Our Head of Marketing and our Head of Sales are constantly arguing about who is accountable for our customer acquisition costs. Both claim the metric belongs in their seat. How do we resolve this overlap on our Accountability Chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When two leaders argue over who owns a key metric, you have a structural flaw on your Accountability Chart. The golden rule of the Accountability Chart is that only one person can be accountable for any given seat, role, or metric. If two people share ownership, no one is truly responsible.

To resolve this, you must look at the natural flow of your customer journey. Marketing is responsible for generating interest and leads. Sales is responsible for closing those leads.

Break down the customer acquisition cost metric. Marketing should own the cost per lead, as they control the ad spend and campaigns. Sales should own the conversion rate and the cost per acquisition of the closed deal.

Update both seats on your Accountability Chart to reflect these specific roles. Marketing owns the top of the funnel, and Sales owns the bottom.

Once you have clarified these boundaries, bring both leaders together in your Level 10 Meeting to review the updated chart. This clean division of responsibility stops the finger-pointing and forces both departments to collaborate effectively to improve the overall acquisition numbers.