Sales and marketing. The words flow easily, like they belong together. They seem naturally connected, like horse and carriage or love and marriage. However, many business people say the connection is less graceful and coordinated than it sounds. What follows are recommendations for making the sales and marketing relationship more effective and valuable for all concerned.

The respective accountabilities of sales and marketing are blame magnets. Marketing professionals identify profitable opportunities for selling. Sales professionals turn those opportunities into profitable revenue. When targets go unmet, whose fault is it? Is it bad leads or inept sales tactics? In our experience, it is neither. The fault lies somewhere else: the quality of sales and marketing conversations.

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