Sales teams are often seen as the engine of revenue growth — but what happens when the engine stalls? For most sales teams, the culprits are clear: inconsistent lead quality, poorly timed outreach, and a lack of alignment with marketing. These issues don’t just slow down the sales process — they suffocate it. But here’s the good news: marketing can be the key to fixing it.
The Lead Quality Conundrum
Every sales leader knows the pain of working with low-quality leads. They clog the pipeline, waste time, and drain morale. The common reaction is to blame the source of the leads — often, the marketing team. But what if the problem isn’t the leads themselves, but the way they’re filtered and handed over? This is where marketing’s role becomes critical. By establishing a shared definition of a “sales-ready lead” and refining lead-scoring processes, marketing can ensure that only the most qualified leads reach sales.
Technology can support this alignment. Tools like Odyssiant give marketing the power to track buyer journeys step-by-step, allowing sales teams to see how engaged a lead is before making contact. This insight reduces the number of ‘cold’ calls and increases the likelihood of success. When marketing can identify prospects at the ‘Threshold’ step of the buyer journey — where they are ready to engage directly with sales — the entire process becomes smoother and more profitable.
Timing is Everything
Reaching out to a lead too soon is as bad as arriving too late. The sales pipeline slows when leads aren’t ready for a conversation. Many leads are still in the ‘Research’ or ‘Evaluation’ steps of their buyer journey, and a sales pitch at this stage feels intrusive. Marketing can help sales avoid this misstep by nurturing leads until they reach the ‘Threshold’ stage. By tracking which content a prospect has engaged with, marketing can alert sales teams when the lead is truly ready for outreach.
Imagine a potential customer browsing a guide on “how to solve [insert the problem you solve here] problem.” If marketing tracks this behaviour and signals to sales, the outreach can be tailored to address that exact issue, transforming a cold call into a warm conversation.
Sales and Marketing: Partners, Not Rivals
The days of a “handoff” between marketing and sales are over. Today, the most effective teams see the relationship as a continuum. Marketing creates awareness, nurtures interest, and tracks buyer intent. Sales steps in only when the lead shows clear signs of readiness. This means marketing doesn’t just “generate leads” — it qualifies them. And it means sales isn’t just “closing deals” — it’s converting highly engaged buyers.
When sales and marketing are aligned, the results speak for themselves. Companies that successfully align marketing and sales see 36% higher conversion rates and 38% higher win rates. The secret? Shared goals, open communication, and access to the same engagement data.
A Unified Approach Yields Results
If your pipeline is stuck, it’s time to rethink your marketing-sales relationship. By integrating marketing’s lead insights into the sales workflow, you can prioritise high-quality leads, personalise outreach, and accelerate conversions. When marketing and sales work together, pipelines don’t just move — they flow.
The companies that master this alignment will do more than hit their targets. They’ll create a self-sustaining growth engine, where every lead, every conversation, and every conversion becomes part of a seamless journey.