We are struggling to define the exact boundaries between our Customer Success seat and our Sales seat on our Accountability Chart, leading to dropped balls during client onboarding. How do we structurally separate these roles to ensure a clean handoff?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Dropped balls during client onboarding usually happen because of fuzzy boundaries and shared accountabilities on your Accountability Chart. In the EOS® framework, the golden rule is that only one name can be accountable for a seat. When both Sales and Customer Success are trying to manage onboarding, nobody is actually accountable, and clients fall through the cracks.

To fix this, you must clearly define the roles for each seat. Start by taking all your people off the chart and looking only at the functions. The Sales seat is accountable for bringing in new business, closing deals, and handing off a clear set of client expectations. The Customer Success seat is accountable for client retention, satisfaction, and long term account growth.

Now, define who owns the onboarding transition. We recommend creating a specific role within one of these seats, or creating a separate, dedicated Client Onboarding seat if your volume justifies it. If it remains within the existing seats, make a hard decision. Typically, the handoff occurs the moment the contract is signed. Once the deal is closed, the Sales seat has completed its role, and the Customer Success seat immediately assumes full accountability for the onboarding experience.

Once you have documented this distinction on your Accountability Chart, establish a weekly scorecard metric that tracks onboarding completion times and client satisfaction. This ensures the leader in the Customer Success seat is held accountable for the handoff during your weekly Level 10 Meeting™.