Key Takeways 

• Identify the four execution gaps that cause B2B Sales and Marketing plans to stall. 

• Learn how shared ownership turns marketing activity into measurable pipeline. 

• Discover which metrics truly prove alignment and which ones don’t matter. 

• See how integrated systems and fast feedback loops create predictable growth. 

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It’s three months after launching a new Sales and Marketing plan – your campaign is live, the CRM dashboards are full of data, and the team had worked late for weeks. 

But pipeline? Flat. 

It often isn’t the plan that is wrong, it was how it was being lived, measured, and followed up. 

I’ve seen this story repeat across many B2B sectors, where the ideas are strong and the teams are capable. Yet the plan doesn’t deliver because of the same four mistakes. 

Fix these, and you’ll have a much better chance of unlocking the results you’ve been chasing. 

Mistake 1: No Shared Ownership Between Sales and Marketing 

 The problem: 

If Sales and Marketing talk about “their goals” instead of “our goals,” it’s already off track. 

 Marketing’s celebrating MQLs; Sales is frustrated about “lead quality.” Both are right and both are losing. 

 According to a summary of alignment research by BrainstormClub, organisations with strong Sales and Marketing alignment see 208% higher marketing-influenced revenue than those without.  

The problem isn’t effort; it’s ownership.  

The fix: 

• Create a shared commercial goal, such as marketing-influenced pipeline value. 

• Hold weekly joint pipeline reviews, not quarterly post-mortems. 

• Introduce closed-loop reporting; every lead outcome (won, lost, stalled) goes back to Marketing for analysis. 

Questions to ask: 

• Do your Sales and Marketing teams share the same KPIs? 

• When was the last time both teams reviewed the same dashboard together? 

• If I asked five people in your company what “a qualified lead” means, would they give the same answer? 

What does good look like? 

Mistake 2: Unclear or Misaligned Metrics 

The problem: 

Metrics are where most good plans quietly die. 

Marketing tracks clicks, downloads, and impressions, whilst Sales tracks deals, velocity, and revenue. No wonder meetings sometimes feel like they’re happening in two different languages! 

One HubSpot study noted that only 23% of Sales professionals said their organisation was strongly aligned.  

 If you can’t link activity to outcome, you can’t learn, and without learning, you can’t grow. 

Why this happens: 

• Marketing is rewarded for volume (leads generated) which can incentivise quantity over quality. 

• Sales gets leads that don’t meet their criteria and reject them, Marketing then says the hand-off failed; Sales says the leads were useless. 

•  Systems and dashboards capture different metrics in different ways so the conversation becomes “whose numbers are right?” not “are we progressing?” 

The fix: 

• Replace vanity metrics with value metrics that prove impact. 

• Track shared KPIs such as MQL-to-SQL conversion rate, pipeline value, and deal velocity. 

• Build a single “source-of-truth” dashboard visible to both teams. 

Questions to ask: 

1. Can both teams clearly state the one number that matters most this quarter? 

2. Are you reporting activity or progress? 

3. How many of your dashboard metrics tie directly to revenue? 

What does good look like? 

Mistake 3: Disjointed Systems and Data 

The problem: 

Your technology stack and data flow determine whether teams can act, not just plan. If Marketing and Sales work in separate systems or if data is inconsistent, misalignment is inevitable.  

Why this happens: 

• Marketing uses one platform (e.g., MAP) and Sales uses another (CRM), but the data doesn’t integrate. 

• Lead tagging, scoring, status fields vary, so Sales sees Marketing data it doesn’t trust. 

• Reporting takes days, so opportunities are missed or follow-ups delayed. 

The fix: 

• Consolidate to one source of truth (CRM) which both teams access and trust. 

• Standardise lead lifecycle definitions (MQL → SAL → SQL → Opportunity) and automate hand-offs. 

• Use automation and AI where appropriate to cleanse, enrich and score data — but only after process alignments 

• Train both teams on the process and systems so behaviour supports the tech. 

Think of a services firm that might have Marketing automation and CRM in silos. After integrating their systems, they discover a high number of their leads are duplicates or have incorrect data. With clean data and one dashboard, the sales cycle can be shortened and reporting reliability improved. 

Questions to ask: 

• Do your systems talk to each other automatically, or through manual exports? 

• Can you trace a lead from first click to closed deal without switching tools? 

• Does everyone trust the same data? 

What does good look like? 

Mistake 4: Poor Follow-Up and Feedback Loops 

 The problem: 

Even the best plan collapses when leads fall through the cracks. Marketing passes them on; Sales gets busy; and the prospect never hears back. The result is that weeks later, both teams are unsure what went wrong. 

Why this happens: 

• Leads are passed without context or urgency; Sales don’t act within a meaningful window. 

• Marketing doesn’t receive feedback on lead outcomes, so isn’t learning what works. 

• There are no agreed-SLAs (service-level-agreements) for lead response, so follow-ups drift. 

• The notion of “handover” remains vague and is treated as a push-not-a-handoff. 

The fix: 

• Agree on a lead-response SLA (e.g., contact every new qualified lead within 24 hours). 

• Automate alerts for untouched leads beyond the SLA. 

• Run monthly “lead outcome” reviews where Sales shares feedback and Marketing learns what converts. 

• Use AI summaries or CRM notes to record context , saving time and creating consistency. 

Questions to ask: 

• How long does it really take for a new lead to hear from Sales? 

• Do you have a written process for follow-up? 

• Does Marketing know which leads became customers last quarter? 

What does good look like? 

Sometimes it’s not the plan that’s broken, it’s the system 

If your Sales and Marketing plan isn’t delivering the growth you expected, don’t assume the strategy is flawed. More often, the problem lies in the execution system; the alignment between teams, the metrics they use, the systems they rely on, and the follow-up discipline they exercise. 

Remedying the four mistakes above won’t guarantee instant growth overnight, but it will create the foundation on which consistent, measurable growth becomes possible. Because when Marketing and Sales are pulling in the same direction, supported by shared data, clear metrics, integrated systems and prompt feedback loops, growth stops being accidental and starts being repeatable. 

Now is the time to ask: 

1. Do our Sales and Marketing teams share one commercial target? 

2. Are we measuring the right outcomes, not just the activity? 

3. Does our data flow between teams and reflect reality? 

4. Do we follow-up every accepted lead consistently and learn from every outcome? 

If you answered “no” to one or more of those, you have areas to fix. 

And if you’d like a partner to help you rebuild the system rather than just write another plan, that’s exactly what we can help with. 

Book a 30-minute call and let’s discuss your team’s alignment.