Our sales leader blames operations for poor delivery, while our operations leader claims sales is closing unqualified deals with impossible deadlines. How do we use EOS tools to end this war at the leadership table?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The war between sales and operations is common, but tolerating it destroys gross margin, client retention, and company culture. The root cause is almost always mismatched Scorecard measurables and vague Core Processes.

Start at the V/TO. Examine your Target Market and Proven Process. If sales is closing deals outside your defined ideal customer profile or promising delivery terms outside your documented operational scope, sales is failing GWC for their seat. Redefine the handoff criteria directly on the Accountability Chart so boundaries are explicit.

Next, realign your Scorecard metrics. If your sales leader is measured solely on gross revenue while operations is measured on delivery timeline, you have built structural conflict into your compensation and tracking. Introduce shared measurables: measure sales on contract gross margin, client churn within ninety days, or percent of deals closed within operational scope. Measure operations on SLA compliance and standard delivery margin.

Finally, bring specific friction points directly to the Issues List during your Level 10 Meeting. Use IDS to identify the root cause of the last three failed customer handoffs. Do not accept generalizations. Inspect the signed contract, the scope of work, and the timeline. When operational processes are objective and measurable, personal finger-pointing disappears.