Starting or maintaining your marketing and sales strategy with a strong foundation is easier said than done. Marketing strategies to improve sales are important, but without the right kind of focus and sales planning behind it, there will be no fruit to bear. By definition, marketing should directly correlate to revenue, as the lead generation function is part of the sales process. The key is that marketing and sales must be integrated with the same goals using consistent terminology, processes and systems. Marketing must not be satisfied with just creating a qualified lead — because the mutually shared goal is sales producing more revenue. As a result, marketing needs to focus on creating marketing qualified leads with a high propensity for the sales team to convert the close.