Our Sales team keeps promising custom delivery timelines to close deals, which completely wrecks our Operations schedule and ruins our margins. How do we fix this blame game using our Accountability Chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a classic structural conflict that occurs when seats on your Accountability Chart are not clearly defined or when there is a lack of accountability at the handoff points. To fix this, you must look at the five core roles of both your Head of Sales seat and your Head of Operations seat.

Sales is typically accountable for bringing in revenue that fits your target market profile, while Operations is accountable for delivering that product or service efficiently and profitably. When Sales makes unrealistic promises to close a deal, they are actively damaging the profitability role of the Operations seat.

You resolve this conflict by defining a clear handoff agreement and writing it directly into the roles of both seats. For the Sales seat, add a role or measurable that requires all custom quotes or delivery timelines to be approved by Operations before a contract can be signed. For the Operations seat, create a role for setting clear capacity and lead-time guidelines that Sales must follow.

Once these boundaries are established on your Accountability Chart, bring any violations to your weekly leadership Level 10 Meeting™ to IDS® the issue. By forcing both leaders to align on their structural responsibilities rather than pointing fingers, you protect your margins and build a repeatable, scalable delivery process that is highly attractive to future buyers.