How to Build Product Messaging That Actually Aligns Product, Sales, and Marketing

Your product is brilliant. Your sales team is hungry. Your marketing team has great ideas. So why do your sales reps sound nothing like your marketing campaigns? And why does your product roadmap feel disconnected from what both teams are saying?

Product messaging alignment is the answer. It’s the foundation that ensures your product story stays consistent whether it’s delivered by marketing campaigns, sales pitches, or product demos. When product, sales, and marketing speak the same language about what you solve and why it matters, revenue flows more smoothly and deals close faster.

What you’ll learn in this guide:

• How misaligned messaging silently drains revenue and extends sales cycles

• A proven 3-part framework for building messaging that actually works

• Step-by-step instructions to align your teams using the Message House model

• Real examples and templates you can implement immediately

• Common mistakes to avoid and how to fix them

What Is Product Messaging Alignment?

Product messaging alignment is the practice of creating and maintaining consistent, buyer-focused messaging across product, marketing, and sales functions. It means all three teams understand the core value proposition, speak to the same customer pain points, and back up claims with the same proof points.

Without alignment, each team operates with a different narrative. Marketing talks about time savings. Sales emphasizes cost reduction. Product highlights features. Meanwhile, the buyer is confused about what problem you actually solve.

With alignment, something different happens: marketing warms up the prospect with messaging about their core pain point, sales picks up that thread and elaborates on how you solve it, and the product itself proves it through its design and functionality. The story is complete. The buyer feels understood. The deal closes.

Why Alignment Matters in Go-to-Market Strategy

Messaging alignment is a force multiplier for your entire go-to-market (GTM) strategy. Here’s why:

• Shorter sales cycles: Consistent messaging reduces confusion and builds trust faster. Prospects don’t have to decode conflicting claims across touchpoints.

• Higher close rates: When sales, marketing, and product tell the same story, buying committees gain confidence in your solution.

• Faster ramp time: New sales reps understand the story immediately and can start pitching with confidence.

• Stronger positioning: Aligned messaging makes your differentiation crystal clear, no competitor ambiguity.

Without alignment, the opposite happens. Prospects hear conflicting messages. Sales reps create their own pitches because marketing materials don’t resonate. Marketing campaigns target the wrong buyer personas because sales wasn’t consulted. Resources get wasted. Revenue stalls.

Who Needs Product Messaging Alignment

Every organization with separate product, marketing, and sales teams needs this. This includes:

• B2B SaaS companies (especially those with long sales cycles and multiple stakeholders)

• Enterprise software vendors (where alignment across regions matters)

• Product-led growth companies (where marketing educates and sales closes)

• Startups scaling their GTM (before misalignment becomes embedded in culture)

• Companies launching new products (where coordinated messaging is critical)

Why Messaging Misalignment Costs Revenue

The statistics are sobering. 68% of sales and marketing leaders cite poor communication as their top alignment challenge. Even more troubling: 53% of companies experience broken handoffs where sales follows up with less than 35% of marketing-engaged prospects.

In other words, more than half of the leads marketing generates never get meaningful sales attention. That’s not just a workflow problem, it’s a revenue leak.

The Three Roots of Misalignment

1. Siloed Goals and Metrics

Marketing teams are measured on lead generation volume, engagement rates, and brand awareness. Sales teams are measured on deals closed and revenue targets. When your incentives point in different directions, your messaging will too.

Marketing celebrates 500 marketing-qualified leads (MQLs). Sales looks at those 500 leads and decides only 50 actually fit their criteria. Neither team is wrong, they just never aligned on what a “good” lead looks like before the leads were generated.

2. Technology and Data Silos

Marketing uses one set of tools (marketing automation, analytics platforms). Sales uses another (CRM, sales engagement tools). They don’t talk to each other. Sales has real-time insights about what’s resonating with prospects, but marketing never hears it. Marketing has data about which content drives engagement, but sales doesn’t use it.

Without shared data, teams make decisions independently. Independent decisions lead to misaligned messaging.

3. Lack of Cross-Functional Collaboration

If product, marketing, and sales operate in isolation, messaging naturally becomes fragmented. Product builds features and decides how to describe them. Marketing translates that into campaign language. Sales improvises based on what they hear from customers. Three different narratives emerge.

The fix requires intentional collaboration, which many organizations skip because it’s harder than working in silos.

The Hidden Cost of Misalignment

Misaligned messaging creates a ripple effect:

• Extended sales cycles: Prospects confused about your value take longer to decide. If marketing says X and sales says Y, the buyer loses confidence.

• Lower conversion rates: Inconsistent messaging weakens your positioning and makes you look less credible.

• Wasted marketing spend: Marketing generates leads, but sales ignores them because the messaging doesn’t match what they need. Budget spent on campaigns that don’t feed the pipeline.

• Turnover and frustration: Sales teams get frustrated with poor-quality leads. Marketing teams get frustrated that sales ignores their efforts. Good people leave.

• Longer onboarding for new reps: New salespeople have to figure out the “real” story on their own. This slows ramp time and creates inconsistent pitches.

According to research from HubSpot and the Sales Management Association, strategic sales clarity accounts for 31% of the difference between high-performing and low-performing sales organizations. That’s enormous.

How Alignment Drives Revenue Growth

Contrast that with aligned organizations. When product, marketing, and sales speak the same language:

• Marketing generates leads that sales actually pursues. No more waste, no more skepticism. Marketing metrics improve because the leads they generate get follow-up and convert.

• Sales reps close deals faster. They’re not rewriting the narrative to match customer needs, they’re scaling a proven story.

• New products launch faster. Because alignment is already built in, you don’t have to negotiate messaging after you launch.

• Customers have a consistent experience. From first ad impression to onboarding, the product story remains coherent.

One B2B SaaS company we studied shifted to aligned messaging and saw a 20% increase in sales-qualified leads (SQLs), a smoother handoff from marketing to sales, and a tripling of sales adoption of marketing content. That’s the power of alignment.

The 3-Part Framework for Aligned Messaging

Building messaging alignment doesn’t require a massive restructuring. It requires a clear framework that product, sales, and marketing can rally around.

The best framework is the Message House, a visual and structural approach that organizes messaging into three layers:

1. The Roof (your core value proposition)

2. The Pillars (your supporting message themes)

3. The Foundation (your proof points)

Think of it as a blueprint everyone can reference.

Part 1: Establish Your Core Value Proposition (The Roof)

Your core value proposition is the single, most compelling statement about what you do and why it matters to your target customer.

This is your roof, the overarching shelter under which all other messages live.

A strong value proposition answers three questions:

• What problem do you solve?

• For whom?

• How are you different?

Bad value proposition: “We provide analytics software.”
(This is a feature. It doesn’t explain why anyone should care.)

Strong value proposition: “Help revenue leaders make faster, smarter decisions with real-time insights into pipeline health and forecast accuracy.”
(This is outcome-focused, customer-centric, and specific.)

Your value proposition should be:

• Specific and measurable: Avoid vague words like “improve” or “better.” Say “increase” or “reduce” with numbers when possible.

• Customer-centric: Focus on the outcome they achieve, not the features you built.

• Differentiated: Explain why you’re different from alternatives.

• Memorable: It should be short enough to repeat in an elevator pitch.

Once you have your core value proposition, every marketing message, sales pitch, and product announcement should trace back to it. It becomes your north star.

Part 2: Define Your Messaging Pillars (The Supporting Beams)

Your messaging pillars are the 3–5 core themes that support and reinforce your value proposition.

Each pillar represents a key benefit or outcome your product delivers. Think of them as the main storylines that support your core message.

Example pillars for a project management tool:

1. Pillar 1 – Streamline workflows: “Get your team’s work visible and organized in one place, eliminating context switching and duplicate work.”

2. Pillar 2 – Accelerate execution: “Track progress in real-time and identify blockers before they derail deadlines.”

3. Pillar 3 – Reduce overhead: “Spend less time in meetings and status updates, more time doing actual work.”

Each pillar should:

• Address a specific customer pain point. Don’t create pillars around features you think are cool, create them around problems customers actually have.

• Be supported by proof. Every pillar needs evidence: customer quotes, metrics, case studies.

• Be distinct. Don’t overlap. If two pillars sound the same, you have too many.

• Adapt to different personas. The same underlying pillar might be framed differently for different buyers. For a CFO, “Reduce overhead” means cost savings. For an operations manager, it means team morale and efficiency.

Your three pillars become the backbone of all marketing campaigns, sales decks, and product communication. They ensure consistency without boring repetition.

Part 3: Build Proof Points (The Foundation)

Proof points are the specific evidence that backs up your pillars: customer testimonials, case studies, metrics, feature demonstrations, awards, and success stories.

Proof points transform claims into credible, believable statements.

Weak claim: “Our tool streamlines workflows.”
Claim with proof: “Our tool streamlines workflows. Over 5,000 teams across marketing, ops, and product use [Product] to organize work, reducing meeting time by 30%.”

Effective proof points include:

• Customer quotes: Direct, specific language from real customers about their pain and transformation. Not generic testimonials, specific, problem-focused quotes.

• Metrics and case studies: “XYZ customer reduced project delivery time by 40%” or “ABC team increased task completion by 35%.”

• Product demonstrations: Show how features work in practice, not just the capability.

• Social proof: Customer logos, awards, integrations, or press mentions.

• Industry recognition: Third-party validation like G2 ratings, analyst coverage, or industry awards.

The key is to sprinkle proof throughout your messaging, not save it for the end. If you only bring up case studies at the bottom of your sales deck, you’re asking prospects to trust you for 20 minutes before proving you’re trustworthy. Instead, weave in a customer quote when you introduce a pillar. Include a metric when you describe a benefit. Lead with proof.

The Message House: A Practical Framework for Teams

Now that you understand the three parts, let’s see how they work together in the Message House model.

Structure of the Message House

THE ROOF (Core Value Proposition)
“Help revenue leaders make faster, smarter decisions with real-time pipeline and forecast insights.”

THE PILLARS (Supporting Message Themes)

THE FOUNDATION (Proof Points for Each Pillar)

How to Use the Message House Across Teams

• For Product: The message house clarifies what value the roadmap is building toward. Product leaders can reference the pillars when prioritizing features and deciding what’s in-scope. It prevents feature creep by keeping focus on the core value proposition.
• For Marketing: The message house is the content strategy blueprint. Every campaign, landing page, email sequence, and asset is built around the pillars. Marketing teams use it to ensure consistency, create content variations for different personas, and decide which proof points to highlight in each context.
• For Sales: The message house is the sales playbook. Sales reps reference it to understand how to position the product to different personas. They use the pillars to structure their pitches, adapt messaging for different objections, and know which proof points resonate with different buyer types. It prevents reps from inventing their own narratives and ensures consistency across the team.
• Document and distribute it: Create a one-page or two-page document that visually displays your message house. Share it with all three teams. Update it quarterly as you learn what resonates with customers.

How to Build Messaging That Sales Actually Uses

The best-crafted message house doesn’t matter if sales doesn’t use it. Here’s how to ensure adoption:

Involve Sales From Day One

Don’t build your messaging framework in a marketing or product silo. Include sales from the beginning.

Here’s why: Sales has real-time intelligence about what resonates with buyers, what objections come up, and what messaging actually closes deals. Marketing and product have important perspectives too, but without sales input, you’re missing critical market feedback.

How to involve sales:

• Include 2–3 top sales performers and a sales leader in the messaging workshop.

• Ask them: “What pain points do you hear most often? What questions do prospects ask? What’s hardest to sell?”

• Let them push back on proposed messaging. If they don’t think it’ll work, it probably won’t.

• Once you’ve drafted pillars, share them with the broader sales team and get feedback before finalizing.

Create the Messaging Matrix for Different Personas

Your message house gives you the core story. But different buyers care about different things.

A messaging matrix adapts your core pillars for different personas, buyer journey stages, or use cases.

Example: If your product helps both executives (C-suite) and practitioners (operators), your pillars might emphasize different benefits:

The underlying benefit is the same. The framing is different. This ensures your messaging resonates with each stakeholder’s priorities.

Build Sales-Ready Content From Your Framework

Once your pillars and proof points are defined, create sales assets directly from them:

• Sales one-pagers for each pillar (1 page, pillar title, 2–3 benefits, relevant proof points)

• Objection handling guides that pair common objections with relevant proof points

• Persona-specific pitch decks that lead with the most relevant pillar for that persona

• Competitive battle cards that position your pillars against competitor claims

• Email templates that weave in proof points naturally throughout the customer journey

Make these assets readily available in your CRM or content management system. Tag them by pillar, persona, and stage so sales reps can find them quickly.

Best Practices for Aligned Messaging

Best Practices: Do’s

1. Lead with customer pain, not product features. Start with “Companies waste 8 hours weekly managing project data” before you mention your dashboard.

2. Use specific metrics, not vague claims. “Save time” is weak. “Reduce time spent on manual updates by 5 hours per week” is strong.

3. Adapt messaging by persona. The CFO cares about ROI. The practitioner cares about ease of use. Same product, different emphasis.

4. Sprinkle proof points throughout messaging, not at the end. Back up each claim immediately with customer evidence.

5. Make your proof points specific and recent. “Trusted by 10,000 customers” is generic. “Reduced forecast inaccuracy by 23% in Q1 2025” is credible.

6. Involve sales in the feedback loop. Ask them monthly: “Is this messaging landing with prospects? What should we change?”

7. Update your messaging quarterly. As market conditions shift and you learn what resonates, evolve your pillars and proof points.

8. Create a living document, not a static PDF. Use Google Docs or a shared wiki so teams can reference and update easily.

9. Establish shared KPIs. Define what success looks like for both marketing (SQLs, conversion rate) and sales (deal size, win rate) so both teams are pulling in the same direction.

10. Hold regular alignment meetings. Monthly syncs between product, marketing, and sales prevent drift.

Common Mistakes: Don’ts

1. Don’t confuse features with benefits. “We have a mobile app” is a feature. “Manage projects from anywhere” is a benefit.

2. Don’t create pillars without customer validation. If you haven’t heard these benefits come directly from customer conversations, don’t claim them.

3. Don’t let messaging get too tactical or fluffy. Avoid vague language like “best-in-class” or “innovative.” Be specific about what problem you solve.

4. Don’t lock your messaging in a static document. If the messaging framework becomes a static one-time deliverable, it becomes outdated and ignored.

5. Don’t expect alignment without structure. Alignment doesn’t happen accidentally. You need regular cadences, shared documents, and cross-functional feedback loops.

6. Don’t use proof points without context. A statistic alone doesn’t persuade. Pair it with a customer quote or narrative that explains why it matters.

7. Don’t expect sales adoption without sales training. Share the message house, but also train sales teams on how to use it, when to apply each pillar, and which proof points matter for different objections.

8. Don’t ignore the flywheel. Sales learns what works in the field. Marketing should be collecting that feedback and updating messaging based on it. If feedback goes into a black hole, alignment breaks down.

Real-World Examples and Case Studies

A mid-market SaaS company (50 person team, $20M ARR) was struggling. Marketing generated 100+ leads monthly, but sales only followed up with 30. The teams had conflicting views of what a “good” lead looked like.

The problem: Marketing was targeting broad personas (any “project manager”) while sales wanted highly specific profiles (project managers at companies with 200+ employees). Marketing talked about “ease of use,” but sales discovered customers cared more about integrations and reporting.

The solution: The two teams sat down, built a message house together, and created a messaging matrix for different company sizes and industries. Marketing adjusted campaign targeting to match sales’ ideal customer profile. Sales trained reps on the three pillars and provided pre-approved messaging language.

The results:

• Lead volume dropped 20% (expected, they were more targeted)

• Sales follow-up increased from 30% to 80% (sales found the leads worth pursuing)

• Conversion rate improved 35% (more qualified prospects + aligned messaging)

• SQL-to-close rate improved by 22%

• Sales adoption of marketing content tripled

The lesson: Alignment often means smaller volumes but higher quality. The trade-off is worth it.

Message House Example: Project Management Tool

ROOF: “Give teams the clarity and momentum to deliver work on time.”

PILLARS:

1. See the whole picture – Centralize all project work in one dashboard so nothing slips through cracks

2. Unblock execution – Surface blockers instantly so teams can resolve them before deadlines miss

3. Work smarter, not harder – Automate status updates so teams spend less time reporting and more time shipping

PROOF POINTS:

• Pillar 1: “Teams reduce status update meetings by 40%” (metric) + “We went from 3 hours of project meetings to 1.5 hours weekly” (customer quote)

• Pillar 2: “Average project delay reduced from 8 days to 2 days after switching” (metric) + Case study from [Customer Name]

• Pillar 3: “Team members say they’re more productive within first 30 days” (qualitative) + “Adoption rate of 94% in first month” (metric)

Proof Points Done Right

Weak: “We help teams collaborate better.”

Strong: “Our customers report a 30% increase in task completion rates within the first month. One ops leader told us: ‘We finally have visibility into who’s doing what, and it’s incredible.’ Teams also report spending 40% less time in status meetings.”

Notice the strong version:

• Leads with a specific, credible metric

• Includes a direct customer quote in their voice

• Provides multiple proof points (quantitative + qualitative)

• Makes the benefit tangible (less meeting time = more work time)

Tools and Systems for Messaging Alignment

Building alignment requires both process and tools. Here’s what you need:

Messaging Frameworks and Templates

Collaboration and Documentation Tools

Sales Enablement Platforms

Content Management and CRM Integration

1. How often should we update our messaging?

We recommend quarterly reviews (every 3 months) where product, marketing, and sales sit down and ask: “Is this messaging still resonating? What are we hearing from the market? What should we adjust?” You don’t need to overhaul everything quarterly, but you should tune it based on customer feedback and market shifts. Some companies update monthly if they’re in a fast-moving market or launching frequently. The key is a regular cadence, not a static document.

2. What if our sales team keeps ignoring the messaging framework?

Resistance usually signals two things: either the messaging doesn’t match what actually works in the field, or sales wasn’t involved in building it. Go back to step one: involve sales in the workshop. Ask them what’s not landing. Update the framework based on their feedback. Then train reps on how to use it (don’t assume they’ll figure it out). Make it easy to access in the CRM. Celebrate when you see it used. Alignment requires adoption, and adoption requires buy-in from the people who’ll actually use it.

3. Can a startup have a message house, or is this only for big companies?

Every company needs aligned messaging. For startups, the message house is actually more critical because you’re usually one tight-knit team. Build it early, when you’re still learning product-market fit. Your message house will evolve as you scale, but establishing this discipline from day one prevents misalignment from becoming part of your culture. You can build a simple version on a Google Doc in a single workshop session.

4. How do we align messaging when we have multiple product lines?

Create a master message house for your brand or company, then create separate message houses for each product line. Each product house should trace back to the company-level value proposition, but can have product-specific pillars and proof points. Use the messaging matrix to show how each product serves different personas or use cases. This prevents one product’s messaging from cannibalizing another’s.

5. What’s the difference between a message house and a messaging matrix?

A message house is a hierarchical structure that organizes your core message (roof), supporting themes (pillars), and proof points (foundation). It’s about creating a unified story. A messaging matrix takes that core story and adapts it across different dimensions: personas, buyer journey stages, industries, channels, or products. The message house is your foundation. The messaging matrix is how you scale and customize it for different audiences.

6. How do we measure if our messaging is actually working?

Track these metrics: (1) Marketing metrics – lead quality, SQL conversion rate, time to SQL; (2) Sales metrics – time to close, win rate, average deal size; (3) Content engagement – which assets get used most, which proof points generate the most clicks; (4) Customer feedback – ask customers which messaging or pillars resonated most; (5) Qualitative feedback – regularly ask sales and marketing: “Is this messaging landing?”

7. Should we include pricing in our messaging framework?

Your core value proposition and pillars should focus on the problem you solve and the outcome customers achieve, not pricing. Pricing is a separate conversation that happens later in the buyer’s journey. That said, your proof points might include ROI calculations or cost savings metrics that make pricing feel justified. Keep pricing out of the message house, but make sure your supporting content (sales decks, ROI calculators) demonstrates value relative to investment.

8. How do we create proof points if we’re a brand-new company with no customers?

This is a real challenge. Start with (1) founding team credentials and expertise; (2) product demonstrations and early user feedback from beta customers or advisors; (3) third-party validation (industry analyst coverage, awards, press mentions); (4) comparative analysis showing how you differ from alternatives. As you gain customers, migrate to case studies and testimonials. For newer companies, transparency about your journey can actually be a powerful proof point, “We’re built by [credible founder] who spent 10 years in this space.”

9. What if sales and marketing fundamentally disagree on the messaging?

This is a sign that you don’t have agreement on target customer and ideal customer profile (ICP). Before you can align on messaging, both teams need to agree on: who are we selling to, what problem do they have, and what matters most to them. Run a discovery session where you answer these questions from first principles. Get sales to share what they’re seeing in the market. Get marketing to share the data on buyer personas. Usually, disagreement on messaging reflects disagreement on strategy. Solve the strategy question first, then messaging becomes easier.

10. How do we prevent messaging from drifting as our company scales?

Documentation + regular reviews + designated ownership. One person (ideally your head of product marketing) should own the messaging framework and set the quarterly review cadence. Make the message house a living document that’s easy to find and update. When teams propose new campaigns or sales pitches, they should sanity-check them against the message house. If something doesn’t fit the framework, pause and discuss. This prevents drift caused by individual teams doing their own thing.

Key Takeaways

• Product messaging alignment ensures product, sales, and marketing tell the same story to buyers. When they don’t, sales cycles extend, conversion rates drop, and revenue leaks silently.

• The Message House framework organizes messaging into three layers: the Roof (core value proposition), the Pillars (3-5 supporting themes), and the Foundation (proof points). It’s a blueprint all three teams can reference.

• Involve sales from day one. Sales has the most direct customer insight. Without their input, your messaging won’t land in the field.

• Create a messaging matrix to adapt your core pillars for different personas, industries, and buyer journey stages. Consistent core story, customized delivery.

• Proof points must be specific, recent, and woven throughout. Avoid generic case studies at the end of presentations. Lead with customer evidence.

• Update your messaging quarterly. Markets shift, customers evolve, and you learn what resonates. Your messaging framework should be a living document, not a static artifact.

• Establish shared KPIs and regular cadences. Alignment doesn’t happen accidentally. You need monthly syncs, shared metrics, and accountability across teams.

Resource

• The Complete Guide to Product-Market Fit

• Sales Enablement Content Strategy: A Step-by-Step Approach

• How to Build an Effective Sales Playbook

• Customer Pain Points: How to Research and Position Solutions

• Go-to-Market Strategy for Product Launches

• How to Define Buyer Personas That Align Sales and Marketing

Recommended Books

• “Cracking the Sales Management Code” by Jason Jordan and Michelle Vazzano – Addresses the structural and execution gaps between sales strategy and on-the-ground execution, with emphasis on alignment.

• “The Art of SEO” by Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, and Jessie C. Stricchiola – While SEO-focused, this book covers messaging clarity and audience alignment principles applicable to go-to-market messaging.

• “Inspired: How to Create Products Customers Love” by Marty Cagan – Explores how product teams should think about solving customer problems, foundational to building product messaging that resonates.

YouTube Resources and Channels

• “Product Messaging That Sells” by Pragmatic Institute

• “The Message House Framework Explained” by Aventi Group

• “Sales and Marketing Alignment in 2025” by HubSpot Academy

Tool Stack for Product Messaging Alignment

Messaging & Positioning Framework Tools

• Aha! Messaging Templates

• Messaging Brief Template (Notion)

• Miro Messaging Workshop Template

Collaboration & Documentation

• Google Docs

• Notion

• Miro

• Confluence (Atlassian)

• Loom

Sales Enablement & Content Management

• Seismic — Enterprise platform for managing sales enablement content with tagging, analytics, and personalization

• Highspot — Sales enablement platform with content management, coaching, and analytics

• MindTickle — Sales training and content management with built-in coaching

• Guru — Knowledge base and content search tool for helping sales teams find relevant messaging fast

• Dock — Sales content collaboration platform for organizing and sharing enablement content

CRM & Data Integration

• HubSpot CRM — Integrated all-in-one platform with messaging, templates, and sales enablement

• Salesforce — Enterprise CRM with marketing cloud, sales cloud, and content management

• Pipedrive — Sales-focused CRM with activity tracking and content management

• Freshsales — CRM designed for sales teams with built-in sales engagement and messaging

Analytics & Feedback

• Gong — Record and analyze sales calls to understand what messaging resonates in the field

• Chorus — Sales conversation intelligence to validate messaging effectiveness

• Google Analytics 4 — Track engagement with messaging across website content and campaigns

• HubSpot Content Hub — Integrated analytics for tracking engagement with marketing content

Research & Customer Insights

• Typeform — Survey tool for gathering customer feedback on messaging and positioning

• Intercom — Customer communication platform with built-in messaging tools and customer feedback

• SurveyMonkey — Customer surveys to validate messaging pillars and messaging resonance