How to Solve the Conflict Between Sales and Marketing

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Marketing and sales should be best friends, but in many companies, they feel like rivals. Marketing blames sales for failing to follow up on leads. Sales blames marketing for getting the low-quality leads. The result? Frustration, lost revenue, and missed opportunities.

The good news? This “Conflict” can end.

Best 10 ways to Solve the Conflict Between Sales and Marketing in 2025

Here are 10 ways to bring peace between marketing and sales and help them work as a team.

1. Align Goals and Success Metrics

One big reason for conflict is that marketing and sales measure success differently. Marketing might focus on website traffic and lead volume, while sales cares about closing deals and hitting revenue targets.

The solution? Set shared goals that both teams can agree on, such as:

• Number of qualified leads (not just any leads)
• Lead-to-customer conversion rate
• Revenue generated from marketing campaigns
   

When both teams chase the same target, they start working together instead of pointing fingers.

2. Improve Communication Between Teams

A major reason for the disconnect is poor communication. Marketing and sales need to talk regularly, not just when there’s a problem.

Ways to improve communication:

• Weekly or biweekly meetings to share feedback and align strategies
• Shared dashboards so both teams can see real-time data on lead quality and sales progress
• Instant messaging channels (like Slack) to keep communication open and fast

Better communication leads to better teamwork.

3. Agree on What a “Good” Lead Looks Like

One of the biggest complaints from sales is: “Marketing sends us bad leads.”

To solve this, both teams need to agree on what makes a qualified lead. Some key factors include:

• The lead which fits the ideal customer profile
• They have shown interest (e.g., downloaded a resource, attended a webinar)
• They have the budget and authority to buy

When marketing generates high-quality leads, sales gets better prospects and closes more deals.

Use lead generation tools like – ZoomInfo, Lusha or Apollo.io to build high quality leads.

4. Encourage Sales and Marketing to Work Together on Content

Marketing creates content to attract leads, but often, sales feels that the content doesn’t address real customer concerns.

Solution? Let sales reps help create content. They talk to customers every day and know what questions they ask. Sales can help with:

• Blog topics that answer common customer objections
• Video testimonials that build trust
• Case studies showing real customer success

When sales contributes, the content becomes more effective at converting leads.

5. Use a Shared CRM to Track Leads

Marketing and sales often use different tools, which creates confusion. The best solution is to use a shared CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool like Zoho CRM, HubSpot or Salesforce.

A shared CRM helps both teams:

• Track leads from the first interaction to the final sale
• See which marketing campaigns bring in the best customers
• Automate follow-ups so leads don’t fall through the cracks

With one central system, there’s no more guessing about what happened to a lead.

6. Set Clear Lead Handoff Rules

What happens when marketing generates a lead? If there’s no process, sales might ignore it or follow up too late.

Create a simple lead handoff process so every lead is handled properly. For example:

• If a lead downloads an eBook, marketing sends an educational email
• If a lead requests a demo, sales follows up within 24 hours
• If a lead isn’t ready to buy, marketing nurtures them with emails

Having clear rules ensures that every lead gets the right attention at the right time.

7. Cross-Train Marketing and Sales Teams

Many marketers don’t understand the challenges of sales, and many sales reps don’t know how marketing works. Cross-training can fix this.

• Let marketers sit in on sales calls to hear customer objections
• Have sales reps review marketing campaigns to give feedback
• Let both teams spend a day in each other’s roles to build empathy

When both teams understand each other’s jobs, they work better together.

8. Create a Service Level Agreement (SLA)

An SLA is a formal agreement that defines what each team is responsible for. It removes confusion and makes sure everyone is held accountable.

A good SLA includes:

• The number of leads marketing should deliver each month
• How quickly sales should follow up with leads
• The percentage of leads that should convert into customers

This ensures that both teams are equally committed to driving results.

9. Use Data to Solve Disagreements

Instead of arguing, let the data do the talking. If sales says “these leads are bad,” check the numbers:

• Are leads opening emails and engaging?
• How long does it take for sales to follow up?
• What percentage of leads convert into customers?

By using real data, both teams can work together to fix problems instead of blaming each other.

10. Celebrate Wins Together

At the end of the day, both marketing and sales have the same goal—growing the business. To build a stronger relationship, celebrate success together.

• If sales closes a big deal, recognize the marketing campaign that brought in the lead
• If a marketing campaign performs well, highlight how sales turned leads into customers
• Hold team-building events or fun competitions to strengthen the bond

When both teams feel valued and appreciated, they’ll work together instead of against each other.

What causes the Conflict between Sales and marketing?

The “Conflict” between sales and marketing happens because these two teams often have different goals, processes, and ways of measuring success. In 2025, here are the main reasons why conflicts arise:

1. Different Goals and Priorities

• Marketing focuses on generating leads, increasing brand awareness, and engaging potential customers.
• Sales is focused on closing deals, hitting revenue targets, and meeting quotas.

Since marketing is judged on the number of leads and sales is judged on revenue, they often blame each other when targets aren’t met.

2. Poor Communication

• Sales and marketing teams often work in silos, meaning they don’t share information regularly.
• Sales may not know what marketing campaigns are running, and marketing may not get feedback on the quality of leads they generate.

Without regular meetings and collaboration, misunderstandings grow, leading to frustration.

3. Disagreement Over Lead Quality

• Marketing wants to generate as many leads as possible.
• Sales wants leads that are ready to buy.

If marketing delivers a high number of leads that aren’t sales-ready, sales will ignore them, and marketing will feel unappreciated.

4. Different Timelines for Success

• Marketing plays a long-term game—brand building, content creation, and lead nurturing take time to show results.
• Sales operates in the short-term, needing immediate deals to hit targets and commissions.

This difference in timeframes can cause friction, with sales feeling like marketing is too slow and marketing feeling like sales is too impatient.

5. Lack of Alignment on Target Customers

• Marketing might target a broad audience to increase brand awareness.
• Sales focuses on a narrower group of high-potential buyers.

If marketing attracts leads that don’t fit the company’s ideal customer profile, sales will struggle to close deals, leading to frustration.

6. No Clear Lead Handoff Process

• When a lead is generated, who takes over?
• How soon should sales follow up?
• What is the qualifying criteria to push lead as “ready” for sales?

Without clear answers, leads can get lost, ignored, or followed up too late—causing both teams to blame each other.

7. Different Perspectives on Customer Needs

• Sales reps talk to customers every day and hear real objections and concerns.
• Marketing teams rely on analytics, surveys, and research to understand customer needs.

If sales feels that marketing’s content and messaging don’t match real customer concerns, they won’t use marketing materials.

8. Lack of Shared Tools and Data

• Marketing and sales often use different software, making it hard to track what happens to leads.
• If they don’t share the same CRM (like Zoho CRM, HubSpot or Salesforce), marketing doesn’t know which leads convert, and sales doesn’t see where leads come from.

Without shared data, both teams make decisions based on assumptions instead of facts.

9. Misaligned Incentives

• Marketing teams are rewarded for generating leads and engagement.
• Sales teams are rewarded for closing deals.

Since their success is measured differently, there’s no shared motivation to work together.

10. Blame Culture Instead of Teamwork

When revenue goals aren’t met:

• Sales says, “The leads provided by marketing were low quality.”
• Marketing says, “Sales failed to follow up effectively.”

Without a culture of collaboration, finger-pointing takes over, and both teams become defensive instead of working together.

Top 10 Benefits of Marketing and Sales Working Together in 2025

When marketing and sales work as a team, businesses grow faster, customers have a better experience, and both teams achieve their goals more efficiently. Here are the top 10 benefits of aligning marketing and sales:

1. Higher Revenue Growth

• When marketing generates high-quality leads and sales follows up effectively, businesses close more deals and increase revenue.
• Companies with strong sales and marketing alignment see up to 38% higher sales win rates than those without.

2. Better Lead Quality and Conversion Rates

• Marketing learns from sales what makes a high-quality lead, so they can focus on attracting the right audience.
• Sales receives better-qualified leads, making it easier to close deals.
• This results in higher conversion rates and less time wasted on unqualified leads.

3. Faster Sales Cycle

• When both teams collaborate, leads are nurtured properly and sales reps get better-prepared prospects who are ready to buy.
• This reduces the time it takes to convert a lead into a customer.

4. Improved Customer Experience

• When marketing and sales are aligned, customers receive consistent messaging from their first interaction to the final purchase.
• They get the right information at the right time, leading to a smoother buying experience.

5. Stronger Brand Messaging

• Sales teams provide real-time feedback on what customers care about, helping marketing create more effective campaigns.
• Marketing ensures sales has the right materials (e.g., case studies, presentations, and email templates) to close deals faster.

6. More Efficient Use of Resources

• Misalignment leads to wasted effort—marketing generates leads that sales ignores, and sales spends time chasing bad leads.
• When both teams work together, they maximize their efforts and focus on strategies that drive results.

7. Better Use of Data and Analytics

A shared CRM (like Zoho CRM, HubSpot or Salesforce) allows marketing and sales to track:

• Where leads come from
• Which marketing campaigns helped to generate the most revenue
• How quickly sales follows up with leads

With real-time data, both teams can adjust their strategies and improve performance.

8. Stronger Team Morale and Less Conflict

• Instead of blaming each other, marketing and sales celebrate wins together.
• Regular meetings and collaboration build trust, leading to a more positive and productive work environment.

9. Increased Customer Retention and Loyalty

• A well-coordinated approach ensures customers get ongoing support after a sale.
• Happy customers are more likely to stay loyal, refer others, and buy again, increasing lifetime value.

10. Competitive Advantage

• Companies where sales and marketing work as one team outperform competitors who struggle with misalignment.
• They respond faster to market changes, create better customer experiences, and close more deals—giving them a strong edge in the industry.

Final Thoughts

When marketing and sales work together, everyone wins—more leads, faster sales, happier customers, and higher revenue. The conflict between these teams isn’t personal; it stems from misalignment and poor communication. The solution? Align goals, foster collaboration, and build a system where both succeed together.

Marketing and sales don’t have to be rivals. By working as one team, they can drive more revenue, close more deals, and deliver a better customer experience. It’s time to stop the war and start winning—together.