Practical fixes discussed by senior leaders includes things manufacturers and contractors can apply without big budgets: clearer ownership, faster follow-up expectations, and a simple feedback loop so teams know what’s converting and why.

Construction firms and those in the supply chain are losing millions of pounds in potential revenue because sales and marketing teams are working to different definitions of what constitutes a ‘qualified lead’ industry experts have warned.

The panel blamed unclear handover processes and a lack of shared ownership once a prospect enters the pipeline for delaying decisions. This confusion can put customer relationships at risk and jeopardise deals at a time when buyers are better informed than ever and sales cycles are being stretched.

B2B marketing agency Lesniak Swann brought together senior commercial leaders from construction brands Barbour ABI, BMI, Instagrid, Pick Everard and Polypipe Building Services, to debate this important topic.

The panel explored how misalignment is most visible at the point when marketing passes a lead to sales. Inconsistent labelling, limited feedback on lead outcomes and incomplete handovers often leave prospects repeating themselves - or being ignored entirely – which then results in procurement pushing decisions based primarily on price.

“The disconnect between the two teams typically results in lots of busy activity instead of impact,” said Tom Murray, Sales and Marketing Director at Polypipe Building Services. He added that siloed working often turns reporting into an internal scoreboard rather than a shared growth plan.

External research reflects the scale of the problem. Gartner has reported that nearly half of sales leaders say their teams define a qualified lead differently which creates friction, missed follow-ups and avoidable rework across the funnel.

Panel members argued that tolerance has dropped sharply as budgets tighten and scrutiny on ROI increases. Longer decision cycles and multi-stakeholder buying groups mean that losing momentum at the handover stage can remove a brand from consideration before it ever reaches tender.

Kate Perrin, Marketing Director at Barbour ABI, said marketing’s job should not end when a lead is passed over. “If you don’t track what happens next - how it converts and why – then you’re just debating opinion rather than building evidence. I would urge companies to introduce robust reporting that directly links marketing campaign activity to pipeline progress.”

Gemma Scott, Marketing Communications Manager, BMI added: “When sales and marketing aren’t aligned, customers feel it immediately - in poor handovers and slow follow-ups. There is no point passing every lead across and wondering why nothing converted. We work with our sales teams to agree what qualified leads actually look like, and that changes everything.”

Gareth Osbourne, Associate Director, Marketing at Pick Everard, said collaboration matters more than tooling. “In a market obsessed with tools, the real differentiator is how the teams work together. Marketing should make sales conversations easier by building credibility and awareness. This increases the chance of being on the day-one supplier list.”

Lesniak Swann co-founder Alexander Swann said construction firms need shared accountability rather than treating alignment as an internal process issue. He said: “This isn’t so much about marketing supporting sales or sales using marketing. It’s about shared accountability for growth. When there’s a disconnect customers feel it first.

“We see this across contractors, consultants and manufacturers. When teams measure different things, they pull in different directions. The result is inconsistent messaging, poor handover and a fragmented customer experience.

“Companies must ensure they’re getting the fundamentals right: agree a definition of qualification that everyone is clear on, set service-level expectations for following-up and review lead outcomes together to improve targeting, messaging and conversion.