4 Ways to Align Sales and Customer Success for Happier Customers and Long-Term Growth

Let’s be real—Sales and Customer Success (CS) often feel like they’re on different planets. 🌍🚀

Sales is out there hustling, focused on closing deals, while CS is in the trenches, making sure those deals turn into long-term success stories. But when these two teams aren’t aligned, it’s the customer that suffers—and so does your bottom line.

So how do you make sure Sales and CS work together like a well-oiled machine? Here are 4 simple, actionable ways to align your teams for better results and happier customers.

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1. Create a Unified Customer Journey Map 🛤️

You’ve probably heard about customer journey maps. But here’s the core: Are Sales and Customer Success on the same page about that journey?

• Sales: They focus on the pre-sale experience.
• CS: They care about the post-sale experience.

But your customer? They experience your brand as one.

Align the teams by creating a shared customer journey map that outlines each phase—from the first sales touchpoint to renewal and beyond. This visual map will help both teams understand the customer's experience holistically and see where their efforts overlap.

Pro tip: Schedule regular workshops where both Sales and CS sit down together and refine this map over time.

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2. Share Goals (Yes, for Real)📊

One of the biggest reasons Sales and CS get out of sync is that they’re measured by completely different Goals.

• Sales cares about closed deals and revenue.
• CS cares about customer retention, NPS scores, and renewals.

But what if they both cared about the same goals?

Choose shared Goals that focus on customer outcomes rather than just individual team metrics. For example:

• Customer lifetime value (CLV)
• Expansion revenue
• Customer churn rate

This creates mutual accountability and fosters collaboration. Sales will start thinking about long-term success, and CS will have more visibility into the deals being closed.

Pro tip: Hold monthly reviews where both teams discuss these shared Goals and how to improve them together. Or, use a platform like Stellafai, to track and visualise your shared goals.

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3. Implement Closed-Loop Feedback 🔄

Ever feel like Sales is handing CS a bag of unrealistic promises to deliver on? Or that CS is frustrated because they’re inheriting unhappy customers they could have flagged earlier?

Implementing a closed-loop feedback system solves this. Here’s how:

• Post-sale handoff: Sales shares comprehensive customer details (goals, pain points, expectations) with CS.
• Feedback loop: CS gives feedback on the quality of leads, helping Sales refine their future outreach.

This loop builds accountability and trust between the two teams, ensuring everyone knows what the customer actually needs and expects.

Pro tip: Create a shared document or CRM notes that both teams can access for ongoing updates about the customer.

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4. Build Joint Playbooks 📖

Sales has scripts. CS has onboarding checklists. But what if both teams were working from the same playbook?

Building a joint playbook ensures consistency across all customer interactions. You can include:

• Sales to CS handoff procedures
• Best practices for upselling and cross-selling
• How to handle red-flag customers

The result? A more seamless experience for the customer, and smoother transitions for the teams.

Pro tip: Make the playbook a living document that gets updated based on real-time customer feedback and evolving team strategies.

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Conclusion: Alignment Isn’t Optional, It’s Essential

When Sales and Customer Success work in silos, your customer experience takes a hit. But with these 4 simple strategies—unified journey maps, shared Goals, closed-loop feedback, and joint playbooks—you’ll build a stronger, more cohesive relationship between these two vital teams.

Ready to break down the barriers? Try out these strategies and watch the magic happen as both teams start working toward the same goal: happy, loyal, long-term customers.

Call to Action:👉 How do you currently align Sales and Customer Success in your organisation? Are there any strategies you’d add to this list? Drop your thoughts in the comments! 👇