By Mary Tucker | Senior Communications and Content Manager | IAEE
Organizations that successfully align their sales and marketing teams consistently outperform their peers in revenue growth, customer acquisition and retention. Yet despite this clear advantage, many companies still operate with these crucial departments working in silos, pursuing different metrics and sometimes even competing priorities.
Kierra Tobiere, MA will shed light on this critical business challenge and explore how organizations can break down these functional barriers to unlock unprecedented revenue growth and sponsorship opportunities in her webinar on 11 June, Synergizing Sales and Marketing: Unleashing Revenue Growth Through Strategic Alignment.
As the Senior Revenue and Content Marketing Manager for the American Chemical Society (ACS), Kierra is a dynamic marketing strategist who expertly orchestrates comprehensive campaigns that fuel revenue growth and lead generation across both established and emerging sales channels. Her targeted initiatives consistently accelerate pipeline development while strategically scaling both inbound and outbound sales operations.
Working in close collaboration with sales, customer success and data analytics teams, Kierra develops and implements best-in-class engagement strategies that resonate with prospects and customers alike. This collaborative approach enables seamless expansion opportunities across ASC’s portfolio.
Here, Kierra offers practical insights on fostering true collaboration between teams, implementing unified strategies, and leveraging combined strengths to dramatically improve your organization’s market impact and bottom line.
You emphasize the importance of aligning sales and marketing goals for revenue growth. What are the most common misalignments you see between these departments, and what measurable impact does proper alignment typically have on an organization’s bottom line?
Kierra: A major disconnect I see time and again is a lack of consistent communication between sales and marketing – especially around what happens after a lead is handed off. Marketing often doesn’t know if or when a lead actually converts, and sales may not provide feedback on lead quality in real time. This gap makes it difficult to optimize campaigns or understand what is truly driving revenue.
When those communication loops are closed and both teams are tracking lead progression together, you see measurable improvements: better-qualified leads, stronger conversion rates and, ultimately, more efficient use of resources. At ACS, implementing shared reporting and regular check-ins helped us refine our targeting and increase the overall ROI of our lead generation efforts.
Building effective collaboration between teams with historically different perspectives can be challenging. What specific communication frameworks or shared metrics have you found most successful in creating genuine synergy between sales and marketing professionals?
Kierra: Regular check-ins with the sales team have been one of the most effective ways to build genuine collaboration. These meetings go beyond campaign updates; they’re about understanding which products are resonating in the market, what revenue has actually been generated, how close we are to budget goals and what feedback sales is hearing directly from prospects.
That real-time input helps marketing quickly pivot messaging, prioritize high-impact products and create content that actually supports closing deals. At ACS, we’ve built a rhythm of monthly alignment meetings and shared dashboards that keep everyone informed and responsive. It’s created a culture where marketing isn’t just supporting sales, we’re building revenue together.
In the context of association management and events, how can aligned sales and marketing strategies specifically enhance sponsorship acquisition and retention?
Kierra: Associations thrive on relationships, and those relationships are often built and nurtured through events. When marketing understands the sponsorship value proposition and builds campaigns that clearly communicate those benefits, it creates a stronger case for acquisition. Meanwhile, sales teams can use marketing content and insights to deepen relationships and demonstrate ongoing value to sponsors.
At ACS, aligning our event strategies across both teams has helped us deliver more targeted outreach, consistent messaging and a more seamless sponsor experience from pitch to post-event follow-up.
Technology plays a significant role in modern sales and marketing integration. What essential tools or platforms would you recommend to organizations looking to better connect these functions, particularly for resource-conscious associations?
Kierra: For associations looking to better connect sales and marketing without overspending, I recommend starting with foundational tools that streamline both communication and project tracking. A CRM like HubSpot or Salesforce paired with a marketing automation tool like Mailchimp can help track lead behavior and nurture prospects efficiently.
For project collaboration, tools like Asana are incredibly valuable, especially for managing campaigns across departments, tracking deliverables and ensuring visibility at every stage of execution. Asana keeps everyone aligned and accountable without overwhelming smaller teams. Even using shared dashboards in Google Data Studio or regular Slack updates can go a long way in fostering transparency and keeping both sides connected to shared goals.
Change management is often the biggest hurdle in organizational transformation. What practical steps can leaders take to overcome resistance when implementing more collaborative approaches between traditionally separate departments?
Kierra: The first step is creating buy-in by showing what’s in it for each team, whether that’s more qualified leads, shorter sales cycles or greater recognition for contributions. Piloting small joint initiatives can also build trust and demonstrate early wins. Leaders should celebrate those wins publicly and use them as case studies to scale collaboration. At ACS, we also appointed liaisons across departments to keep communication flowing and ensure shared accountability. It’s not just about process; it’s about shifting the culture to value collaboration as a growth strategy.
Looking ahead, how do you see the relationship between sales and marketing evolving in the next few years, and what should forward-thinking organizations be doing now to prepare for these changes?
Kierra: The future is all about revenue teams, not separate sales and marketing silos. I see these functions continuing to merge under shared revenue operations frameworks where alignment is not optional but foundational. Personalization, data-driven storytelling and buyer journey mapping will be more tightly integrated across functions.
Forward-thinking organizations should invest now in cross-training, integrated data systems and joint planning cycles. Those that treat alignment as a strategic advantage rather than an operational fix will be the ones that lead in growth and innovation.