Sales, Marketing, and the New Revenue Reality

Remember when marketing was considered the "make it pretty" department? As marketers, our main priority was to be creative, to create campaigns that stood out and grabbed attention before any leads were passed over to sales. And then, those leads were their problem. “Bye, bye. Our part is done”. 

Let's just state the reality before we get stuck in…these days are LONG gone!

Over the past decade, we've seen a huge shift in how businesses approach marketing spend. It's no longer enough to create beautiful campaigns and hope for the best. The economic climate has impacted this even further, and suddenly marketing have huge pressure to justify every penny. So in addition to high expectations around creativity, they’re also being asked: "What are we actually getting for our money?" and “How much revenue has this generated?”

The New Financial Reality for Marketing Teams

CFOs are intensely scrutinising marketing budgets. Every event, every campaign, every brand initiative is under the microscope. And it's not just marketing feeling the squeeze. This financial magnifying glass is hovering over sales, HR, and virtually every department.

But for marketing teams, this scrutiny hits differently.

Why? Because historically, we've struggled to speak the language of finance. We talk about brand awareness, engagement, and reach while CFOs are thinking: "But what does this mean for our bottom line?"

The reality we are now being faced with is a massive skills gap. As marketers, many of us weren't trained to translate creative initiatives into financial outcomes. We're passionate about storytelling and connecting with audiences, not calculating ROI and reporting on revenue.

The Language Barrier

But with more data than ever before, the pressure has increased. 

The most successful professionals in our field moving forward will be those who can confidently walk into a meeting with the CFO and speak their language.

This isn't just about defending budgets, it's about fundamentally changing how we position marketing's value within the organisation. 

And it’s a skill that can ultimately start to align sales and marketing teams to ensure everyone is pulling in the same direction. 

Breaking Down the Sales-Marketing Divide

In many organisations, there's this unspoken tension between sales and marketing. You know what I'm talking about. Sales thinks marketing creates beautiful ads, while marketing thinks sales isn't properly following up on the great leads they're generating.

Sound familiar? 

This divide isn't just uncomfortable for relationships around the office, it's costing businesses serious money. When these departments operate in silos, opportunities fall through the cracks, messaging gets inconsistent, and the customer experience suffers.

What's shocking is the number of businesses I speak to who haven't focused on this alignment at all! Sales sits separately, marketing sits separately, and rarely is there someone looking at how these pieces fit together in the bigger revenue puzzle.

Marketing's New Identity

Marketing should NOT be seen as a support function for sales.

Instead, marketing deserves its own targets and yes, those should be revenue targets. If your marketing department is set up correctly with the right data, processes, technology, and people, there's absolutely no reason why they can't directly contribute to and be accountable for pipeline and revenue growth.

What if marketing could say, "We did these specific activities, and here's the exact revenue we generated as a result"? That’s hugely satisfying for the marketing team, but also helps sales.

The RevOps Revolution

This is where the concept of Revenue Operations (or RevOps) comes in, and it's transforming how forward-thinking companies operate.

RevOps brings together sales, marketing, and customer experience (essentially any function that touches the customer lifecycle) and aligns them with shared goals and KPIs. The focus shifts from departmental objectives to creating a seamless customer journey, no matter where prospects are in the funnel.

The positive results that can be expected are:

• Less internal competition

• More transparency and honest communication

• Clearer objectives across departments

• Better team morale

• And ultimately, improved business results

When everyone contributes to revenue and is targeted on revenue, the entire dynamic changes. Suddenly, it's not about which department gets credit, it's about collectively driving business growth.

What Great Alignment Looks Like in Practice

So what does this alignment actually look like when it's working well?

Here’s an example: Marketing passes qualified leads to sales. The sales team promptly acts on them and provides specific feedback. Maybe they weren't quite ready yet, needed more nurturing, or weren't exactly the ideal customer profile.

Marketing then takes this feedback, refines their approach, and delivers better-qualified leads next time. But the process doesn't stop there! Marketing remains invested in understanding what happens to those leads. Did they convert? How much revenue did they generate? What's their lifetime value?

It's not "job done" once marketing hands off leads. And equally, sales isn't simply sitting around waiting for leads to arrive. There's continuous conversation and collaboration.

Building the Feedback Loop

While technology and data are crucial to this process, some of the most valuable alignment happens in simple human conversations. A 10-minute check-in or a half-hour meeting to go through leads and feedback can reveal insights that might never surface in automated reports.

These conversations don't have to involve senior leaders, either. Team members from analytics or operations can lead these relationships and ensure information flows freely between departments.

I've seen firsthand how these regular, open conversations nurture departmental relationships. When I was in-house, I ensured my team were facilitating these discussions, and the difference was incredible. Not just in results, but in how people felt about their cross-departmental colleagues too.

Starting Your Alignment Journey

If you're reading this and thinking, "We needed this kind of alignment yesterday," you're not alone! But before diving into reorganisation, take a step back and assess your current situation.

How are your technology, data, processes, and people currently set up? Where are the disconnects happening? Maybe your CRM and marketing automation platforms don't talk to each other. Perhaps your teams have conflicting definitions of what makes a qualified lead.

Understanding these foundational elements is essential because without knowing your specific problem areas, any attempt at alignment will be shooting in the dark.

The Path Forward

We're facing challenging economic times, and this pressure isn't likely to ease in the immediate future, possibly continuing for another two to three years. But within this challenge lies a tremendous opportunity to reshape how marketing operates and demonstrates value.

The marketers who will thrive throughout these changes are those who can:

1. Speak the language of finance and revenue

2. Build meaningful collaborative relationships with sales

3. Take ownership of revenue contributions

4. Use data to tell compelling stories about marketing's impact

5. Focus on customer experience across the entire journey

   
   

As I said above, this isn't just about surviving budget scrutiny, it's about establishing marketing's strategic role within the organisation. It’s about navigating those difficult conversations with ease, and having a seat at the table. 

How can you get there?

Adapting to the new revenue-focused reality isn't always going to be comfortable. It requires new skills, new ways of thinking, and sometimes even new team structures.

But the opportunity is huge. When marketing steps fully into its revenue-generating potential and breaks down the walls between departments, the entire organisation benefits.

Customers receive more consistent experiences. Sales cycles shorten. Budget conversations become less contentious because everyone can see the direct line between investment and return.

Is your business set up to respond to this new reality? Because ready or not, it's already happening. The question is whether you'll be leading the charge or trying to catch up later.

If you’re in need of an in-depth review of what is currently happening within your business, this is where I come in. Without knowing what your problem areas are you will never then have the ability to implement growth. Having an external eye to provide expert guidance sets you up for success. 

Interested to chat further? Get in touch.