We are experiencing major client churn, and both our Marketing seat and our Account Management seat are claiming they own client retention and upsell revenue on the Accountability Chart. How do we resolve this overlapping accountability so we have clear metrics and no more finger-pointing?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When two departments claim ownership of the same outcome, like client retention or upsell revenue, you will inevitably face dropped balls and finger-pointing. The core problem is that your Accountability Chart has overlapping roles, or you have not defined the exact handoff point between seats. In the EOS® framework, only one name can be accountable for a seat and its corresponding metrics.

To resolve this dispute, you must hold an IDS® session with your Marketing and Account Management leaders. Walk through these steps to draw a clean boundary:
- Define the primary metric. Decide who is ultimately accountable on the weekly Scorecard for net revenue retention. Usually, Marketing is responsible for lead generation and brand awareness, while Account Management is responsible for client satisfaction and recurring revenue.
- Clarify the specific roles. Rewrite the five core roles for both seats. Marketing should focus on creating up-sell collateral and automated email campaigns, while Account Management should own the direct client relationship and closing the actual upsell deals.
- Document the handoff. Create a simple, visual workflow that shows exactly when a client transitions from a marketing campaign to a direct sales conversation.

Once you align the seats on the Accountability Chart, update your Scorecard to reflect these distinct ownership boundaries. This eliminates confusion and ensures both leaders can focus on driving their specific numbers.