Business leaders often see sales and marketing as two sides of the same coin, both aimed at driving revenue, and some attempt to simplify by combining them under one role. A recent job posting for a Head of Sales and Marketing exemplifies this trend. On paper, it covered everything from managing sales pipelines and forecasts through to brand positioning, digital presence, campaigns, PR and events.
In practice, the role was reportedly described as being “only around five per cent marketing”, with the vast majority of time spent on sales activity. That included extensive travel, visiting clients up and down the country and directly managing commercial relationships. Marketing, despite the title, was effectively an afterthought.
Merging these disciplines might sound efficient, but it is a flawed strategy. As one marketing leader bluntly put it, stuffing sales and marketing into one role is like mixing tea and coffee. Same category, but no, they do not go together.
Sales and marketing must be tightly aligned, sharing goals and collaborating daily, but they are not the same function and should not be collapsed into a single job.
The remainder of this article, from a Fractional CMO’s perspective, explores why these roles differ fundamentally, the dangers of conflating them, and how to foster true alignment without sacrificing the unique value each brings.
Sales vs Marketing: Distinct Disciplines, Shared Goal
At a high level, sales and marketing are complementary but distinct disciplines. Make no mistake, in skill set and scope, they are two very different things.
Sales is fundamentally the art of converting interest into revenue. It is about prospecting, building one-to-one relationships, negotiating and closing deals. Typical sales skills include listening to customer needs, handling objections, and building relationships to earn the sale.
Marketing, by contrast, creates the conditions that make those sales possible. It is about understanding the market, shaping the brand’s story, generating awareness and demand, and nurturing leads at scale. Marketing skills range from strategic planning and data analysis to creative campaign execution, content creation and PR.
In short, marketing builds the desire for your offering, and sales converts that desire into a deal.
Despite pursuing the same ultimate goal of revenue growth, the two roles operate on different time horizons and scales. Sales often work on a short-term clock, thinking in quarterly targets and focusing on individual customers or accounts. Marketing works on a longer-term horizon, thinking in multi-year brand equity and broad market segments.
As the saying goes, sales thinks quarters, marketing thinks years. Sales speaks to one, marketing speaks to many.
Each function also measures success differently. A sales team lives by monthly or quarterly quota attainment, while a marketing team monitors metrics like brand awareness, lead quality and long-term customer lifetime value.
These differing perspectives are not a weakness. They are complementary strengths when harnessed together. Marketing’s job is to open doors and create interest at scale, so that by the time a prospect engages with sales, much of the heavy lifting has already been accomplished through familiarity and trust in the brand.
Sales’ job is to close the deal and drive immediate revenue, providing feedback from the field to inform marketing’s strategy.
Bottom line: sales and marketing can and should collaborate closely towards shared revenue goals, but they are not the same thing. Recognising their fundamental differences is the first step for any leader hoping to leverage both effectively.
The Misconception of Merging the Roles
If sales and marketing ultimately serve the same business goal, why not combine them under one leader?
This one department, one boss approach is tempting to many companies, especially smaller firms or those without a mature marketing function, but it rests on several misconceptions.
They are basically the same or interchangeable
This is a common but dangerous myth. As established above, the two functions require different expertise. Assuming one person can simply do both means undervaluing the complexity of each discipline. It is like assuming a great CFO can also be Head of Engineering. Possible in theory, but exceedingly rare in practice.
Marketing is just a support wing for sales
Historically, many B2B companies saw marketing as a junior partner. Nice for brochures or events, but less important than the real work of selling. This mindset leads some organisations to fold marketing under sales leadership, assuming nothing will be lost.
In reality, treating marketing as a support function means missing out on strategic market insight, brand building and creative demand generation that drive sustainable growth.
One unified Sales and Marketing role ensures alignment
This is a major fallacy. True alignment between sales and marketing is about shared vision, goals and communication, not organisational charts. Naming one person to oversee both does not magically align the teams. If anything, it often creates role confusion and diluted focus.
Blending sales and marketing responsibilities without clarity can leave salespeople pulled into areas where they lack expertise, such as digital marketing, and marketers struggling with revenue-focused tasks, leading to frustration and inefficiency.
It is cost effective to have one leader instead of two
In the short term, one salary may be cheaper than two. But the hidden costs are significant. Missed opportunities, burnout and strategic blind spots quickly outweigh the saving.
One person juggling both roles will inevitably favour what they know best. If they are a career sales leader, marketing will be deprioritised. In practice, this often means there is no real head of marketing at all, only sales with some marketing tasks attached.
Real world hiring trends reinforce this. As Fractional CMOs, we regularly see roles advertised as marketing positions that quietly morph into sales jobs halfway through the description. This confusion misleads candidates and creates chaos, burnout and disappointment on both sides.
Risks of a Sales First Marketing Leader
Merging the roles typically means a sales oriented leader ends up in charge of marketing. This sales first approach carries significant risks.
Short termism over strategy
Sales leaders are conditioned to think in immediate terms, hitting this quarter’s number. When applied to marketing, short-term sales tactics can crowd out long-term brand strategy.
Aggressive discounting, relentless lead chasing and activity focused purely on immediate revenue may boost short term performance but undermine brand equity, customer loyalty and future growth.
Neglect of brand and customer insight
A sales-first leader may view marketing narrowly as a lead generation engine rather than a strategic function that owns customer insight and brand positioning.
This often results in minimal investment in market research, segmentation, brand narrative and thought leadership. Over time, brands stagnate while competitors who continue to invest pull ahead.
Diminished marketing innovation
Effective marketing requires experimentation. New channels, new messages and new approaches do not always pay off immediately.
Sales-driven leadership can struggle with this uncertainty, leading to conservative execution and a gradual erosion of competitive advantage in digital presence, content quality and engagement.
Talent drain and cultural clash
Marketing teams often feel misunderstood or undervalued under sales-led leadership. When success is judged solely on short-term lead volume, creative and strategic marketers disengage or leave.
The working styles clash. Marketing plans and builds. Sales react and push. When marketing becomes a servicing arm for sales, the garden quickly suffers when the gardener is replaced by a hunter.
How to Align Sales and Marketing Without Diluting Either
None of this suggests sales and marketing should operate in silos. Tight alignment is essential for growth.
The goal is strategic unity without role dilution. That comes from structure, process and leadership behaviour, not merged job titles.
Shared goals and KPIs
Both teams should own common revenue and pipeline outcomes. Marketing should be accountable for lead quality and contribution to revenue, not just activity or volume. Sales should be accountable for timely follow up and conversion.
Continuous communication
Regular joint pipeline reviews, planning sessions and feedback loops keep alignment alive. Sales insight improves marketing relevance. Marketing visibility improves sales effectiveness.
Clear role definition
Alignment does not mean overlap. Marketing owns demand creation and brand. Sales owns relationship building and deal closure. The handover points must be clear and respected.
Integrated systems and data
Shared CRM and reporting creates transparency and removes blame. When both teams see the full customer journey, weak points can be fixed collaboratively.
Unified incentives
Reward outcomes both teams contribute to. When success is shared, behaviour follows.
Cross learning
Encourage exposure to each other’s world. Sales should understand how marketing works. Marketing should understand sales pressure. Respect follows understanding.
The Value of a Dedicated Marketing Leader
Separate leadership is not about hierarchy. It is about ensuring each function delivers its full value.
A strong marketing leader brings long-term strategic vision, brand clarity, demand generation at scale and customer insight. Without this leadership, marketing degrades into disconnected tactics with no unifying strategy.
Brand weakens. Messaging fragments. Growth becomes fragile.
Sales teams then compensate by doing their own marketing badly and expensively. Pitch decks multiply. Messages diverge. Time is wasted.
Whether full-time or fractional, dedicated marketing leadership turns marketing from a reactive cost into a proactive growth engine that enables sales rather than competes with it.
Separate Strengths, United Strategy
Sales and marketing alignment is non negotiable. Merging the roles is not the answer.
They require different skills, mindsets and time horizons. When each is led properly and aligned around shared outcomes, they create a powerful growth engine.
The shortcut of a combined Head of Sales and Marketing role rarely delivers what leaders hope. The more reliable approach is separate leadership, clear accountability and deliberate collaboration.
Sales and marketing should be on the same team, with different roles.
Align their goals. Respect their expertise. Let each focus on what they do best.
That is how sustainable growth is built.