The activities of sales and marketing often get tangled, leading to misaligned expectations. Depending on the maturity of your brand, expecting marketing to deliver an abundance of leads that are ready for the sales team to close may be unrealistic.
That’s why the speed of sales vs. marketing isn’t just a comparison—it’s a conversation about perceived time to ROI. Sales activities have clear tracking: from the moment a lead enters the CRM until the deal is closed. Marketing, on the other hand, operates in a more long-term, awareness-driven space, where brand impressions and early touchpoints influence decisions but are difficult to attribute to a single lead until they convert.
For B2B leaders, understanding this nuance—and ensuring alignment between both functions—is key to maximizing ROI and long-term growth.
Here’s what every B2B decision-maker should know about managing expectations and maximizing ROI for both.
Sales Wins Fast, Marketing Wins Big
Sales teams operate in one-to-one relationships: a salesperson engages directly with a prospect, tracks interactions, and (hopefully) closes the deal. The impact is immediate and measurable. Marketing, however, is not a plug-and-play solution. You can’t “turn on” marketing and expect instant leads that convert overnight. Instead, marketing is a long-term investment that builds brand equity, fosters trust, and nurtures your audience.
If you’re starting from a state of “no marketing”—no small audience, inconsistent external communications, and an underperforming website—it’s possible to generate 50–100 leads per week quickly. But they won’t likely be high-quality, ready-to-buy leads. For B2B companies with long sales cycles and highly customizable solutions, the focus must shift to quality over quantity. After all, one $200,000 lead is far more valuable than 200 unqualified ones.
The Key to Collaboration: Sales Enablement
At iN Possibiliti, we always begin with sales enablement because it bridges the gap between sales and marketing. Collaborating with sales teams helps us:
- Learn the voice of the customer
- Stay ahead of industry trends
- Discover messaging “gold” that often goes unwritten
By aligning marketing efforts with the sales process, we help businesses create content and collateral that supports their revenue engine. This ensures that marketing isn’t just producing noise—it’s actively driving conversions.
Managing Expectations
Marketing is often compared to investing. It’s not a casino windfall—it’s more like a diversified portfolio that appreciates over time. Every piece of content, every campaign, and every interaction builds toward a larger return on investment. And while there are moments of breakthrough success (the marketing equivalent of a casino win), sustainable growth comes from consistent effort.
For B2B companies, this means understanding that marketing is a long game. It’s about creating value that compounds over the life of the investment, even if it doesn’t get the instant recognition it deserves.
Ready to Turn Possibilities into Reality?
At iN Possibiliti, we specialize in helping B2B companies launch impactful, strategically driven marketing initiatives. By aligning marketing with sales, we ensure your business is positioned for both immediate wins and long-term success. Ready to explore what’s possible for your business?
Schedule a consultation today at inpossibiliti.com/booking.
