Our Head of Sales and Head of Marketing are constantly arguing over who is responsible for managing our CRM data hygiene and customer database. Both claim the other is dropping the ball. How do we resolve this operational conflict using our Accountability Chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This conflict is a clear sign of overlapping or undefined roles on your Accountability Chart. When two people are responsible for the same outcome, no one is.

To resolve this, you must look at the five major roles defined for each seat. Sit down with your Integrator, your Head of Sales, and your Head of Marketing. Review the Accountability Chart and define exactly where the CRM data hygiene belongs.

Marketing is typically responsible for generating leads and managing the early stages of the customer journey, while Sales is responsible for closing those leads and managing the pipeline. Therefore, Marketing should own the database up to the point of handoff, and Sales should own it from that point forward.

However, you still need a single point of accountability for the system itself. If your CRM is a shared tool, you must assign the accountability for its overall health, training, and database hygiene to one seat. This is often placed under Marketing, Sales Operations, or IT.

Once you decide which seat owns the CRM hygiene, update the Accountability Chart to reflect this. The leader in that seat must GWC the responsibility. This eliminates the grey areas and stops the finger-pointing.