Sales + Marketing

The situation

• Marketing reports lead growth; Sales reports lead quality. Both are right.
• "Qualified" means something different depending on who says it.
• Leads are passed over rather than handed over, and follow-up is uneven.
• Campaign timing and sales priorities are set independently.
• Each function's numbers look fine, and the commercial result does not.

Why it happens

The two functions were built at different times for different reasons, with separate targets and separate reporting lines. Nobody designed the seam between them; it simply formed. Under pressure, each retreats to the metric it controls.

What changes

• One funnel with one set of definitions, agreed by both and used by both.
• The handover becomes a process with response standards, ownership and a next action, not an inbox.
• Shared targets are introduced where the outcome is genuinely shared.
• The commercial rhythm is joint; one weekly review of one set of numbers.
• Marketing's contribution becomes visible in terms Sales already trusts.

What you get

• Joint funnel definitions and stage criteria
• Lead-handling standards and ownership model
• Shared KPI set and a joint reporting rhythm
• Sales enablement: the materials and language that follow from the positioning
• A governance structure that survives a bad quarter

How it runs

Starts with both functions in the same room looking at the same numbers, which is often the first time that has happened. The disagreement that surfaces there is the material to work with.