If you’ve ever watched your sales and marketing teams pass the blame back and forth like a hot potato, you know how frustrating “alignment” can be. You’re not alone. Most B2B companies struggle to get these teams moving in the same direction. There’s no shortage of tools promising to fix this, but let’s be honest: half of them just give you more dashboards to ignore.
This guide is for anyone who’s tired of vague promises and wants real talk about what actually helps sales and marketing work together. We’ll break down how Winn compares with other B2B go-to-market (GTM) tools that claim to close the gap between sales and marketing. I’ll call out what’s worth your time, what’s just noise, and where you should be skeptical.
Why Sales and Marketing Alignment is Still So Hard
Before we get into the weeds, let’s be clear about what “alignment” really means: Sales and marketing actually agree on who they’re targeting, what’s being said, and how leads move from one team to the other. The reality? Even with all the CRMs and fancy platforms, most teams are still arguing over lead quality, fighting about attribution, or just ignoring each other.
The root problems usually boil down to:
- Different goals: Marketing wants MQLs; sales wants closed deals. Those aren’t always the same thing.
- Messy handoffs: Leads get dropped, lost, or chased by the wrong people.
- No shared playbook: Messaging, ICPs, and campaigns get out of sync fast.
- Too many tools: The tech stack is bloated, but actual collaboration is rare.
A good GTM tool should cut through this mess, not add to it.
What Makes a B2B GTM Tool Actually Useful?
Here’s what actually moves the needle when you’re picking tools to help sales and marketing align:
- Shared visibility: Can both teams see what’s happening, without digging through 12 tabs?
- Actionable data: Not just charts. Real insights you can act on, fast.
- Easy collaboration: Can sales and marketing actually talk and adapt, or is it just another reporting tool?
- Flexibility: Every team works differently. The tool shouldn’t force you into someone else’s workflow.
- Adoption: If people don’t use it, it’s dead weight.
Keep these in mind as we compare Winn with its competitors.
Quick Rundown: The Main Players
Before we dive deeper, here are the usual suspects you’ll hear about for B2B GTM alignment:
- Winn: Focuses on real-time feedback from sales to marketing, closing the loop on what’s working and what’s not.
- Gong: Conversation intelligence platform, mostly for sales coaching but also provides insights to marketing.
- HubSpot: Classic all-in-one CRM and marketing automation—lots of features, but can get unwieldy.
- 6sense: Big on data-driven account targeting and intent signals, with some alignment features.
- Outreach: Sales engagement platform, automates parts of outbound but has some overlap with marketing.
Let’s get past the marketing copy and see how these actually stack up.
Winn: What It Does Differently
Most tools are built either for sales or marketing, then try to bolt on the other side later. Winn was built from the start to help both teams talk to each other—about real deals, not just reports.
How Winn Approaches Alignment
- Real-time feedback loop: After every sales conversation, reps can quickly flag what messaging landed, what fell flat, and what customers actually said.
- Marketing sees the raw feedback: No more waiting for quarterly reviews or anecdotal complaints.
- Live data on messaging: Marketers can spot patterns and tweak campaigns based on what sales hears from the field.
- Simple integration: Winn plugs into Slack, email, and your CRM, so feedback doesn’t get lost.
- Built for speed: Feedback takes seconds—not another admin chore for reps.
What Actually Works
- Cuts out the middleman: Direct channel from sales to marketing, no need for another “alignment meeting.”
- Faster campaign tweaks: No more running the wrong playbook for a whole quarter.
- Account-level insights: Both sides see what’s working for specific targets, not just generic reports.
What to Watch Out For
- Relies on reps submitting feedback: If your sales team is checked out, adoption could be an issue.
- Not an all-in-one platform: Winn won’t replace your CRM or marketing automation—it’s best as a layer on top.
Gong: Great for Sales Calls, But Not a True Alignment Tool
Gong is loved by sales leaders for call recording, coaching, and analytics. It does surface trends—like which messages get responses or objections that keep coming up.
Where Gong Shines
- Conversation analytics: Deep insights from real calls.
- Coaching: Great for improving rep performance.
- Some marketing insights: You can pull reports on which talk tracks work.
Where It Falls Short
- Not built for two-way feedback: Marketing can see some data, but there’s no easy way for sales and marketing to have a real back-and-forth.
- Complexity: Gong is powerful, but it’s a beast to set up and maintain.
- Expensive: You’re paying for a lot of features you might not use.
Bottom line: Gong is excellent for sales teams. Marketing gets some value, but true alignment requires more deliberate effort.
HubSpot: Swiss Army Knife With a Lot of Blades You’ll Never Use
HubSpot tries to be everything: CRM, marketing automation, sales pipeline, and more. There are some alignment features—shared dashboards, integrated workflows—but it’s easy to get lost.
Pros
- All-in-one: One database for both teams.
- Automated handoffs: You can build workflows so leads move smoothly from marketing to sales.
- Shared reporting: Both teams can see pipeline data and campaign performance.
Cons
- Overkill for many teams: You’ll pay for features you don’t need.
- Can get siloed: Sales and marketing often end up using different parts and rarely talk.
- Customization is tricky: Getting everything tuned to your process takes real work.
Pro tip: If you’re already deep into HubSpot, invest time in training both teams to use the same dashboards and naming conventions. Otherwise, you’re just adding another layer of confusion.
6sense: Intent Data Powerhouse, But Hard to Operationalize
6sense is all about using AI and intent signals to target accounts that are “in-market.” There’s a lot of data, but turning that into coordinated action isn’t always simple.
What Works
- Advanced targeting: Find accounts showing real buying signals.
- Account-based marketing: Sales and marketing can agree on which accounts to chase.
- Integrates with CRM: Syncs data with Salesforce and others.
Weak Spots
- Steep learning curve: Lots of settings, dashboards, and new terms to learn.
- Data overload: Easy to drown in intent signals without clear next steps.
- Expensive: High price tag, especially for smaller teams.
What to ignore: Fancy AI scoring is only as good as your team’s ability to act on it. If sales and marketing aren’t meeting regularly, no tool will bridge the gap.
Outreach: Sales Productivity First, Alignment a Distant Second
Outreach automates outreach sequences, tracks engagement, and helps sales teams work faster. Marketing can use it for some campaign work, but it’s not really designed for collaboration.
Where It Helps
- Consistent follow-up: Sales can automate touchpoints so leads don’t fall through the cracks.
- Some visibility: Marketing can see how sequences perform.
Where It Misses
- Not built for marketing: Marketers are usually on the outside looking in.
- No feedback loop: Sales can execute, but sharing what’s working is clunky.
Reality check: Outreach is great for sales ops, not for aligning strategy across teams.
What Actually Drives Alignment (It’s Not Just the Tool)
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: No platform will fix a broken process or a toxic relationship between sales and marketing. Tools like Winn, Gong, or 6sense can make things easier, but you still need:
- Shared goals: Agree on metrics that matter to both teams.
- Regular check-ins: Not just pipeline reviews—talk about what’s actually happening in deals.
- Clear feedback channels: Make it dead simple for sales to tell marketing what’s landing (and vice versa).
- Willingness to adapt: If a message or campaign isn’t working, change it. Fast.
When to Pick Winn (And When Not To)
Choose Winn if: - You want real-time, deal-specific feedback from sales to marketing. - Your teams are sick of long meetings and want a faster way to share what’s working. - You’re already using a CRM/automation tool and need something lightweight to close the loop.
Skip Winn if: - You want one tool to run your whole GTM stack (it’s not that). - Your sales team won’t give feedback, no matter what you try. - You’re looking for deep analytics or AI-driven scoring (look elsewhere).
Keep It Simple: Tools Help, But Process Wins
The best GTM tools are the ones your team will actually use. Don’t get dazzled by AI, dashboards, or big promises about “alignment.” Start by making it dead simple for sales and marketing to talk—about real accounts, real conversations, and what’s actually working.
Pick a tool that fits your team’s habits (not the other way around), get everyone on board, and keep tweaking as you go. In the end, alignment is less about software, and more about stubbornly refusing to let sales and marketing drift apart—one honest conversation at a time.