Aligning sales and marketing has been a “priority” for years. And yet, for many organizations, it is still more wishful thinking than reality.
New data from Unbounce’s “Anatomy of Aligned Go-To-Market Teams” report shows that only 56% of GTM professionals consider their organizations to be highly aligned – meaning shared goals, shared data and unified systems. Another 36% say they are slightly aligned, while 8% remain closed.
Even among the “straightforward,” maintaining that status requires constant effort. Alignment is not something that teams can achieve and move on from – it’s something that they must continuously maintain.
And more often than not, that effort stops before it brings meaningful results.
The biggest problem is tech, not people
If you want the root, start with the stack. More than half of GTM teams (53%) say technology is the biggest barrier to alignment, and only 30% believe their stack enables it. That is a disconnect. Because if your systems don’t work together, your teams won’t work.
Most organizations feel moderately confident about their tools – 44% describe their stack as balanced and efficient, while 24% say it’s lean and integrated.
But that confidence doesn’t always end in performance. Separation, duplication and inheritance problems are still common, even in “prepared” areas.
Progress is slow
There is movement in the right direction. About 77% of GTM teams report some improvement in planning over the past year. But only one quarter saw significant gains. Meanwhile, 22% saw no improvement or decline.
That lack of progress is immediately apparent in daily activities:
- Missed opportunities.
- Delayed or inconsistent tracking.
- Double duty.
- confusion surrounding ideal customer profiles.
And ultimately, those internal problems translate into a worse customer experience.
When efforts to guide are stopped
A common mistake is to stop working. Teams can communicate more, share updates and align goals, but it doesn’t matter if the underlying systems don’t change. This is where the conflict lies.
More than half (53%) of GTM professionals point to operational bottlenecks such as disconnected tools and workflow as the main problem. In addition, 43% cite indirect goals or incentives, 40% point to cultural issues such as communication gaps and lack of trust, and 34% highlight structural challenges.
Sales and marketing often agree on what’s broken, but salespeople often hear it the most. They are likely to point to different tools, inconsistent data and unclear ownership of KPIs as major problems.
That’s because marketing relies on long feedback loops and shared systems to measure performance and plan ahead. When those systems are inconsistent, visibility deteriorates and decision-making becomes difficult.
So why aren’t companies fixing the stack?
If technology is the biggest obstacle, why not fix it? Because changing it is dangerous.
Teams are worried about disrupting existing systems, dealing with complex data migrations or pushing for leadership skepticism. So they put up with imperfect plans – and try to work around them.
Go here for Unbounce’s “Anatomy of Aligned Go-to-Market Teams”. (No registration required)
