The Service Level Agreement (SLA) between Marketing and Sales is often treated as a ceremonial document - signed, filed, and forgotten. For the CMO focused on driving Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), the SLA must be a living, operational contract powered by a robust Go-To-Market (GTM) Effectiveness Framework. It's the mechanism that translates marketing investment into a predictable sales pipeline.
Here is the tactical framework for designing an SLA that moves beyond volume targets to guarantee quality follow-up and revenue contribution.
Step 1: Define the Shared Customer Journey and Hand-off Points
The foundation of a successful SLA is a mutually agreed-upon definition of the customer journey, eliminating ambiguity about who owns the lead and when.
- Move Beyond MQL/SQL: Establish clear, granular lead stages that reflect intent, not just form fills. For example:
- Marketing Qualified Account (MQA): An account that fits the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and has shown significant, multi-touch engagement.
- Sales Accepted Lead (SAL): A lead/account that Marketing passes to Sales, and Sales formally accepts as worth pursuing. This is the crucial hand-off point.
- Sales Qualified Opportunity (SQO): A deal where Sales confirms budget, authority, need, and timeline (BANT).
- Establish Qualification Thresholds: Define the specific behaviors that trigger an MQA. For instance:
- High-Intent: Demo request, pricing page visit, or attendance at an exclusive executive event.
- Mid-Intent: Viewing three case studies and spending 10 minutes on a key whitepaper within 30 days.
Step 2: Establish Guaranteed Service Commitments
This is the core of the SLA - the binding commitments that ensure speed and quality.
Marketing's Commitment to Sales (Quality & Volume)
Marketing commits to delivering a specific quantity of leads meeting the agreed-upon quality standards (MQAs/SALs).
Sales' Commitment to Marketing (Speed & Coverage)
Sales commits to prompt follow-up, ensuring Marketing's investment isn't wasted.
Step 3: Implement Monitoring and Escalation for Accountability
A robust GTM Effectiveness Framework ensures the SLA is operational through continuous measurement and immediate corrective action.
- Real-time Dashboards: Create a shared, centralized dashboard (in the CRM or BI tool) showing key SLA metrics: SAL Volume delivered, SAL Acceptance Rate, and Sales Follow-up Time. Transparency is non-negotiable.
- Automated Alerts: Use system triggers to alert managers when targets are missed.
- Marketing Miss: If the SAL Acceptance Rate drops below $75\%$, alert the Marketing VP to investigate lead quality.
- Sales Miss: If a High-Intent SAL isn't contacted within 4 hours, alert the Sales Manager for immediate reassignment/follow-up.
- The Weekly Revenue Review: Don't just meet to review activity. Meet to review SLA Performance and its correlation to Pipeline Creation. If follow-up time is slipping, Marketing can halt campaign spend until Sales catches up. If acceptance rate is low, Sales provides specific, actionable feedback on lead quality.
Step 4: Tie SLA Performance Directly to ARR
The ultimate measure of SLA effectiveness is its impact on revenue.
- Conversion Rate Tracking: The SLA should dramatically improve the conversion rate from SAL to SQO. This is the metric that proves quality.
- Velocity Measurement: Track Pipeline Velocity—the average time it takes for an SAL to move through the sales pipeline to a Closed-Won status. A well-executed SLA will decrease this time.
- Revenue Attribution: The goal is to maximize the percentage of ARR that is Marketing-Influenced. If both teams adhere to the SLA, this metric should rise predictably.
By treating the Marketing-Sales SLA not as a static policy but as the operational heartbeat of your GTM Effectiveness Framework, you ensure qualified follow-up and establish the reliable, predictable connection between marketing spend and sustainable ARR.
