If you work in B2B sales or marketing, you already know the story: leads slip through the cracks, people argue over what counts as a “qualified lead,” and both sides blame each other when deals stall out. Fixing it isn’t about another round of team-building or a fancy whiteboard session. It’s about getting your systems and your people talking to each other, without creating more headaches.
This guide is for B2B teams who want practical, no-nonsense ways to actually align sales and marketing—using Insightly as their CRM. If you’re tired of vague promises and “transformational journeys,” read on.
Why Sales and Marketing Alignment Actually Matters
Let’s get real: “alignment” is a buzzword, but the pain is real. When sales and marketing operate in silos, you get:
- Leads that go nowhere because sales didn’t even know they existed.
- Marketing running campaigns that don’t match what sales actually needs.
- A lot of finger-pointing when targets are missed.
On the flip side, when both teams work from the same playbook, you get:
- Faster lead follow-up (which usually means more closed deals)
- Better quality leads—marketing knows what sales wants
- Clear reporting, so you actually know what’s working
Insightly isn’t magic, but it does give you tools to break down the walls—if you use it right.
Step 1: Get Sales and Marketing in the Same System
Too many teams still juggle separate tools. Marketing tracks leads in a spreadsheet or a standalone marketing platform. Sales lives in a CRM. Nobody quite trusts the numbers.
What to do:
- Move both teams onto Insightly. Yes, you’ll get pushback (“But we love our tool!”), but having a single source of truth is non-negotiable.
- Set up user roles so each team sees what they need, without stepping on toes.
- Migrate your existing data—don’t just start from scratch and hope the old leads magically reappear.
Pro tip:
Start with a pilot group from both teams. Work out the kinks before forcing everyone in.
What to ignore:
Don’t bother with “integration workshops” unless you’re switching from truly ancient systems. Most data can be mapped over with a CSV export/import or with Insightly’s built-in connectors.
Step 2: Agree on What Counts as a Qualified Lead
This is where most companies get tripped up. If sales and marketing don’t agree on what a good lead looks like, you’re just passing names back and forth.
How Insightly helps:
- Use custom fields to define what makes a lead “qualified” (industry, company size, budget, etc.).
- Set up simple lead scoring. Insightly lets you add rules—like “+10 points if they downloaded a whitepaper,” or “+20 points if they requested a demo.”
- Build saved filters or views for “Marketing Qualified Leads” (MQLs) and “Sales Qualified Leads” (SQLs).
What works: - Document your agreed-upon criteria in Insightly itself (use custom fields, tags, or even a pinned note). - Hold a quick monthly review—if sales is rejecting too many leads, fix the criteria.
What doesn’t: - Relying on gut feeling or just letting the handoff happen in email.
Step 3: Automate Lead Handoffs (and Track What Happens Next)
Manual handoffs are where leads go to die. Someone forgets to forward an email, or a hot lead sits in limbo after a webinar. You need a process the system enforces—not just a handshake agreement.
How to do it in Insightly:
- Set up workflow automation so when a lead hits “qualified” status, it auto-assigns to a sales rep.
- Trigger email notifications or in-app alerts so nobody can say “I didn’t see it.”
- Use tasks—create a follow-up task for sales automatically, so next steps are clear.
Pro tip:
Track “lead response time” inside Insightly. If leads sit too long, you’ll see it—and can actually do something about it.
What to ignore:
Don’t get lost building hyper-complex automations. Start with the basics: assign, alert, set a task.
Step 4: Share Visibility Into the Pipeline (No Surprises)
Marketing often has no idea what happens to the leads they send. Sales gets frustrated when marketing promises the world. Pull back the curtain—everyone should see what’s happening.
In Insightly:
- Use shared dashboards to show lead flow, pipeline stages, and conversion rates.
- Give marketing access to pipeline views (with read-only permissions if you’re worried).
- Set up simple reports: how many MQLs became SQLs, how many deals closed, where things are stalling.
What works: - Regularly review dashboards together—don’t just email a PDF. - Make pipeline data part of your weekly or monthly check-ins.
What doesn’t: - Overcomplicating it with 20 dashboards nobody reads.
Step 5: Close the Feedback Loop
If sales hates the leads or marketing never hears what happens, you’re repeating the same mistakes. Insightly can help you build a real feedback loop.
How:
- Add a “lead disposition” field—sales marks what happened (won, lost, bad fit, no response, etc.).
- Use custom notes for freeform feedback. Did the lead have wrong contact info? Was the timing off?
- Review lost deals and rejected leads together. Identify patterns—wrong industries, bad timing, or just bad data.
Pro tip:
Set up a recurring “post-mortem” meeting, but keep it short and focused. Look at the data, not just opinions.
What to ignore:
Don’t turn feedback into a blame game. The point is to adjust campaigns and targeting, not to win arguments.
Step 6: Connect Your Marketing Tools—But Keep It Simple
Insightly integrates with a bunch of marketing tools (Mailchimp, web forms, and others). Use this, but avoid the trap of overengineering.
Do:
- Connect your main marketing email platform so new leads drop directly into Insightly.
- Use web-to-lead forms on your site, so every inquiry lands in the CRM.
- Sync only the fields you actually use—don’t map every single data point just because you can.
Don’t:
- Build a Rube Goldberg machine of integrations that nobody understands or maintains.
- Let old lists or junk data flow in forever—clean up your imports.
Step 7: Measure What Matters (and Ignore Vanity Metrics)
It’s easy to get distracted by flashy charts showing “engagement” or “reach.” For B2B alignment, you should care about:
- Lead conversion rates (MQL → SQL → Opportunity → Closed)
- Time from lead to first sales contact
- Deal value by source (which campaigns drive real revenue)
- Lost deal reasons
How Insightly can help:
- Build custom reports that focus on these metrics.
- Schedule regular report emails to both teams (so nobody can say they didn’t see the numbers).
What to ignore: - Social likes, page views, or email open rates—unless they tie directly to pipeline movement.
Honest Take: Where Insightly Shines (and Where It Doesn’t)
What works well:
- Easy lead and pipeline tracking, especially for small to midsize B2B teams.
- Custom fields and workflows—enough flexibility without a PhD in CRM admin.
- Clean handoff between marketing and sales, IF you set up your processes.
What to watch out for:
- Reporting is solid, but not as deep as the big enterprise CRMs. You’ll outgrow it if you need super-advanced analytics.
- Integrations are good, but can get messy if you bolt on too many tools.
- If your team won’t actually use the CRM (and update data), none of this matters. Adoption beats features every time.
Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Overthink It
Perfect alignment isn’t about buying more tech or holding endless meetings. It’s about making it easy for people to see the same numbers, work from the same list, and close the loop when things go wrong. Set up the basics in Insightly, get both teams using it, and tweak as you go. Don’t try to solve everything in one sprint—improve a little each month, and you’ll be miles ahead of most B2B teams.