When I first moved from IT delivery into consulting and then Sales, I learned quickly that what breaks most client relationships isn’t technology, it’s misalignment.
Sales, Consulting and Delivery live in different worlds, yet they’re all accountable for the same outcome: a satisfied client.
Too often, I see great sales teams promise the world and great delivery teams inherit the aftermath.
The issue isn’t intent; it’s communication.
Sales is focused on creating opportunity.
Delivery is focused on mitigating risk.
Both are essential, but if they don’t talk early and often, trust cracks before the first milestone is even met.
The Cost of the Disconnect
I’ve seen companies lose clients they worked months to win simply because the handoff was rushed. The sales team celebrated the close while delivery was scrambling to understand what was actually sold. Expectations weren’t just missed, they were never aligned to begin with.
That disconnect doesn’t just hurt one deal; it damages brand reputation.
In today’s interconnected world, every project is a reference. If your sales and delivery teams aren’t working in sync, every win carries the risk of becoming a warning story.
Here's a solution that worked brilliantly from my own personal experience.
I learned a very valuable lesson years ago that I have retained and used ever since.
The major consultancy I was working for had a shocking, and somewhat revolutionary idea.
Why don't we train Sales, Consulting and Delivery on not only the same course, but the same day and even the same room. Shocker.
So, what happened?
There was lots of eying each other up, pacing around the room and resistance funnily enough mostly from Senior Management Consultants who were so wonderful and considered Sales as "Morally Bankrupt". And that is a direct quote. And remember we all worked for the same company.
A quick sanity check and question - "Who pays your salary and how do we get business so you can demonstrate your greatness?", calmed things down a bit, and we progressed.
Over the next week we went through a tremendous sales process, but with the input from Consulting and Delivery and at the end we were role playing, running scenarios, and having some great fun.
But more importantly each part of the organization had a much better understanding of the point of view of the others, what was important and how to sing from the same hymn sheet.
Subsequently we were working as a team, got consulting and delivery involved as soon as practicable, no-bid many more deals early, and won the majority of the deals we went after.
Presidents club was in Florence, Italy. Thank you very much.
The Consulting Team were always totally booked, the clients loved their insight, so extension and expansion assignments went through the roof. They learned to look around while working with a client and became almost self sufficient
The Delivery Team, became a key team member in deals much earlier, said NO a lot, but also CSAT went way up, and they were out looking for expansion in existing clients and I would get lots of "Hey Jim, did you know?", type calls. And what salesman doesn't like that?
Bridging the Gap
At GBUS, our philosophy is simple: sales, consulting and delivery are all part same team and trust equation. Here’s how to bring them together:
Recognize that the team is Top to Bottom. Communicate lots and often. Nobody likes surprises
Involve Delivery Early. When possible, introduce your technical or operations during the early stages. It’s not about slowing the process. It’s about showing the client you’re aligned and confident in what’s possible. It's not about running a committee, but avoiding pitfalls, miscommunication and bad outcomes. Only thing worse than a lost deal is a won deal that's bad.
Create shared responsibility. Communicate When all sides are measured on customer success and retention, collaboration becomes second nature. As does follow on business.
Build learning loops. Before every engagement, have a plan, know what you are working to. After an engagement hold a short, honest debrief with all teams. What went well? What didn’t? How can we improve next time? Very quickly it will become second nature.
Where Trust Multiplies
Key Takeaway: The best companies don’t just sell well or deliver well—they connect the two through shared ownership, transparency, and trust.