Part 3 of 3 | Inspired by Episode 13, Doing It for Retention Podcast
The perceived tension between sales and customer success is one of the tech industry’s most persistent myths. Walk into any SaaS company and you’ll hear the complaints. Sales oversells. CS deals with the mess. Sales prioritises quantity over quality. CS bears the consequences.
But what if this friction isn’t inevitable? What if the problem isn’t the functions themselves, but how we’ve designed their incentives, responsibilities, and relationships?
The Myth of Opposition
The reality is that sales and customer success are solving remarkably similar problems through different phases of the customer journey. Both roles require building trust with customers. Both demand the ability to navigate complex organisational structures. Both involve managing expectations, handling objections, and ultimately driving commercial outcomes.
The idea that they exist in opposition often stems from poor organisational design rather than fundamental incompatibility. When the system pits these teams against each other, they’ll respond accordingly. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Where the Friction Really Comes From
The tension typically emerges from misaligned incentives. When both teams are compensated for the same revenue, competition becomes inevitable. When sales can hit targets by passing questionable deals to CS, quality suffers. When CS owns renewal revenue but has no input on deal quality, resentment builds.
Consider the classic scenario: sales brings in a deal that’s not quite the right fit. Maybe the customer’s needs don’t perfectly align with the product. Maybe there are unresolved concerns that got glossed over in the rush to close. Sales hits their number, moves on to the next opportunity, and CS inherits a customer relationship that’s starting from a position of weakness.
From the CS perspective, this feels like being set up to fail. From the sales perspective, CS is being overly cautious and risk-averse. Both perspectives have validity, which is precisely why the system needs to change.
Designing for Collaboration
Smart organisations address these issues through structural changes, not just cultural initiatives or team-building exercises. The solution lies in clear delineation of responsibilities and ensuring compensation structures reinforce collaboration rather than competition.
One effective approach: have CS own the first renewal. This creates immediate accountability for deal quality. Sales can’t just throw deals over the fence if CS is responsible for renewing them. Suddenly, both teams have aligned incentives around bringing in sustainable, successful customers.
Separating compensation plans eliminates competing interests. If sales is compensated for new logos and CS for retention and expansion, they’re not fighting over the same pot. Each team has clear ownership of their metrics whilst still being tied to the same overarching company objectives.
Clear handoff processes matter too. What information needs to be shared? What commitments were made? What concerns exist? When these transitions are formalised rather than ad-hoc, fewer things fall through the cracks.
The Power of Cross-Functional Understanding
Beyond structural changes, genuine understanding between teams makes an enormous difference. Sales professionals who’ve spent time in CS roles understand the downstream impact of their decisions. CS professionals who’ve experienced the sales process appreciate the challenges of pipeline generation and deal qualification.
CS should be involved in sales calls, not just for handoffs but throughout the sales process. Their ability to share customer stories and speak to real-world implementation makes them invaluable in closing deals. And their presence ensures they understand the context and commitments being made.
Similarly, sales teams benefit from understanding what happens after the deal closes. Spending time with CS – joining customer calls, seeing implementation challenges, understanding what successful versus struggling customers look like – makes them better at qualifying opportunities.
A Day in the Life
It’s worth dispelling some myths about what each function actually does. CS professionals often don’t fully understand the sales role – the constant rejection, the pressure of pipeline generation, the frustration of deals that go nowhere after months of work.
Sales professionals sometimes underestimate the complexity of CS work – the juggling of multiple accounts, the challenge of demonstrating value when implementations are imperfect, the difficulty of having commercial conversations with customers who are struggling.
Both roles are harder than they look from the outside. Both require resilience, commercial acumen, and interpersonal skills. Recognition of this shared challenge creates empathy and mutual respect.
Moving Forward
The Sales-CS relationship doesn’t have to be adversarial. With proper incentive design, clear processes, and deliberate efforts to build cross-functional understanding, these teams can operate as genuine partners.
The best SaaS organisations recognise this. They structure their go-to-market teams around the full customer lifecycle, not siloed functions. They create shared objectives and celebrate shared wins. They ensure both teams understand they’re solving the same problem: sustainable, successful customer relationships that drive company growth.
For professionals in either function, understanding this broader context makes you more effective. For organisations, getting this relationship right isn’t just about reducing friction—it’s about unlocking the full potential of your go-to-market engine.
The question isn’t whether sales and CS can work together. It’s whether your organisation is designed to make that happen.
About ABR Talent
ABR Talent specialises in connecting exceptional professionals with leading SaaS companies. Whether you’re making your first move into tech or seeking your next leadership role in customer success or sales, we understand the unique challenges and opportunities in the market.
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