Despite sharing many of the same goals, sales and marketing teams can be frustratingly disconnected in practice. Conflicts arise over data accuracy, lead quality and even what constitutes a qualified lead, creating resentment, distrust and missed opportunities.
Any investment marketing makes in generating leads is wasted if SDRs don’t follow up. On the flip side, poor lead quality leaves SDRs researching and developing messaging that leads nowhere. In both cases, the end result is the same: campaign momentum dies, conversion rates drop and revenue potential disappears.
So, what’s the answer? In this blog we’ll look closer at the disconnect between sales and marketing and offer practical tips on how to close the gap.
The trust gap between sales and marketing
Lack of trust is a major obstacle in sales and marketing alignment and while each team may feel misunderstood and unfairly criticised, the root issue is often lead quality.
According to a Hubspot report, only 9.1% of salespeople say they receive very high quality leads from marketing. That scepticism means at best, leads are viewed with suspicion and at worst, dismissed entirely.
Why? Because so many arrive without meaningful context or insight. There’s no information on what content was downloaded, what problem the lead is facing or which campaign triggered the contact. Others are simply a poor fit: outside the target profile or lacking decision-making power. Then there’s the timing. If the lead is passed too early, it isn’t ready, too late and the opportunity’s been missed.
SDRs are left feeling unsupported and as though they’re being set up to fail. And marketing feels ignored and like their efforts are being dismissed. And so, the conflict and disconnect continues, hurting morale, performance and numbers.
Every follow-up that’s missed in this situation is wasted spend and lost potential revenue. So how do you know if your leads aren’t being followed up?
- A low lead-to-opportunity conversion rate despite strong top-of-funnel performance is a cleat sign the handoff process isn’t working
- SDRs building their own lead lists from LinkedIn or third-party tools and bypassing marketing-sourced leads suggests they don’t trust what they’re being given to work with
- Complaints of “there’s no context” from sales means leads are arriving cold, with no insights to personalise outreach.
What SDRs really need
The solution isn’t just more leads, it’s better leads. And by that, we mean leads with insights attached that enable fast, confident outreach:
To act fast and effectively, SDRs need:
- Quick actionable data. SDRs are under constant time pressure. They need to move fast (so opportunities aren’t missed) but without sacrificing the detail and relevance that’s necessary to create tailored messages. That means having headline information up front: company size and status, tech stack, job role and buying signals. These essentials help SDRs assess the initial fit and whether a lead is worth progressing.
- Relevance cues: the ‘why now’. Understanding the why behind a lead is what key to developing a dialogue and driving a conversion. SDRs need visibility into the trigger events and pain points that have brought a prospect to this point.
- Context to guide the message. What campaign drove the lead? Which content did they engage with? Where are they in the buying journey? With this context, SDRs can craft tailored, timely outreach that feels relevant – because it is. We know that personalised messages are more likely to get a response, so the more information the better.
- Confidence to act quickly. When SDRs have all this information easily accessible in one place, and know it’s accurate, they’re empowered to act fast, before a competitor steps in or the opportunity is lost.
Developing a framework for seamless lead handoff
Although sales and marketing blame each other, much of this is a process issue rather than a people issue. Implementing a clear framework for lead handoff can help alleviate many of the issues by ensuring everyone is aligned and has the same expectations. When everyone knows they’re working to the same standards and towards the same end goal, trust builds and performance improves.
There are 4 steps:
1. Align on lead qualification criteria
If teams aren’t working to the same parameters or goals, there are going to be differences in what’s regarded as a high-quality lead. Make sure that both teams are agreed on what constitutes a marketing-qualified lead (MQL), who fits your ideal customer profile, and when a lead is considered sales-ready. Getting alignment at this stage will set everything else up for success.
2. Standardise lead delivery format
Delivering leads in consistent formats helps SDRs take faster, more confident action because they know what’s coming. There’s no sorting through data to find the relevant bits, they can scan and act fast. Create a shared template or system for everyone to use to streamline the process.
3. Include context-rich insights
Go beyond the basics and tell the real story including campaign source, engagement history and intent signals. Tools like Cascade make this easy by aggregating all relevant data in one view so SDRs have everything they need at their fingertips.
4. Build a feedback loop with SDRs
Keep communication open. Create regular feedback sessions with both sales and marketing to understand what’s working, what’s not and why and improve the success of future handoffs. Having those conversations makes everyone feel better supported and understood.
How Cascade helps improve the handoff process
Our newest technology was built to fix the communication breakdowns that derail lead follow-up. In one personalised URL, SDRs get everything they need to reach out with confidence. Each lead comes with:
- Aggregated data from multiple sources to dramatically reduce research time
- A dedicated lead page showing engagement insights to guide outreach
- Recommendations for messaging tailored to each prospect
In short, exactly what they need to take action – fast. No more wasting time switching tools or chasing background information – they’re ready to engage immediately.
Because leads can only deliver ROI when they’re followed up – and followed up well. When there’s friction between sales and marketing it doesn’t just hold up workflow, but revenue too.
By improving your handoff process, you can remove that friction, helping sales and marketing work more closely together and giving everyone a better chance of success.
To find out more about Cascade, book a call here or head to this page to learn more.
