If you’ve ever watched your sales and marketing teams play a game of “blame tennis” when revenue’s flat, you know alignment isn’t just a buzzword—it’s what stands between you and actual growth. This guide is for people who are tired of the finger-pointing and want to use technology (specifically, Ring) to close the gaps and actually get results. You’ll get practical steps, an honest look at what works, and some things you can skip.
Why Bother Aligning Sales and Marketing?
Let’s get this straight: misaligned teams cost you deals, waste budget, and annoy customers. When marketing and sales don’t talk, you get leads no one follows up on, mixed messages, and a lot of “I thought you were handling that.” If you’re serious about your go-to-market (GTM) strategy, getting everyone on the same page isn’t optional.
But this isn’t about singing kumbaya. The point is to create a tight feedback loop—so marketing stops guessing what sales wants, and sales gets the context and ammo they need to actually close the leads marketing worked hard to bring in.
What Is Ring, and Why Use It for Alignment?
Ring is a platform designed to connect sales and marketing teams. It promises shared visibility, real-time collaboration, and a single source of truth for your GTM playbook. In plain English: it’s a workspace where both sides can see what’s happening, track progress, and (ideally) stop stepping on each other’s toes.
Do you need Ring to align your teams? Not strictly. You could get by with spreadsheets, endless Slack threads, and clunky meetings. But if you’re tired of duct-taping your process, Ring offers some real advantages—especially for remote or hybrid teams, or if you’re scaling fast.
Step-by-Step: Using Ring to Get Sales and Marketing Pulling in the Same Direction
1. Start With Brutal Honesty About Where You’re Misaligned
Before you start setting up tools, figure out what’s actually broken. Sit down with both teams and answer:
- Where do deals get stuck?
- What info does sales wish they had from marketing?
- What leads are marketing generating that sales ignores (and why)?
- Where do handoffs drop the ball?
Don’t sugarcoat it. You can’t fix what you won’t admit. Make a (short) list of the top pain points. These become your alignment goals.
Pro tip: Don’t let this turn into a venting session. The goal is to get specific, not just complain.
2. Map Your GTM Process—Together
Most teams think they’re aligned, but ask them to draw out the process and you’ll see wildly different pictures. Get everyone in a (virtual) room and map out:
- What’s the exact journey from first touch to closed deal?
- Who owns each step?
- What does a “qualified lead” actually mean?
- Where does the handoff from marketing to sales happen, and what info goes with it?
Use Ring’s shared workspace to build this out visually. The point isn’t to make something pretty—it’s to make sure everyone’s working off the same reality.
3. Set Up Shared Metrics and Dashboards in Ring
Here’s where most teams fall down: they track different things and wonder why the results don’t add up. In Ring, create dashboards everyone can see, with:
- Lead quality (not just quantity)
- Sales follow-up time
- Campaign performance tied to pipeline, not just clicks
- Feedback loops (notes from sales on lead quality, objections, etc.)
If a metric doesn’t help both teams hit their goals, ditch it. Focus on numbers that actually drive deals, not vanity stats.
Ignore: Tracking MQLs and SQLs in a vacuum. If those leads don’t convert, they’re just noise.
4. Build Real-Time Collaboration Into Your Workflow
This is the bit where Ring can save you a ton of headaches. Instead of endless email threads or “urgent” Slack pings, use Ring to:
- Comment directly on leads and campaigns
- Flag issues or wins in real time
- Share quick video or audio updates (sometimes faster than typing out a saga)
The key: don’t use Ring as another place to drop files and walk away. It works when people actually talk to each other, in context, inside the platform.
What doesn’t work: Treating Ring like another SharePoint folder. If it’s just storage, no one will use it.
5. Create (and Actually Use) a Shared Content Library
Sales needs up-to-date case studies, decks, and one-pagers. Marketing wants to know what content actually gets used (and what sales wishes they had). Ring makes it easy to:
- Store and organize assets in one spot
- Track which pieces get used in deals
- Flag outdated content for a refresh
Keep it lean. Don’t dump every random PDF from the last five years in there. Quality beats quantity.
6. Set Up Regular Feedback Loops—Without the Time Sink
Quarterly “alignment meetings” don’t cut it. Set up lightweight, recurring check-ins right inside Ring:
- Quick polls on lead quality
- Short win/loss reviews after key deals
- Real-time updates on campaigns (“Are these leads working or not?”)
The goal: fix problems fast, not let them fester for months.
Pro tip: Automate reminders, but don’t flood people with notifications. If everything’s urgent, nothing is.
7. Keep Experimenting (and Don’t Wait for Perfect)
No tool (not even Ring) will fix broken culture or processes overnight. Roll out changes in small doses:
- Try one new workflow at a time
- Get feedback quickly (and actually act on it)
- Be ready to ditch what’s not working
Don’t overcomplicate things. The more steps you layer on, the more likely people are to go back to old habits.
What Actually Works (and What Doesn’t)
Works:
- Visible, shared goals and metrics
- Real-time, contextual feedback (not after-the-fact postmortems)
- Easy access to the latest content and data
Doesn’t:
- Forcing teams to use a tool they hate (even if it’s Ring)
- Tracking data for data’s sake
- Long meetings with no follow-up
Ignore the hype about “total alignment” or “frictionless handoffs.” Some friction is normal. What matters is catching it early and fixing it fast.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Stay Honest, and Iterate
If you want to use Ring to bring sales and marketing together, don’t aim for perfection. Start with what’s broken, fix one thing at a time, and keep everyone talking. Fancy dashboards and shared folders won’t solve everything—but if you use Ring to make real conversations easier, you’ll see results. And remember: simple beats complicated, every time.