Demandbase reposted this
Co-founder @Fullfunnel.io| ABM & full-funnel marketing for B2B tech companies with high ACV and long sales cycle
Marketing and sales alignment ≠ MQL handoff to sales. Here is a step-by-step playbook we created with Leanne Chescoe (Demandbase): 1. GTM ALIGNMENT. - Define priority cluster/segments - Define account qualification criteria (cluster ICP) - Define buyer journey scenarios, level of intent, and key activities to influence it together - Align on cluster messaging - Define the key metrics and create a joint pipeline & revenue report - Nail down the definitions (what is MQL, SQL, etc), pipeline stages and what they mean, engagement threshold, etc. - Define key signals and stack that allows to track. - Develop playbooks for different captured - Set up reporting frequency and the ownership of the process. 2. EXECUTION & OPERATIONAL ALIGNMENT. - Build a list of accounts using the cluster ICP criteria - Segment accounts into three groups based on the opportunity likelihood generation - Develop the playbooks for each of the lists (creating awareness, validating the needs, generating the opportunities) - see Demandbase orchestration at the end of the deck - Develop in-depth account research process for marketing and sales - Define core leading indicators and positive signals to report - Set up weekly planning & review meetings to prioritize activities - Build a cross-functional program dashboard connected to pipeline & revenue report --- The marketing & sales alignment never happens if you don't set up the joint priorities and then turn them into action. The alignment happens when both teams roll up the sleeves and work together on the joint definition of success.
Love your process of alignment across GTM, execution and operations. Too many teams still have separate dashboards, and that disconnect drives misaligned behavior. If you're not sharing metrics, you're not truly aligned Joint pipeline & revenue reporting helps here.
Totally agree! At Latenode, we've learned alignment isn't just a nice-to-have, it's a revenue multiplier. Implementing cross-functional workflows that connect marketing & sales data has helped us reduce lead response time by 43% and increase qualified pipeline by 27%. Pro tip: Use automation platforms to create real-time signal tracking and instant notifications between teams. This breaks down silos faster than endless meetings 🚀
I know we use this word a lot, but I think it’s time to retire sales and marketing alignment. Because to be successful in 2025 you need so much more than alignment alone: - We need to go after the same cluster and high priority accounts, using the same content and messaging - We both need to own touch points across the complete buyer journey - We need to continuously exchange insights about those accounts, and together plan the next steps And we need not align that shared goals because at the end we’re both part of the same GTM team.
Leanne Chescoe is the best!
You can't fix misalignment by creating a fancy deck. You can do it only when both teams (and, ideally, senior leadership) sit down together and have an open discussion about: 1. Goals, challenges, and bottlenecks company currently faces - their root reasons and how to fix them 2. Adjusting marketing and sales goals and KPIs to strategic goals 3. ICP, and it's buyer journey 4. Positioning, messaging, and necessary content to drive awareness and generate demand 5. Key activities both teams can run together. Marketing and sales are not 2 siloed functions. This is one revenue team that has one target - growing a business. Great examples in the deck, Andrei.
Totally resonate with this. In a past role, we realized our biggest wins came when both teams mapped activities to real buyer behavior and not just internal funnel stages. Once we aligned around shared customer signals (vs. just MQL definitions), engagement quality and conversion speed improved noticeably. Alignment really sticks when both teams anchor around the same journey.
Alignment isn't a handoff; it's a handshake that keeps happening across every stage. Great clarity on shared metrics and shared execution Andrei!
Yes! Alignment isn’t about passing MQLs and hoping for the best.
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Co-Founder @ Omni Lab | Paid Media for B2B SaaS brands
4wAndrei Zinkevich One foundational element that gets overlooked is going beyond the basic definition of the ICP and instead using data from your CRM to better understand the highest value segments. So often there is a disconnect from who we target to who comes in inbound to trigger an opportunity. E.g., Too much focus on decision-makers vs. end users.