How to Build a High-Performing Marketing Team
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
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A high-performing marketing team doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built deliberately – through strong leadership, clear priorities and close collaboration with sales.
In the latest episode of The Insiders, Richard Lane is joined by Jessica Gilmartin, former CRO and CMO at Calendly, to unpack what really separates a high-performing marketing team from the rest.
With experience scaling marketing and revenue teams at companies like Calendly, Asana and Google, Jessica shares a refreshingly honest perspective on why many marketing teams struggle – and what it takes to build a high-performing marketing team that delivers real impact.
Why most marketing teams fail to perform
One of Jessica’s most striking observations is that most CMOs don’t succeed in building a high-performing marketing team – not because they lack ambition, but because the foundations aren’t in place.
High performance starts with people. Without the right team, no amount of strategy, tooling or budget will deliver consistent results. That means hiring well, managing rigorously, and being honest about whether individuals can scale as the business grows.
A high-performing marketing team is built with intent – not convenience.
What defines a high-performing marketing team
According to Jessica, the strongest marketing teams share a few non-negotiables:
A world-class team with clear standards
Confidence in their data and reporting
A compelling story shaped with direct input from sales
When these elements come together, marketing earns credibility across the business and becomes a true revenue-driving function.
This is where high-performing marketing teams separate themselves from busy marketing teams.
Listen to the podcast to learn how these foundations are built in practice.
Data and credibility: the backbone of marketing team performance
A high-performing marketing team doesn’t hide behind vanity metrics.
When marketing can’t clearly explain what’s happening in the funnel – or how activity links to revenue – trust quickly erodes with sales, finance and leadership.
Jessica shares real-world examples of disconnected systems, messy data and misaligned definitions – and why fixing them isn’t a “nice to have”, but a leadership responsibility.
High-performing marketing teams own the numbers, even when the truth is uncomfortable.
Working effectively with sales
One of the biggest barriers to building a high-performing marketing team is the relationship between marketing and sales.
Jessica challenges traditional thinking, arguing that marketing should treat sales as its customer. That means listening, learning what works in the field, and shaping activity around what helps deals progress, rather than launching campaigns in isolation.
When marketing and sales work closely together, marketing team performance improves across the entire funnel – from pipeline creation through to retention and expansion.
Listen to the episode for practical advice on making this work in real organisations.
From MQLs to revenue: refocusing marketing teams
One of the boldest takeaways from the conversation is clear: revenue matters more than MQLs.
A high-performing marketing team focuses on revenue impact across the full funnel – not just lead volume. That includes enabling sales, improving conversion rates, and supporting customer retention.
Marketing doesn’t stop at handover. High-performing marketing teams contribute long after the deal is closed.
Ruthless prioritisation: how high-performing marketing teams scale
Finally, Jessica makes a simple but powerful point: strategy is the art of prioritisation.
Most marketing teams don’t fail because they lack ideas – they fail because they try to do too much. High-performing marketing teams are ruthless about cutting what doesn’t work, reviewing priorities regularly, and keeping focus on what truly drives results.
It’s not about doing more. It’s about doing what matters.
Listen to the full podcast
This episode of The Insiders is packed with practical, hard-earned insight for leaders looking to build a high-performing marketing team that drives revenue and works effectively with sales.
