You’re Convinced. Now What?
You read the last article, nodded your head, and thought, “Yes, shared pipeline goals make sense.” But when you picture bringing it up to sales, finance, or your CEO, it feels risky.
That’s normal.
Most companies aren’t ready to ditch attribution, MQL targets, or sourcing-based dashboards overnight. But that doesn’t mean you can’t start.
You don’t need a big-bang rollout. You need better questions and a few bold conversations.
Think of this as a way to de-risk your transformation while laying the groundwork for a model that actually works. This article is your field guide.
But first, let’s quickly recap the shift we’re proposing.
Recap: From Sourcing Battles to Shared Ownership
In our last article, we outlined the case for shared pipeline goals.
The old model: Each team brings its own number. Marketing bring green KPIs to the quarterly business review. Sales brings red KPIs, missing their pipeline and closed-won targets. Marketing thought they were increasing confidence in their efforts by showing green on the dashboard. But execs are just losing confidence in marketing’s measurement model. The finger-pointing begins.
The new model: Marketing, sales, and partners align around one pipeline number. Ownership is shared. Leading indicators are tracked collaboratively. Teams stop defending their slice and start solving the problem together.
It’s a powerful shift. But it doesn’t happen overnight.
Investigate First: 5 Questions to Guide Internal Discovery
Before you propose a new model, take inventory. What’s broken? What’s missing? Where might others already be open to change?
Here are five questions that can uncover the cracks:
1. Do my MQLs correlate to pipeline? This might be a scary relationship to expose. But consider this an important admission in the process to improving alignment. We’re not saying drop MQLs. Of course our sales teams want hand raisers. But we are saying that this metric needs to be deprioritized if it doesn’t have a strong relationship with your pipeline creation metrics.
Real-world example: A VP of Marketing we work with moved MQL metrics out of their main KPI dashboards. They still reviewed them with the sales leaders for quality and feedback, but stopped reporting them in QBRs. MQLs became more of a conversation with sales than a metric being optimized.
2. Would my sales team be open to a shared pipeline target? Start a conversation. Sales may be just as frustrated with the current state. Shared goals could reduce the finger-pointing they dislike too.
Try asking: “Do you feel like our goals are aligned right now? If not, where do you think things break down?”
3. Where are my “new-old” metrics? Metrics like branded search, share of voice, and engagement from target accounts aren’t new but they’re often missing. Are they tracked? Do they trend with pipeline?
If your dashboards are still MQL-first, look for gaps: Is branded search down when pipeline is down? That’s a signal to explore.
4. Can I get the data I need for CAC, PAC (pipeline acquisition cost), or marketing efficiency? Ask finance. Are they already calculating this? If not, offer to collaborate. This kind of partnership builds trust. This calculation should look at marketing AND sales together. Don’t try to separate them. This leads to credit battles again, which we want to avoid.
Marketers don’t always realize finance is often sitting on data that can help. Start with: “What do you use to model growth assumptions by segment?” You might be surprised how aligned your interests already are.
5. What metrics do we present that look “good” when things are actually bad? This one’s uncomfortable but crucial. Similar to MQLs, highlighting vanity metrics when pipeline is falling kills credibility. If marketing is serious about alignment, we need dashboards that match business reality.
If you have other metrics that show green and upward trends but pipeline had dropped 15%, then you might want to reconsider if those are helpful metrics to track.
4. Pitching the Shift: 5 Talking Points to Get Buy-In
Once you’ve done your internal homework, here’s how to bring others along. These five steps come straight from our recent event workshop:
1. Frame the problem. “Here’s what we’re tracking today. But it’s not working. The metrics don’t correlate, they cause misalignment, and they reduce trust.”
Bring visual examples. Show how pipeline and MQLs have diverged. Data makes the case better than emotion.
2. Propose the shift. “Let’s align around a shared pipeline number across GTM, not just marketing-sourced.”
Language matters. Try: “We want to take ownership of the full number, not just our piece. Let’s win or lose together.”
3. Address accountability concerns. “We’re not signing up for less accountability, we’re signing up for more. This is shared ownership, with new leading indicators to track our contribution.”
Objection you might hear: “But what if sales drops the ball?” Answer: “That’s exactly why we want shared ownership, so we solve breakdowns together, not after the fact.”
4. Offer a test. “We don’t have to roll it out companywide. Let’s try it for one segment, one region, or one quarter.”
Frame it as a low-risk experiment. “Let’s test it and learn, then scale it if it works.”
5. Offer hope. “This shift will help us plan better, forecast more realistically, and reduce the internal battles that slow us down.”
The promise: Better collaboration, better decisions, better results.
5. Who’s Already Doing This? One Example in Action
One mid-sized B2B software company we work with has already begun this transition.
They started small: just two regions, one shared pipeline goal across sales and marketing. Instead of holding marketing to MQLs or sourced credit, they signed up for shared pipeline targets and tied variable compensation to them, regardless of source.
They replaced attribution debates with weekly scenario planning. If the pipeline was off pace, they didn’t argue about sourcing. Instead, they looked at brand signals, outbound performance, partner trends, and adjusted together.
And instead of being told “that’s not your number,” marketing had a seat at the table when the plan changed.
It wasn’t a complete overhaul. But it worked.
Now they’re expanding their planning model for better what-if scenario planning, because the old model wasn’t just broken, it was limiting their ability to move.
6. Final Thought: Planning Is the New Alignment
Alignment used to mean agreeing on attribution rules and MQL definitions. That game is over.
The future is shared planning.
You don’t need to wait for a mandate from the top. Start small. Ask better questions. Run one pilot. Be the first team that volunteers for shared ownership.
That’s how change starts. Not by flipping a switch, but by proving there’s a better way forward.
And if you need help piloting the metrics, frameworks, or tools that support this shift, that’s exactly what we built a B2B revenue mix model.