Our leadership team is currently running with a combined Sales and Marketing seat, and our VP is struggling to give both functions the focus they need. How do we determine when it is the right time to split this into two separate leadership seats?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Combining major functions like sales and marketing under one leadership seat is common in early-stage companies, but as you scale, this structural compromise inevitably bottlenecks growth. You must split the seat when the complexity of either function outgrows the capacity of a single leader.

Look for three clear signs that it is time to split the seat. First, review your scorecard and Rocks. If your marketing lead generation is consistently lagging while sales conversion is strong, or vice versa, it is a sign that one side of the seat is being neglected.

Second, look at the unique skill sets required. Sales and marketing require fundamentally different minds. Sales is about direct relationships, short-term pipelines, and closing deals. Marketing is about brand positioning, long-term audience building, and systems. It is rare to find a single leader who truly GWCs both functions at a high level.

Third, assess the capacity of the current seat holder. If they are working eighty hours a week and constantly feeling overwhelmed, they have hit their capacity ceiling.

To execute the split, update your Accountability Chart to create two separate seats, Sales and Marketing, each with five distinct roles. Determine which seat your current VP truly GWCs, and transition them to focus exclusively on that role. Then, launch a search to fill the other seat, ensuring your leadership team has dedicated focus on both critical functions.