Sales and marketing working together is still a big challenge for most organizations. There are very few teams I’ve come across where both functions truly work as one team, with shared goals and shared ownership.
Most teams are busy. Everyone is doing something. But very little moves in the same direction.
What we’ve understood over the years is this: the problem isn’t effort. It’s mostly because planning happens in silos, without a shared view of how the business actually grows.
And we we want sales and marketing to work together in practice, not just in meetings or on slides, the planning process needs to change.
In this blog, we have shared what I’ve learned about how to make this happen. These are steps we’ve learned over the years. They may not be perfect, but when implemented the right way, they work.
Start with a small pilot team
Before jumping into campaigns, tactics, or account lists, align a small group to lead the planning. Ideally, this includes senior leaders from both sides.
Their role here is simple: to look at the business together and agree on where the focus should go. This is the first real step toward alignment.
Once that group is in place, start reviewing four core areas together.
1. Look at sales pipeline velocity together
The first step is understanding how revenue actually moves today.
Instead of starting with activities, start with outcomes.
Review pipeline performance across:
- Markets
- Verticals
- Products or use cases
Then look closely at the core revenue metrics:
- Win rates
- Number of opportunities
- Sales cycle length
- Average deal size
This removes opinions from the room and gives both teams the same starting point.
This is where the conversation becomes clearer:
- Where deals are moving faster
- Where they are getting stuck
- Which segments show the strongest potential
- Where performance is declining, and why
This step sets direction.
2. Align on the GTM together
Once you know where to focus, the next step is agreeing on how you go to market.
This should not be just a marketing exercise. Sales input matters a lot here.
Start by aligning on:
- Who your best customers really are
- Why they buy
- Who is involved in the buying decision
Then look at your message:
- Does it speak to the problems these customers are trying to solve
- Does it reflect how they think and how they buy
Customer research plays an important role here. You need to understand:
- What information about your target accounts actually matters
- What helps you create messages, content, and offers that feel useful and timely
Finally, look at the buyer journey:
- How accounts move from awareness to decision
- What triggers their buying process
- What they need to understand before change feels safe
- Where deals usually slow down
This clarity helps both teams support the buyer instead of pushing disconnected activity.
3. Plan revenue motions together
Once the go-to-market is clear, it becomes easier to decide how revenue should actually be created.
This means clearly defining the motions you’ll run:
- New logo acquisition
- Expansion within existing customers
For each motion, agree on:
- Which accounts matter most
- How many accounts you realistically need to engage
- Where sales effort should be concentrated
This avoids two common problems:
- Marketing running programs without sales follow-up
- Sales chasing accounts without marketing support
When this is done together, effort becomes coordinated instead of fragmented.
4. Build account lists with a clear purpose
Instead of one long list, create two clear groups.
Priority engagement accounts
These are accounts where sales and marketing actively work together. This typically includes:
- Existing pipeline that needs acceleration
- Expansion opportunities
- High-intent new accounts showing clear signals
Future growth accounts
These are accounts that fit your ICP but are not active yet. There may be low intent or low engagement today, but strong potential over time.
For this group, the focus needs to be different:
- Creating awareness
- Building familiarity in a market or vertical
- Showing up consistently
- Learning more about their needs and timing
This structure helps teams balance short-term results with long-term growth.
Why this approach matters
Most sales and marketing planning fails because both teams are working hard in different directions. Sales struggles to connect marketing activity to revenue, while marketing tries to generate pipeline while responding to ad-hoc sales requests.
But when both teams understand how the company actually grows, where revenue is really coming from, and what the current go-to-market situation looks like, planning becomes collaborative instead of reactive.
That’s how you move from alignment on slides to alignment in execution. And that’s how sales and marketing start doing real work together.
We all know how important sales and marketing alignment is. No strategy works if these two teams aren’t moving together. As we move into a brand new year, this is the work worth focusing on, closing the gaps, building shared ownership, and planning together.
Because when sales and marketing truly work as one team, everything changes.
