Improving the relationship between sales and marketing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the sales and marketing interface and to identify some of the elements that may influence collaboration between sales and marketing and provide a framework demonstrating how these elements may interrelate. Design/methodology/approach – This paper explores the sales and marketing relationship through qualitative research using one-to-one, tripartite interviews with senior executives and sales and marketing managers of three, UK-based business-to-business organizations. Findings – The paper indicates that there are two types of factor that affect collaboration between sales and marketing. Those that are out of the control of sales and marketing staff – management attitudes to coordination, interdepartmental culture and structure and orientation, and four that are internal to the interface – inter-functional conflict, communications, market intelligence and learning. The paper also identifies that senior managers play a critical role in influencing this interface. Research limitations/implications – Improving collaboration in the sales and marketing interface should be a focus for senior managers. The paper is limited by the number of cases. Practical implications – The factors identified may be used by organizations to improve collaboration between sales and marketing. Originality/value – The identification of factors that may improve collaboration between sales and marketing, and provide a conceptual framework for further study. The paper increases the understanding of the sales and marketing interface by identifying two additional factors that may influence the interface – learning and market intelligence, and demonstrates how the various factors may interrelate to create improved collaboration