You can have the best campaign in the world, but if it hands off to a sales process that doesn’t follow through (even worse, if no one follows up at all), your leads go cold and your momentum dies. We’ve seen this too often in companies where marketing and sales are technically on the same team, but don’t actually operate like one.

At Smartt, we’ve supported both sides of the equation. We’ve sat in sales huddles, written marketing strategies, rebuilt CRMs, and worked alongside CMOs and sales leaders alike. And one thing is clear: the best way to align marketing and sales is to build systems where the work naturally connects.

Here’s how to find and fix the gaps before your funnel starts leaking.

1. Get Clear on What a Good Lead Looks Like

If marketing thinks a good lead is someone who downloaded a white paper, and sales only cares about decision-makers ready to buy, you’re going to have a problem. Teams waste time, get frustrated, and miss the real opportunities.

Start with shared definitions. What does a sales-ready lead actually look like for your business? How should marketing qualify leads before handing them off? What signals matter, and which ones don’t?

How to do it

• Define lead stages together: MQL, SQL, Opportunity, etc.
• Use a lead scoring system that reflects actual conversion behavior.
• Have marketing and sales walk through real examples of leads and outcomes.

This doesn’t have to be complex. You just need a common language so everyone’s working toward the same goal.

2. Make Sure Sales Actually Sees the Leads

We’ve seen campaigns generate hundreds of leads that never made it to sales because someone forgot to connect the form to the CRM. Or the notification email got filtered. Or no one had access to the sheet.

This sounds obvious, but it’s one of the most common breakdowns.

How to do it

• Audit every handoff mechanism: forms, CRMs, inboxes, Slack alerts.
• Confirm who gets notified when a lead comes in, and how quickly they should respond.
• Test the whole process yourself. Fill out the form, then ask: what happens next?

Remember: until the lead is in someone’s hands and being followed up on, the loop hasn’t closed!

3. Build Feedback Loops, Not Firewalls

Marketing often runs campaigns in a vacuum, and sales doesn’t have time to explain what’s working. That’s how the disconnect grows.

The fix isn’t a long meeting or a fancy dashboard. It’s a short, regular feedback loop that helps marketing optimize and sales feel heard.

How to do it

• Run a 15-minute weekly sync to review top leads and lead quality.
• Capture objections, delays, and conversion friction in a shared doc.
• Adjust messaging, targeting, or follow-up flows based on what’s really happening in conversations.

Even better: if you’re using HubSpot, Salesforce, or Zoho, add custom fields where sales can flag “bad fit” or “interested but too early.” That feedback becomes gold for marketing.

4. Create Joint KPIs That Tie to Revenue

If marketing is measured on clicks and downloads, and sales is measured on closed deals, you're not running the same race. That misalignment shows up in finger-pointing, not performance.

You want metrics that reflect shared responsibility for business outcomes in order to break down silos.

How to do it

• Track metrics like lead-to-opportunity rate, time to first response, and deal velocity.
• Align on what counts as a win: booked demos, qualified opportunities, closed revenue.
• Set goals that both teams influence, not just their individual silos.

When marketing and sales win together, you get better collaboration and better outcomes.

5. Build Execution Capacity Into the Gaps

Sometimes, the gap isn’t strategic. It’s operational. Marketing hands off a lead, but sales doesn’t have time to follow up. Or the CRM setup doesn’t trigger the right workflows. Or the landing page never got built in the first place.

These are execution problems.

How to do it

• Identify your recurring bottlenecks: copy delays, page builds, tracking, follow-up automations.
• Decide which ones are worth solving in-house, and which ones need outside help.
• Use partners like Smartt and our FlexHours program to handle the repeatable, technical, or easily delegated pieces.

Your funnel is only as strong as the links between the stages. Build for those connections, and your campaigns will actually convert.

Final Word

Everyone would agree marketing and sales should be one aligned growth system. And if the handoffs aren’t smooth, the whole thing breaks.

We help fix those breaks.

With FlexHours, you get on-demand help for the connective tissue that makes campaigns work: landing pages, tracking, automation, and follow-up flows. Whether you’re the marketer trying to prove ROI, or the sales lead trying to stay out of the weeds, we make sure your funnel actually works.

Get support with FlexHours