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Misalignment of sales and marketing reduces revenue
Highspot has launched its new report titled European State of Sales and Marketing Alignment 2022 . The whitepaper identifies trends and issues that impact alignment between sales and marketing teams by looking at key confidence indicators and barriers to success .
The report – which surveyed those in sales and marketing roles in the UK , France and Germany – has found alignment , communication and collaboration between sales and marketing teams are crucial to sales success and bottom-line ROI .
In fact , according to the research , the vast majority ( 71 %) of sales and marketing professionals in Europe agree that a lack of alignment between their two functions has a negative impact on revenue for their business . to be successful in their roles . Of those who are confident in hitting their targets , 46 % say good collaboration and alignment with the marketing team is the reason behind their confidence .
Of course , it ’ s not just internal issues that affect the ability to hit targets . Macroeconomic events were identified to have an impact on sales and marketing confidence as well . Across all markets , well over half ( 58 %) of sales and marketing professionals identify the cost of living crisis as one of their top concerns when it comes to hitting their targets in the next 12 months .
In the UK , this concern rises to 67 %, with a national recession ( 38 %) and Brexit ( 31 %) also identified as problematic issues for sales success over the next 12 months .
Andy Champion , VP & GM for EMEA at Highspot , said : “ The next 12 months will be challenging for businesses across Europe . Sales and marketing teams have an opportunity to drive real change , but in order to succeed , you need to understand the barriers to seller success . From revenue visibility to training and onboarding , our latest research identifies key pain points that you can address with sales enablement to empower your people , strengthen alignment and drive efficient business growth . Economic turbulence is on the horizon – now is the time to equip your teams with the tools they need to weather the coming storm .” x
Only 36 % of sales and marketing respondents across all markets believe they have full visibility and ability to prove the impact their function is having on company revenue . A further 30 % of salespeople alone also state that lacking visibility over which behaviours and assets are contributing to closed deals is a barrier to their success . In the UK alone , 43 % of sales and marketing respondents believe too many overlapping and different systems between the two functions is a major issue in their success and collaboration .
The report shows this lack of clarity around results and revenue is having a negative impact on confidence .
With just over half ( 53 %) of sales respondents saying they feel ‘ somewhat confident ’ in hitting their targets over the next 12 months and only 28 % ‘ very confident ’ in doing the same , it ’ s clear sellers need more support and better tools
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