Closing the Gap: Aligning Sales and Marketing for B2B Growth

Eric H. · 2025-11-04 15:34:12.298142+00

Hey Growth community, I am for your take on something I’m writing… I’m working on a thought leadership piece about one of the biggest (and most fixable) growth leaks in B2B sales: the gap between marketing leads and actual revenue given that 80% of new leads never translate into sales? This is a massive disconnect and I’m exploring how a shared playbook, shared language, and shared accountability can close that gap and accelerate growth — especially for companies in the $5M–$50M range. What have you seen work (or not work) when it comes to aligning sales and marketing around revenue?

Closing the Gap: Aligning Sales and Marketing for B2B Growth | RevGenius

5 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

Tony W.
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No doubt! I created a sales-first marketing playbook to address this gap for my clients
Chris D.
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Two thoughts for (thought) leadership:
an 80% conversion rate of Leads to Closed won is pretty good, considering the CRs of Leads = > MQL => SQL => SAL => Closed Won
percentage vary based on the target market. e.g.: 80% of SMBs vs 80% of enterprise are two different things
There is no ‘shared playbook’ for sales as even within a company there are different playbooks for different markets: PLG, SMB, Mid-Market, Enterprise I’m biased having worked for Winning by Design and Jacco pioneered a lot of this thought leadership. To your point, a $5 mm company should only really be investing in 1 GTM motion until it has been proven to scale, it’s usually at the Series B/C when multiple GTMs are needed. Unless you are raising a $100 mm AI series A, then it’s a total free for all
Jonny B.
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One pattern I’ve seen repeatedly (and am working through with a ~$1M ARR company right now) is when marketing is optimised purely for generating MQLs without looking at what happens after the handoff. On paper, marketing hits their MQL target and celebrates. But when you follow those leads down the funnel, only a small percentage convert to SQLs, SALs, and Closed Won. So marketing hit their MQL target, but sales miss their SAL target, and the business misses revenue targets. 🫠
Eric H.
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Chris, great points. running too many different processes or GTM motions can be the kiss of death until you scale and operationalize the one that is most aligned to your ICP and primary market focus. When I mention playbook, I was more thinking of capturing the motions between sales and marketing as leads get created, handed off, actioned, and then feedback given. Not so much about the sales motions to advance the lead to close.
Eric H.
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Jonny, you nailed it - that's a key part of the problem. No fault of anyone, as small firms are learning as they go, but a trap they don't have to fall into given others have learned what to do to avoid it.

Tony W.
·
·
No doubt! I created a sales-first marketing playbook to address this gap for my clients
Chris D.
·
·
Two thoughts for (thought) leadership:
an 80% conversion rate of Leads to Closed won is pretty good, considering the CRs of Leads = > MQL => SQL => SAL => Closed Won
percentage vary based on the target market. e.g.: 80% of SMBs vs 80% of enterprise are two different things
There is no ‘shared playbook’ for sales as even within a company there are different playbooks for different markets: PLG, SMB, Mid-Market, Enterprise I’m biased having worked for Winning by Design and Jacco pioneered a lot of this thought leadership. To your point, a $5 mm company should only really be investing in 1 GTM motion until it has been proven to scale, it’s usually at the Series B/C when multiple GTMs are needed. Unless you are raising a $100 mm AI series A, then it’s a total free for all
Jonny B.
·
·
One pattern I’ve seen repeatedly (and am working through with a ~$1M ARR company right now) is when marketing is optimised purely for generating MQLs without looking at what happens after the handoff. On paper, marketing hits their MQL target and celebrates. But when you follow those leads down the funnel, only a small percentage convert to SQLs, SALs, and Closed Won. So marketing hit their MQL target, but sales miss their SAL target, and the business misses revenue targets. 🫠
Eric H.
·
·
Chris, great points. running too many different processes or GTM motions can be the kiss of death until you scale and operationalize the one that is most aligned to your ICP and primary market focus. When I mention playbook, I was more thinking of capturing the motions between sales and marketing as leads get created, handed off, actioned, and then feedback given. Not so much about the sales motions to advance the lead to close.
Eric H.
·
·
Jonny, you nailed it - that's a key part of the problem. No fault of anyone, as small firms are learning as they go, but a trap they don't have to fall into given others have learned what to do to avoid it.