So much has been written over the years about the “sales and marketing divide” – frankly it’s an exhausted discussion and one that’s never made much sense to me.

Don’t get me wrong; sales and marketing conflict exists in many organizations today. But in almost every organization I’ve encountered the success or failure of the sales and marketing teams are intertwined – these departments simply must learn to win or lose, collectively, as a team. Sales and marketing conflict stems from a lack of accountability from either a sales leader or a marketing leader, but to me the solution needs to come from the top (CEO) down. Here’s my recipe for solving these woes once and for all.