TFT: Sales and Marketing Aren’t Opponents
Why small businesses win when both teams speak the same language
In small businesses and technical teams, there’s often no “handoff” from marketing to sales because you are both teams (or maybe the same person). But that does not mean those functions are automatically aligned. Here’s the trap:
Sales says, “These leads are junk.”
Marketing says, “Sales ignores our content.”
Meanwhile, the buyer? They’re confused, unimpressed, and already halfway to a competitor.
In 2025, your buyer’s journey doesn’t move in a straight line. They loop in, loop out, do their own research, consult a Reddit thread, click your CTA, ghost you for three months, and then reappear with a new stakeholder.
That’s a flywheel. And if your messaging, content, and conversations don’t work together, your flywheel stalls. Today we’re going to look at why you need to align sales and marketing about some tools that can help. but first a small ask…
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The Small Team Disconnect
Startups and solo founders tend to wing it. One day they are posting on LinkedIn, the next they’re hopping on a Zoom pitch. But if your LinkedIn post says “easy to use” and your demo focuses on “deep integration,” you’re making your own sales job harder.
Alignment is not just for big companies with big teams. It’s the only way to create consistency across the buyer’s entire experience.
Let’s break it down:
Flywheel Stage 1 — Attract: Your blog, LinkedIn posts, and videos should speak the buyer’s language, not product features, but actual pain points. What problem are you solving?
Flywheel Stage 2 — Engage: When they reach out, your follow-up should match the tone and promise of what brought them in. Don’t go from “helpful guide” to “hard closer.” Confirm they have the problem you are solving.
Flywheel Stage 3 — Delight: After the close, do your onboarding materials reflect what they saw during the marketing phase? Consistency here builds loyalty and referrals. Make sure you are solving their problems. Otherwise you are wasting your time and theirs.
You don’t need two departments. You just need one conversation.
What Happens When Sales and Marketing Stay Misaligned?
You attract interest, but not intent.
You close a deal, but churn them three months later.
You work harder at every stage because your momentum dies after every handoff.
A broken flywheel is exhausting.
But when sales and marketing spin in sync, things get easier:
Better-fit leads come in
Sales conversations move faster
You spend less time “correcting the narrative” and more time moving the deal forward
Of Course There Are AI Tools That Can Help
Even if you’re solo, you can build a shared system using smart tools:
Notion or Trello to track sales objections and sync messaging
ChatGPT or Claude to rephrase sales objections into content ideas
Grammarly or Lavender to ensure tone stays consistent across messaging
HubSpot or Folk CRM to tie content interactions directly to sales readiness
Start with one. Let it support your flywheel. Try it for 2 weeks and see how it goes. Then try another one. Before you know it you will have half your work automated and the other half cataloged.
Action Step
Write down the top 3 objections you hear on sales calls. Now ask:
Does your landing page speak to those?
Is your lead magnet or blog content answering them?
Do your social posts reflect them?
If not, it’s time to bring your “sales” brain to your “marketing” hand.
Additional Reading:
Are you looking to improve your sales process or hire your first sales professional?
Are you a technical expert ready to transition into sales and need guidance?
If so, we’re here to help! Reach out to us with your specific challenges, and we’ll schedule a time to discuss how we can develop a customized plan to meet your goals.
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