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Day 26: Sales vs. Operations: A Conflict Resolved by One Insightful Word.
13th May 2025
Hemang Patel
"My top two departments are always fighting."
This statement, shared by a passionate founder during a recent consulting session, started like just another day at the office.
She continued:
"Sometimes the clashes are healthy, but at times, they turn brutal and personal. Morale suffers. Egos bruise. And performance dips on both ends."
It sounded familiar. Most growing companies, even across Gujarat’s vibrant MSME landscape have been there.
Sales wants speed.
Operations wants stability.
And suddenly, you are firefighting emotional turf wars instead of building the business.
But what she said next gave me clarity on something deeper.
The Real Problem Was not People. It Was Perspective.
She explained:
"One team brings in business, sales and marketing.
The other ensures we deliver what is promised, operations and delivery."
That is when the realisation struck.
This was not a people conflict.
It was a functional misalignment between revenue and cost.
1. Sales and marketing: Growth-focused, target-driven and externally oriented.
2. Operations and delivery: Risk-aware, detail-driven and internally focused.
Different priorities. Different pressures. Different languages.
But expected to move in sync, daily.
This is not just her problem.
It is a universal business challenge:
How do you align two departments that are designed to pull in different directions?
The Shift That Changed Everything
We did not start with org charts, performance plans or restructuring.
We started with a single word.
Instead of calling operations a “cost function”, we reframed it as an “Investment Function.”
Because truthfully, isn’t that what it is?
1. Your operations deliver what your brand promises.
2.Your delivery team ensures clients return and refer.
3. Your backend does not just fulfil, it reinforces your credibility.
What we often label as cost is actually what keeps the customer.
It is not a drain on profit, but an investment in permanence.
What Happened Next?
Once the language changed, perception shifted.
1. Conversations became more respectful.
2. Sales began appreciating delivery’s constraints.
3. Operations started understanding the pressure of revenue targets.
4. Internal debates turned from blame to brainstorming.
The conflicts did not vanish, they became constructive.
From “us vs them” to “how do we win together?”
A Leadership Lesson for Every Founder.
If you are leading a growing business, whether a textile unit in Surat or a software firm in Ahmedabad, you have
likely felt this tug-of-war:
1. Sales wants “yes.”
2. Delivery fears “how.”
3. The founder is stuck in between.
The leadership challenge is not in preventing tension. It is in channelling it into performance.
And sometimes, the answer is not in strategy, but in semantics.
A small shift in vocabulary can create a big shift in mindset.
And that, in turn, can rewire how your teams think, talk and work together.
Over to You
Which word, or perspective, will you change this month?
Where can you reframe a friction point and turn it into a force for collaboration?
Sometimes, you do not need a new department.
You just need a new way of looking at the one you already have.
About My Journey
"Behind the Business" is where I document my wins, lessons and turning points as I build Consulthp.in - a solo
business consulting, training and coaching venture focused on solving real challenges for Micro and Small Enterprises
in Gujarat.
If you know a founder looking for a grounded, trusted and growth-focussed partner, I would love to be introduced.
