospect isn’t ready → nothing else happens. This is where marketing should be stepping in with a nurture engine: case studies, product demos, ROI examples, onboarding previews - anything that keeps the brand front of mind until the timing is right. Consistency, relevance and value are what wins long games. Not sporadic follow-ups.

 

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Why misalignment happens in the first place

Several common issues lead to that classic tension between sales and marketing:

• Different definitions of what matters. Sales wants qualified opportunities that convert quickly. Marketing wants reach, awareness, and engagement. When the two teams aren’t aligned, they end up working toward different goals - and prospects notice the disconnect.
• Conflicting messaging. Ever chased a “hot” lead only to discover marketing told them something completely different? Or realised months later that a brand’s priorities shifted but no one updated the outbound sequences? It happens far more often than most leaders admit.
• Separate data streams. Marketing sees engagement. Sales sees conversations. Neither sees the full picture. That gap means opportunities can slip through cracks neither team knew were there. If sales and marketing aren’t working from the same signals, like the same buying intent, the same context, the same view of what’s happening in the market, deals fall apart for reasons no one can quite explain.

The outcome is that 52.2% of sales professionals say misalignment directly contributes to lost pipeline and revenue. And that’s before we consider how today’s buyers behave…

 

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Modern buyers expose misalignment faster

Today’s buyers don’t follow a neat linear journey. They move back and forth between channels, self-educate, compare options in their own time, and only reach out to sales when they’re already deep into decision-making.

Recent research shows B2B buyers are now 57-70% through their buying process before they speak to sales, and 60% say they could make a purchase decision based entirely on digital content. Which means:

• If marketing’s content doesn’t reflect real sales conversations, buyers lose trust.
• If sales messages don’t match what marketing puts out, prospects feel misled.
• If the two teams don’t share data, no one knows what the buyer has already seen or what they care about.

Ultimately, marketing has more influence earlier in the funnel… but sales still owns the moment of truth. When those two worlds aren’t tightly connected, the cracks show fast - buyers notice it immediately. They lose trust, and you lose business.

 

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The role of marketing in a sales pipeline

Because of these buyer behaviour shifts, marketing isn’t just about brand awareness or top-of-funnel activity anymore. Today, it’s a prospecting engine - one that can drive revenue more effectively than ever when it’s fully aligned with sales.

Here’s where marketing makes the biggest impact:

• Persona-based content. Tailored, role-specific content can increase conversion rates by up to 73%. When marketing creates assets for each stakeholder - not just the final decision-maker - sales gets material that speaks to everyone’s real-day concerns.
• Thought leadership that builds trust. 75% of decision-makers say thought leadership influences them more than traditional marketing. Strong insights, commentary, and industry expertise help reps show up as advisers, not sellers.
• Sales enablement materials. When marketing provides stage-appropriate content - like ROI models, case studies, or onboarding guides - sales can close 55% more qualified opportunities.
• Distributed marketing influence. Each salesperson effectively becomes their own marketing channel. A strong LinkedIn presence, consistent thought leadership, and shareable content extend reach and credibility far beyond the company page.

 

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What happens when sales and marketing do align

When sales and marketing are truly aligned, you can feel it. Conversations flow. Content lands exactly where it should. Buyers trust you. Sales stops firefighting and starts advising.

Here’s what strong alignment actually looks like:

• Shared goals instead of finger-pointing. It’s no longer about “who owns the lead,” but “we all own the outcome.”
• Marketing becomes sales’ unfair advantage. The right asset - a video, a comparison guide, a case study - gives reps credibility before they even speak to a prospect. They show up with proof, not promises.
• Sales fuels smarter marketing. Sales hears the objections, the questions, the patterns. Marketing turns that insight into content that attracts better prospects and moves deals along faster.
• Prospects feel guided, not pushed. Instead of mixed messages or conflicting narratives, they get a cohesive story and a consistent experience.

When both teams pull in the same direction, everything compounds. Campaigns perform better, pipelines strengthen, conversations get easier, and most importantly, revenue grows faster.

 

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A leadership perspective

Leadership plays the biggest role in alignment - and, in many cases, the biggest role in misalignment too.

Here’s what alignment from the top really looks like:

• Shared KPIs across both teams, not separate dashboards and competing targets.
• A clear, agreed definition of a qualified lead.
• Sales feedback built into marketing planning, not added as an afterthought.
• Content strategies shaped by real conversations, not assumptions.
• Revenue ownership shared between both departments, not divided by function.

When leaders treat alignment as a revenue strategy and not a communication exercise, everything starts to shift in the right direction.

 

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A final word

Sales and marketing misalignment isn’t a team issue - it’s a revenue issue.

And in 2026, when buyers are more independent, more overwhelmed, and more selective than ever, alignment is no longer “nice to have.” It’s the difference between being the brand they remember… and the one they scroll past.

If you want to generate better leads, shorten your sales cycle, and boost conversion rates, the solution is simple:

Stop operating as two teams. Start operating as one revenue engine.

At ALF Insight, we help sales and marketing teams get on the same page by giving them shared intelligence - who’s active, who’s in-market, so you can figure out what matters most to each prospect.

Book a demo with us to see how we can help your new business bottom line