Sales and Marketing Alignment Statistics

Let us imagine a business as a wagon that is being pulled by 2 horses namely, Marketing and Sales. For the wagon (business) to move, both the horses (Marketing and Sales) need to move in the right direction. This represents the sales and marketing alignment. Even though these two teams may not always agree with ideas, they need to work towards common goals. More leads can be generated and revenue can be increased when these two teams communicate effectively.

So, how does a company keep up with all these things? To know the answer to this question, indulge yourself in this article which covers the latest sales and marketing alignment statistics that will give you an insight into the shifts in the industry.

On this page, you’ll find:


Key Sales and Marketing Alignment Statistics

Here is a list of the top 10 statistics from this article:


  • An average of 2.46%-3.26% is the sales conversion rates across industries. (Statista)
  • With 77% of sales professionals conducting more video meetings, digital selling has now become a trend. (LinkedIn)
  • During the buying process, 71% of consumers expect to hear soon from the sales representatives. (RAIN Group)
  • In a year, about 66.7% of sales agents have only reached out to 250 or fewer prospects. (Sales Insights Lab)
  • A 12-month view of their plans is mapped out by about 50% of successful sales teams while 10% map out the next 3 years. (McKinsey & Company)
  • Around 6-10 decision-makers are involved in the businesses’ buying process. (Outreach)
  • Between 4% to 353% is the estimated ROI of investing in employee training. (Southern New Hampshire University)
  • Compared to teams that don’t invest in technology for sales training and development, teams that invest in them are 57% more effective. (Sales Management Association)
  • In 2020, the global sales performance management software industry reached an estimated market size of $949 million. (Statista)
  • Per year, the inability of B2B companies to align sales and marketing teams around the right processes and technologies costs them 10% or more of revenue. (IDC)

General Sales and Marketing Alignment Statistics

          The old days of aggressive sales pitches and traditional selling strategies have now changed into a modern business landscape. One must have a deep understanding of the target market. This is why sophisticated sales strategies such as sales software, AI, and predictive analytics need to be slowly embraced by companies. We shall first look into some of the general sales and marketing alignment statistics.


  • An average of 2.46%-3.26% is the sales conversion rates across industries. (Statista)
  • With 77% of sales professionals conducting more video meetings, digital selling has now become a trend. (LinkedIn)
  • Optimizing value messaging (55.5%), optimizing sales processes (35.5%), and optimizing sales coaching (32.9%) are the top 3 sales enablement priorities. (Mediafly)
  • In 2020, the top challenges in sales were: a disconnect between sales managers and sales professionals; relationship management and quota attainment; the usefulness of CRM tools. (Richardson Sales Performance)
  • Building a case for change (22%), customers comparing their options (21%), and securing appointments (14%) were the top-selling challenges in 2020. (HubSpot)
  • The necessary resources to reinforce their workflow is not available for 1 in 5 sales teams. (Data Dwell)
  • A 38% higher sales win rate is recorded when aligning sales and marketing. (Marketing Profs)
  • A 20% annual growth rate is achieved by companies with strong sales and marketing alignment. (Aberdeen)
  • 35%-50% of sales are achieved by companies that respond first. (Insidesales.com)
  • A strong alignment between their sales and marketing departments is seen in only 8% of companies. (Forrester)

Sales Prospecting Statistics

          Do you remember the last time you found a prospect and closed a deal within the same day? You might have, but not recently. From the recent sources that we have gleaned, we came to know that the process of sales prospecting has become difficult over the years. Reaching the right prospects has become a trouble for many sales representatives. Proving the value of your products and services needs more focus. Let us now look into some of the sales prospecting statistics.


  • During the buying process, 71% of consumers expect to hear soon from the sales representatives. (RAIN Group)
  • In a year, about 66.7% of sales agents have only reached out to 250 or fewer prospects. (Sales Insights Lab)
  • A minimum of 11 questions asked during the initial call can increase the chances of sales success by 74% (Gong)
  • 2 or more lead enrichment tools are used by 9 in 10 companies to learn more about prospects. (Topo)
  • Optimizing lead generation so that salespeople can prospect better is a top priority for 40% of sales leaders to reach revenue goals. (Resourceful Selling)
  • To send prospects, 65% of sales representatives say they can’t find content. (Upland)
  • 8.00 am and 3.00 pm is the best time to email prospects. (Social Talent)
  • It takes an average of 8 cold call attempts to reach a prospect. (Slideshare)
  • With their on-the-phone experience, 85% of prospects and customers are dissatisfied. (Salesforce)
  • Due to unproductive prospecting, 50% of sales time is wasted. (Leadspace)

Strategies Used in Sales and Marketing Alignment

          A successful sales team is thoroughly planned and regularly updated in its strategies. Sales professionals put in a lot of effort in finding out the best way to communicate with their leads. They also make sure to map out sales plans well into the future so that they can improve their agility. In this section, we shall look into some of the statistics that throw light on the strategies used in sales and marketing alignment.


  • A 12-month view of their plans is mapped out by about 50% of successful sales teams while 10% map out the next 3 years. (McKinsey & Company)
  • Around 6-10 decision-makers are involved in the businesses’ buying process. (Outreach)
  • 64% of shoppers say that they are okay when vendors save their purchase history and personal preferences for personalization purposes. (Customer Think)
  • Rather than talking with prospects, sales representatives spend 15% of the time leaving voicemails. (Ring Lead)
  • Contact rate can be increased by 70% when sales representatives call 6 times. (Call Hippo)
  • In 2019, 293.6 billion emails were sent and received. This is estimated to reach 347.3 billion by 2022. (Statista)
  • Open rates can be increased by 26% by personalizing emails. (Campaign Monitor)
  • With consistent social selling processes, businesses have a 40% chance to hit their goals. (Optin Monster)
  • Annually, word of mouth accounts for about $6 trillion in consumer spending. (Adobe)
  • A referral is where 84% of B2B sales transactions begin. (Influitive)

Sales Talent Management Statistics

          The skills of the representatives that a company employs have a lot to do with achieving good company sales. Due to the increasing demand for trained sales agents, companies have trouble hiring new employees with the right credentials. Giving newly hired employees the guidance and state-of-the-art resources they need will be worth it. Now, let us look into some sales talent management statistics.


  • Between 4% to 353% is the estimated ROI of investing in employee training. (Southern New Hampshire University)
  • Compared to teams that don’t invest in technology for sales training and development, teams that invest in them are 57% more effective. (Sales Management Association)
  • A defined sales enablement system is the reason for 59% of organizations to exceed their revenue targets. (Forbes)
  • Sales enablement has been embraced by 61% of organizations. (Miller Heiman Group)
  • According to 26% of sales agents, training is insufficient or ineffective. (Training Industry)
  • Performance reviews are satisfactory for only 5% of HR professionals. (Keka)
  • 210 hours a year is spent by managers on performance management, while 40 hours a year is spent by employees on performance management. (Beekeeper)
  • Better career opportunities (65%), desire for a change (44%) or fresh start (40%), and lower costs of living in other locations (33%) are the reasons workers move for a job. (Indeed)
  • Due to lack of recognition, 25% of employees leave organizations. (Clear Company)
  • About 67% of organizations say that well-being programs are a critical part of their employment brand and culture. (Deloitte)

Implementation of Technology in Sales and Marketing Alignment

          The technology industry is booming these days, and in the coming years, it is going to grow bigger. More and more companies have started to acknowledge the fact that using sales software solutions and understanding sales data can improve their bottom lines. For the final part, let us now take a look at some of the statistics on the implementation of technology in sales and marketing alignment.


  • In 2020, the global sales performance management software industry reached an estimated market size of $949 million. (Statista)
  • Per year, the inability of B2B companies to align sales and marketing teams around the right processes and technologies costs them 10% or more of revenue. (IDC)
  • About 50% of the aligned companies use marketing analytics tools. (Act-On)
  • CRM software is used by 46% of sales teams. (G2)
  • Among the majority of respondents, the number of types of tools used consistently went up by 300% (Membrain)
  • A 20% improvement in conversion rates is experienced by companies that use lead-scoring algorithms. (McKinsey & Company)
  • At least once a day, 47% of sales professionals claim that they use technology in sales. (LinkedIn)
  • The biggest challenge for 65% of sales managers is the lack of time and resources to perform their job. (Data Dwell)
  • More than an hour per day is wasted by 27% of sales professionals on data entry. (HubSpot)
  • AI is now necessary to improve sales experience according to 59% of consumers. (Salesforce)

Frequently Asked Questions

To coordinate sales and marketing, a single customer journey has to be created followed by agreeing on customer persona. Marketing first approaches can be used. Customer feedbacks also play a vital role in coordinating sales and marketing.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is the most effectively used tool by companies with high sales and marketing alignment. Other tools used include email marketing, analytics, and marketing automation.

Marketers need to take responsibility for many aspects of their company’s sales approach. This will enable them to offer greater strategic insight than their sales counterparts.

After the overall business plan, sales and marketing strategy is the most important one. It is an outline of how sales and marketing teams will orchestrate their efforts to achieve a company’s key business goals and help them to shape up the organization’s success and future.

The marketing team doesn’t have to necessarily report to the sales team. However, marketing helps sales during prospecting and qualifying to create common standards for leads and opportunities.

Conclusion

Sales and marketing are not easy. With consumer demands increasing, reaching out to clients has become harder than before. The pace of the industry has become fast. But the catch is, one can easily get over these challenges. Even a simple change while approaching a customer can bring drastic effects on the success rate of a company.

To conclude, we hope that this article on the compilation of recent sales and marketing alignment statistics would have given an idea of what changes and challenges one should be preparing for in the near future.

Author: Shubham Calmblay

Shubham Calmblay, founder of appsthatdeliver.com, has a decade of experience with various Google products. He has authored 1,000+ guides for ATD, published on prestigious tech blogs. His work has garnered recognition from Protocol.com, Leadsbridge.com, MadMobile.com, and numerous other leading publications and corporations.