By now, you likely know that collaboration between marketing and sales is necessary to achieve and exceed growth goals.  What you might not know is that without that unified approach, companies can lose 10 percent of revenue each year. For most businesses, the challenge is figuring out how to make interdepartmental teamwork effective. Organizations must begin with an equal playing field, where sales and marketing both receive support from upper management. Currently, that is not the case in many organizations. The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and Business Marketing Association surveyed 237 B2B marketers for greater insights on workplace conditions. Only 42 percent of marketing respondents are consistently included at the senior management table. An eye-opening 37 percent expressed that senior management offered a “strong endorsement” of their efforts. Marketing and sales share a symbiotic relationship. Once leadership acknowledges their interdependence, both departments can work together to bolster growth. Esther Bonardi, Senior Director of Strategic Marketing at Yardi, offers these insights into bringing sales and marketing into a blissful and productive union: Partnership drives growth. “The goal of marketing is ultimately to drive qualified leads that are ‘sales ready,’” begins Bonardi (pictured, right). “Accomplishing this requires a lot of communication between sales and marketing.  All too often, it can be hard for one group to gain the attention of the other in order to effectively work together on a strategic plan.  A lack of meaningful communication is the greatest obstacle to this success.” The key to purposeful communication is exchanging resources and insights, sharing the same objectives, and consistency. “It is important for sales leaders to put time on their calendars to plan and strategize with their marketing counterparts, and to keep these appointments as if they were appointments with a key client,” says Bonardi....