Your Journey Towards Product, Marketing, and Sales Alignment:
| Stage | CEO | Marketing Leader | Product Leader | Sales Leader | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1. Latent Frustration (You feel the pain but can’t name it) | "We’re not moving fast or clearly." | "We’re making campaigns without shared strategy." | "We're building features without clear positioning." | "Our story keeps changing and customers are confused." | Your teams are telling different stories, and no one’s winning. |
| Stage 2. Triggered Awareness (An inflection point exposes misalignment) | Growth, a reorg, or a funding round reveals gaps. | A rebrand or launch highlights internal confusion. | Features miss market fit or are underused. | You're consistently not closing deals. | You’re not broken. You’re out of sync. |
| Stage 3. Seeking Help (You want strategic clarity and alignment) | "Our executive team needs support." | "We need to unify our strategy — not someone that just makes pretty slides." | "We need clear positioning to inform our roadmap." | "We need a story we can sell — not just a tagline." | You need someone that can help facilitate alignment and a unified strategy. |
| Stage 4. Evaluation (You're comparing options for support) | "Can this person / agency successfully guide our leadership team?" | "Will this reduce or increase my workload?" | "Will this practically help us prioritize and focus?" | "Will this help us sell more and faster?" | You need a proven track record and methodology that you can confidently trust. |
| Stage 5. Engagement (You find the right facilitator for alignment) | "We’re finally getting aligned." | "We’re speaking the same language." | "We’re building with purpose." | "I can finally pitch with confidence." | You're working through steps 1-4 of the USBD Framework™ |
| Stage 6. Activation (You begin executing an aligned strategy) | "Now we can move faster." | "Our campaigns feel sharper and more strategic." | "Our messaging aligns with a roadmap." | "Our sales assets work now." | You're executing your strategy with continued external assistance or handing off ready-to-go guidelines internally. |
| Stage 7. Reflection & Optimization (You can finally focus on refining instead of always restarting) | "This changed how we lead." | "Marketing is finally trusted." | "We build smarter now." | "This unified us around a single story." | You're continuing to go-to-market aligned. |
Looking to go deeper on the business value of alignment?
Read the article: What is Strategic Alignment?