Our Integrator insists that every single number on our leadership Scorecard must be owned by a single seat, but our Sales and Operations seats are constantly fighting over who owns the weekly gross margin metric. How do we resolve this specific seat conflict?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Gross margin tension is a common point of friction between Sales and Operations. The solution lies in defining exact boundaries on your Accountability Chart. Multiple seats cannot own the same weekly Scorecard number. If two people own it, nobody owns it.

The Sales seat must own the estimated gross margin of contracts signed. They are responsible for pricing and scoping the work according to established guidelines. Put estimated gross margin of signed contracts on the Sales scorecard.

The Operations seat must own the actual delivered gross margin of those projects. They are responsible for execution, resource management, and cost control. Put actual delivered gross margin on the Operations scorecard.

If Sales closes a deal at a sixty percent margin, but Operations delivers it at forty percent, the breakdown is in execution, and the Operations leader must answer for it during the Level 10 Meeting. Conversely, if Sales discounts a deal to forty percent margin from the start, the Sales leader owns that deficit.

Resolving this conflict requires clean, distinct metrics on your weekly Scorecard that match the real-world boundaries of your seats. Keep the numbers separate, and use your weekly meetings to run IDS on any gap between estimated and actual performance.