What if your sales and marketing teams aren’t misaligned because of communication issues,
but because their paychecks are telling them to stay that way?
That’s not just a theory—it’s the reality in most mid-market B2B companies.
Sales is compensated based on revenue.
Marketing gets bonused on campaign output or lead volume.
And each team ends up chasing its own definition of success.
While more marketers are being held accountable for revenue, fewer than half have any variable compensation tied to it. Even fewer are working from shared metrics with sales (Alexander Group, CaliberMind).
When marketing doesn’t have a financial stake in closed revenue, alignment becomes optional.
And so does accountability.
But the good news is, you don’t need to overhaul your entire compensation model to start shifting behavior.
Comp alignment doesn’t have to be a high-stakes move. It just needs to create shared visibility, mutual risk, and joint reward.
Here are three low-risk ways revenue teams are starting to align incentives without blowing up the org chart:
-
Tie a portion of marketing’s bonus to sales attainment
Even a 10 to 15 percent variable bonus based on quarterly bookings can create shared ownership. It doesn’t have to be complex—just connected to the same outcome sales is chasing. -
Use one shared metric across both teams
Start with something simple and visible, like pipeline value or win rate. Align on how it’s defined and include it in both teams’ quarterly reviews. -
Set a minimum threshold for payouts
If the company misses a baseline revenue target (say, 70 percent of plan), no one gets paid out. It drives joint accountability without pointing fingers.
You don’t need new tools. You don’t need a reorg.
You just need incentives that reflect your real goals.
Is your current comp plan reinforcing silos—or helping your teams move in sync?
