Mémoire-projet

Abstract

This master's thesis examines how effective collaboration between the marketing and sales functions can strengthen the commercial strategy and performance of DJM digital, a Belgian digital agency of 26 employees. The central research question asks to what extent and through which modalities effective salesmarketing collaboration can contribute to strengthening DJM digital's commercial strategy and performance. Four sub-questions address the barriers to collaboration, the coordination mechanisms in place, the influence of the inbound/outbound duality, and the tools likely to sustain the interface. The study adopts an action-research stance, combining a qualitative case study with the deployment of an operational pilot. Data were collected through eight semi-structured interviews, participant observation, internal documents, and a research journal documenting a "smarketing" pilot device implemented between April and June 2026. The findings reveal an SMI in transition, positioned between the defined and aligned stages of Kotler et al.'s (2006) typology. Collaboration functions well on client projects but remains under-structured regarding DJM's own internal communication. The main barriers are not relational conflicts but cognitive tensions and a strong dependence on a single pivotal managerial function. The thesis proposes four original concepts to interpret these dynamics, a variable-geometry SMI, a cognitive nonencounter, a paradoxical facilitator, and a combinatorial complexity specific to hybrid digital SMEs. On a managerial level, the thesis provides a structured diagnosis and nine operational recommendations, partly operationalized through the pilot, which collected 73 sales inputs over two cycles and led to a redefinition of DJM's internal communication objectives. A PDCA approach supports the reflexive evaluation of the project and its continuous improvement. Despite its single-case design and the researcher's insider position, this study demonstrates the relevance of action research for studying the SMI in vivo and offers a transferable framework for digital SMEs seeking to align their sales and marketing functions.