The reminder this week: gaps in sales and marketing strategies don’t always announce themselves, but they tend to always show up in your results.

Misaligned goals. Inconsistent execution. Poor communication. Individually, they seem manageable. Together, they quietly create cracks that turn into bigger problems.

The impacts aren’t always subtle, either. Buyer’s journey breaks down. Ad spend goes down the drain. Less leads get added to the funnel. Revenue growth stalls. These are only a few examples, but you get the picture; gaps in sales and marketing negatively impact your business overall.

While this obstacle isn’t something that can be fixed in one day, if we can help you identify any gaps that may be happening, and ways you can start addressing those gaps, that is a great place to start.

So, when was the last time you took the time to look at your sales and marketing efforts to identify your blind spots? Here are a few questions to serve as a starting point.

1. What does your lead quality really look like?

You have leads coming in and being passed to sales, but are they actually quality leads?

Does sales immediately disqualify them? Are you getting feedback from sales team members telling you that the leads aren’t in your ICP? If you answered “yes” to these two questions, then it’s time to raise a red flag. You have a disconnect between sales and marketing.

Why the gap? A number of factors can contribute to this, including the topic in the next paragraph, but the important part is; what can you and your team do to address this issue? One idea, and tactic we like to incorporate with our Launch Marketing clients is lead scoring.

Call it outdated if you want, but without a way to classify and prioritize leads, you’re guessing at qualification and handoff timing. And those two moments, initial qualification and sales handoff, are where things break most often.

If you already have scoring in place, don’t assume it’s working.

Your model might be:

• Out of sync with current goals
• Overweighting the wrong behaviors
• Built around signals that no longer matter

Bottom line: if lead quality is slipping, your scoring model needs a fresh look.

2. Are you targeting the right audience?

Let’s talk campaigns.

Adding a few job titles and locations ≠ a strong audience strategy. Even layering in prospect lists isn’t enough if the foundation is off. If your targeting is misaligned, everything downstream suffers and leads to low-quality leads, frustrated sales teams, and budget that quietly disappears

The fix isn’t to stop running ads. It’s just a matter of getting more intentional.

That’s where Account-Based Marketing (ABM) comes in.

ABM forces marketing and sales to align on who matters to create a list of key accounts, tailor outreach with the right messaging, and focus the budget on where it counts most.

If you want better ROI, more meaningful pipeline conversations, and a reduced gap in your marketing and sales, start by tightening your audience.

3. Do you have the strategy and plan you need to see results?

This is the big one. If sales and marketing feel disconnected, it’s often not a people problem, it’s a strategy gap. Execution without alignment creates noise, not results.

Sometimes, closing that gap requires an outside perspective. Whether that’s internal leadership or a fractional CMO, the goal is the same:

• Align priorities
• Pressure-test your approach
• Build a plan that connects effort to outcomes

If you don’t have that level of strategic oversight, it’s hard to keep gaps from forming. If you’re ready to close the gaps and bring in outside expertise, check us out!

At Launch Marketing, we know keeping sales and marketing strategies aligned is easy in theory, but tough in practice when everything else is moving. The good news? These gaps are fixable.