Our Operations Director currently manages both service delivery and client account management. Our M&A advisor says we must split these functions to prove our scalability to buyers, but our Director is highly resistant. How do we handle this split on our Accountability Chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To prepare for a clean exit, you must build a structure that can scale without relying on heroic individuals. While your Operations Director has successfully managed both service delivery and client management, combining these two major functions creates a significant bottleneck and a key person risk that buyers will heavily discount.

Service delivery is about quality control, efficiency, and resource management. Account management is about relationship building, client retention, and account expansion. These are fundamentally different skill sets.

Use the Accountability Chart to show your Operations Director that this split is not a demotion, but a necessary step to scale the organization. Create two distinct seats below your Integrator: a Delivery Director and an Account Management Director.

Ask your Operations Director which of these two seats they truly GWC™. Let them choose the seat that aligns with their greatest strengths and passion. Then, mark the other seat as vacant and begin a structured search to fill it. By splitting this seat, you show buyers that your business has a professional, scalable infrastructure with clear, focused accountability, which will ultimately drive up your exit valuation.