Sales organization
Until the late 20th century, these two departments often operated in silos. One was responsible for selling the products that the other created. The salesperson maintained a privileged relationship with their customer — a relationship the savvy marketer could later leverage to study and define the company’s future products or services.
The sales department managed activity through prospecting campaigns and head-to-head competition. Some salespeople became known as “hunters,” others as “farmers.” Prospecting was often cold and tough, while deal tracking relied heavily on Excel spreadsheets and notebooks.
Under these conditions, sales and marketing were distinct professions — with equally distinct leadership structures.
With the rise of CRM systems, digital transformation, and data analytics, these professions have had to evolve.
1. Sales and Marketing Have Moved Closer — A New Reality
I’ve witnessed this shift firsthand over the past fifteen years. One clear observation: at its core, a CRM revolves around three pillars — the customer, the company (represented by the salesperson), and the product (the agreement between the two).
Once we recognize these three axes, it becomes clear that they form a single, inseparable ecosystem — blending the work of both sales and marketing.
The development of new channels — particularly the web and inbound marketing — has rendered many traditional prospecting methods obsolete. Meanwhile, new-generation buyers — millennials — have entered the market, forcing companies to adapt.
In B2B, a McKinsey study showed that companies embracing digital transformation grew up to five times faster than those lagging behind.
Lead generation is no longer based on cold calls. Instead, marketing now generates qualified leads through lead nurturing, social selling, and marketing automation. While marketing takes ownership of part of the sales cycle, it does so in service of commercial performance.
The salesperson’s role has evolved as well. Inside sales teams now qualify opportunities more effectively upstream, allowing field sales to focus on closing deals.
Sales professionals, in turn, rely heavily on the intelligence provided by marketing — from training and documentation to customer behavior insights and product analytics. Smart use of data enables better targeting and improved conversion rates.
In recent years, the emergence of AI has further optimized how sales teams manage their time and resources. New hybrid roles are now appearing at the crossroads of sales and marketing.
2. A Deeper Understanding of the Customer
A company that doesn’t measure customer satisfaction is unlikely to remain competitive — its rivals will take care of that.
Customer insight should be shared across the entire organization — both front office and back office — to raise overall performance.
The salesperson, as the company’s direct representative, must carry its message, nurture relationships, and identify new needs. Marketing, in turn, provides the tools, content, and analysis to support those efforts.
Depending on the business, the customer lifecycle may include stages such as: prospect, active client, inactive client, dormant client, declining client (low repeat purchase), and churned client.
Sales actions must align with marketing and after-sales initiatives.
Modern CRM tools allow for precise analysis and full visibility of sales performance — from post-delivery satisfaction calls to upselling, cross-selling, and retention campaigns.
Once again, it’s clear: sales and marketing must operate hand in hand.
3. Sales Enablement — A Virtuous Circle
This new model cannot work without clear goals, measurement, and engagement.
Once initial reluctance to collaborate fades, both teams quickly see the benefits of shared success. These wins should be celebrated and shared — for instance, through internal social networks like Chatter or Yammer — to create a virtuous circle between sales and marketing.
Engagement and communication are the glue that hold this alliance together.
4. Marketing — A Story of the “P’s”
During the postwar boom, marketing was defined by E. Jerome McCarthy’s Four P’s: Product, Price, Promotion, and Place (distribution).
Later, a fifth P was added — People — introducing customer relationship management (CRM). As marketing evolved, two more P’s emerged:
- Process, which represents the journey from first customer contact to final delivery or consumption, and
- Physical Evidence, which reassures customers about the quality of intangible services (seen today in platforms like TripAdvisor or Uber).
How many of these P’s involve sales? All of them.
Communication is deeply tied to digital marketing. Price remains the salesperson’s primary battlefield, often managed using algorithms like peer pricing or yield management.
Process and Physical Evidence lie at the heart of CRM systems, now essential tools for every salesperson.
5. Sales and Marketing — Toward Unified Leadership?
Given all this, one must ask: Should sales and marketing be merged under one leadership?
In organizations where new product development is central, a dedicated Product/R&D Marketing department may still be necessary. But for service-oriented companies, the integration — if not already natural — should be strong.
Customer marketing is becoming an integral part of the sales process.
The transformations of the past decade demand that the sales function evolve. Whether we call it Revenue Operations, Commercial Synergy, or Customer Growth Management, the principle remains the same:
By aligning the three axes — Customer, Sales, and Product — and the seven P’s of marketing, organizations can create stronger connections between functions.
A unified management structure enables consistent strategy, integrated actions, and measurable results — all built on the best possible synergy between sales and marketing.