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Sales and Marketing · Alignment · SLA
Stop the War Between Sales and Marketing. Build One Revenue Function.
Sales and marketing alignment that defines shared MQL criteria, builds formal SLAs, unifies pipeline reporting and creates the joint review cadence where both teams are accountable for the same revenue number.
67%
Better at closing deals when sales and marketing are aligned
One target
Revenue, not MQLs or deals in isolation
Sales and marketing misalignment is one of the most expensive and preventable structural problems in B2B organisations. Marketing optimises for MQL volume, sales ignores the MQLs and blames marketing for lead quality, and revenue leadership spends energy mediating a conflict that should not exist. Koldconvert builds the structural conditions for alignment: shared definitions, formal SLAs, unified data and a joint review process where both functions are accountable for the same pipeline outcome.
67%
Better deal close rate in aligned organisations
209%
More revenue from marketing in aligned companies
Shared
Pipeline target, SLA and reporting
Definition
What is sales and marketing alignment?
Sales and marketing alignment is the operating state where both functions share a common definition of a qualified lead, formal service level agreements for each team's responsibilities at the handoff, a unified view of pipeline data and a joint review cadence where both teams assess performance against the same revenue metric. It is not a cultural programme or a communication initiative. It is a structural design with four components: a jointly agreed MQL definition that the CRM enforces, an explicit SLA with time windows and quality criteria, shared pipeline reporting that neither team can manipulate independently, and a regular joint review that uses pipeline data to drive decisions rather than assign blame. When these four components are in place, the dynamic between sales and marketing shifts from conflict over whose numbers are correct to collaboration over what the pipeline system needs to hit the shared target.
What We Build
The Revenue Alignment System
Shared MQL Definition
Facilitate the joint session where marketing and sales agree precisely what constitutes a qualified lead, based on firmographic fit, behaviour signals and intent indicators. A definition both functions own rather than one that marketing wrote and sales rejects.
Mutual SLA Design
Build the formal SLA: marketing commits to MQL volume and quality criteria, sales commits to follow-up time windows and CRM outcome logging. Mutual accountability replaces mutual blame.
Unified Pipeline Reporting
Build the shared dashboard that shows MQL-to-SQL conversion rate, marketing-sourced pipeline, time from MQL to first contact and marketing-influenced closed revenue. One view that both teams use.
Joint Review Cadence
Design the bi-weekly or monthly joint revenue review that uses the shared data to identify pipeline gaps, quality issues and SLA breaches, and produce a coordinated response from both teams.
Diagnosis
Signs Sales and Marketing Are Misaligned
- Sales complains that marketing leads are not qualified. Marketing complains that sales does not follow up on MQLs. Both are probably right, and neither is fixing the structural conditions that created both problems.
- MQL-to-SQL conversion rate is below 20%. Marketing is either handing over too many low-quality contacts or sales is rejecting leads that would convert if followed up properly. You do not know which problem is larger because both are happening simultaneously.
- Marketing and sales measure success on different metrics with no connection between them. Marketing tracks impressions, MQL volume and campaign performance. Sales tracks pipeline and closed deals. The two data sets never appear in the same meeting.
- Revenue leadership spends time mediating between the two functions. The CMO and CRO have regular tension because each function blames the other when the revenue number is missed, and there is no shared framework for attributing responsibility.
- There is no formal SLA between marketing and sales. The MQL handoff happens informally, there is no time window for sales follow-up and no process for sales to provide structured feedback on lead quality to marketing.
Process
From Misalignment to Unified Revenue Function
01
Gap Assessment
Diagnose the specific misalignment through CRM data analysis and structured interviews with marketing and sales leadership. Identify where the MQL definition is disputed, where SLA failures are occurring and where data gaps are preventing accurate attribution of revenue to each function.
02
SLA and Definition Design
Facilitate the joint session where marketing and sales agree the MQL definition, the handoff SLA with explicit time windows and quality thresholds, the shared metrics both teams will be accountable for and the feedback loop process for quality disputes.
03
Process and CRM Integration
Configure the CRM to enforce the agreed MQL definition automatically, build the handoff notification and routing system, create the SLA tracking view that shows every MQL and its follow-up status, and build the shared pipeline dashboard both teams use.
04
Joint Review Cadence
Establish the joint marketing and sales review: agenda format, data requirements, decision-making framework and the escalation process for SLA breaches. Build the habit of two teams reviewing one set of numbers together.
Our Approach
The Koldconvert Revenue Alignment System
The Koldconvert Revenue Alignment System treats misalignment as an operating design problem, not a culture problem. You cannot fix a structural misalignment by asking people to communicate better. You fix it by changing the structure: shared metrics, formal agreements, a common data source and a joint review process. Our approach starts with the gap assessment to establish exactly what is broken and what it is costing in pipeline and revenue. We then facilitate the joint definition and SLA session, which is where the alignment actually happens: when marketing and sales sit in a room together and agree precisely what a good lead looks like, both functions leave with ownership of a shared definition rather than a disputed one. The CRM configuration and reporting that follows enforces the agreement technically and makes compliance visible to both teams. The joint review cadence sustains the alignment over time by creating a regular moment where both functions look at the same numbers and take joint responsibility for what they show.
Koldconvert Perspective
The sales-marketing conflict is often framed as a personality clash between the CMO and the CRO. It is almost never that. It is a structural problem: two teams with different metrics, different planning horizons and different data sources, both under pressure to hit numbers that are defined independently of each other. The solution is not communication training. It is a shared accountability structure where marketing's success metric includes whether pipeline converts and sales's success metric includes where the pipeline came from. When both functions can see that their numbers are connected, the dynamic changes from blame to problem-solving. The investment required to build that shared structure is modest. The return on eliminating the revenue lost to misalignment is significant.
Koldconvert Revenue Operations Team
Deliverables
What You Receive
- Alignment gap assessment identifying the specific MQL definition disputes, SLA failures, data gaps and reporting silos creating revenue leakage
- Jointly agreed MQL definition document with firmographic criteria, behavioural thresholds and intent signals that both marketing and sales sign off on
- Sales and marketing SLA document with marketing volume commitments, quality criteria, sales follow-up time windows and outcome logging requirements
- CRM configuration implementing the MQL definition, handoff routing, SLA tracking and lead quality feedback workflow between sales and marketing
- Shared pipeline dashboard showing MQL volume, conversion rates by stage, time to follow-up, marketing-sourced pipeline and marketing-influenced revenue
- Joint review playbook with meeting format, data agenda, decision framework and the quarterly SLA review process for adjusting commitments as the business evolves
Stack
Tools and Platforms We Work With
CRM
HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive
Marketing Automation
HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot
Lead Routing
LeanData, Chili Piper, HubSpot Routing
Sales Engagement
Outreach, Salesloft, Apollo
BI and Reporting
Looker, Tableau, HubSpot Reports
Collaboration
Notion, Slack, Confluence
Questions
Sales and marketing alignment, answered
Sales and marketing alignment is the operating state where both functions share a common MQL definition, formal SLAs, unified pipeline data and a joint review cadence. It is a structural design, not a culture initiative, with four components: shared definitions, mutual SLAs, unified data and a joint review process.
Misalignment is structural. Both functions report to different leaders, are measured on different metrics and use different data sources. Marketing is measured on MQL volume, sales on pipeline and closed revenue. When these metrics do not connect, both teams optimise independently toward different outcomes, creating chronic friction.
A sales and marketing SLA is a formal agreement where marketing commits to delivering defined MQL volume and quality, and sales commits to following up within defined time windows and logging outcomes in the CRM. It creates mutual accountability: both functions have explicit obligations and shared ownership of the pipeline outcome.
Alignment is measured through shared pipeline metrics: MQL-to-SQL conversion rate, marketing-sourced pipeline, time from MQL to first sales contact and marketing-influenced revenue. Aligned teams look at these metrics together in a joint review meeting, not in separate reporting silos.
Aligned companies achieve 67% better deal close rates and 209% more revenue from marketing, according to Aberdeen Group and Forrester research. When marketing creates demand among the right accounts and sales follows up with context, conversion rates improve at every funnel stage simultaneously.
Engagement
How to Work With Us
Alignment Audit and SLA Design
A 2 to 3 week engagement to diagnose the misalignment, facilitate the joint definition and SLA session and produce the alignment playbook with CRM implementation specifications.
Full Alignment Implementation
End-to-end alignment programme: gap assessment, SLA design, CRM configuration, shared dashboard build and joint review cadence establishment. Delivered over 6 to 8 weeks.
Ongoing Alignment Governance
Quarterly SLA review and recalibration, monthly joint review facilitation and CRM maintenance to keep the alignment system functioning as the business and teams evolve.
Ready to turn sales and marketing friction into a unified revenue function?
Book a strategy call. We will diagnose your specific misalignment and scope the structural changes that fix it.
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