One way to find someone who has a strong marketing and sales background is to recruit people who have international sales and marketing experience. Why? People who’ve worked in international sales and marketing often have been forced to take a much more generalist view of integrating those two functions than their counterparts who work in North American sales/marketing. Finding a talented individual who has a broader, more global view can provide a tremendous boost to your company, in terms of improving its ability to optimize its marketing and sales spending. When integrated properly, the workflows between the two departments and efficiencies that can be gained will drive more sales leads in your door and more revenue to your top line.
So if your company has a problem with silos between marketing and sales, think about finding new enlightened leadership that can take a more holistic approach. Also, consider cross-pollinating and cross-training different people by rotating salespeople into your marketing department and vice versa, so that they can develop a greater appreciation and experience on the other side of the fence from where they traditionally have worked. This will help you to improve integration and team building between those two groups within your company, and make you a lot more effective.