One of the biggest tensions in growing companies exists between sales and operations.

Sales is constantly looking for opportunities to expand what the company can offer.

Operations is trying to deliver today’s work on time, on budget, and without mistakes.

Both are trying to move the company forward.

The problem is that they’re often pulling in different directions.

Not because either side is wrong.

Because there’s no process for deciding what it will take to successfully deliver something the company hasn’t done before.

Here’s what often happens.

A salesperson uncovers an opportunity that requires producing something the company has never done before—or at least hasn’t done very often.

Sales sees potential.

“If we can figure this out once, we could probably sell a lot more of these.”

They’re probably right.

The problem is that nobody asks what it will actually take to produce it before the proposal goes out.

Operations looks at the opportunity and thinks:

“Let’s get through this week’s work first, then we’ll figure out how to make it.”

It sounds reasonable.

Except this week’s work never ends.

Tomorrow brings another production schedule.

Another install.

Another rush order.

Another customer who needs something immediately.

The new opportunity keeps getting pushed to the back of the pile because the known work always feels more urgent than the unknown work.

By the time the team finally turns its attention to the project, the delivery date is approaching.

Now they’re trying to learn a new process under deadline pressure.

Instead of researching suppliers, testing methods, documenting the workflow, identifying risks, and determining the true production cost, they’re improvising.

That’s when mistakes happen.

Schedules slip.

Rework increases.

Other customers get delayed.

The customer who trusted you with something new becomes disappointed.

Ironically, the opportunity that could have become a profitable new capability ends up feeling like proof that the company should never have accepted the job in the first place.

I don’t think that’s the right lesson.

The lesson is that companies need a structured way to decide what’s worth learning before they promise they can do it.

I call it an Opportunity Alignment Review (OAR).

Before a proposal is ever written, sales, estimating, operations, and any technical experts spend a few minutes answering one simple question:

Are we aligned on what it will take to deliver what we’re about to promise?

Sales should be asking:

·      Is this a market worth entering?

·      If we master this once, can we sell it repeatedly?

·      Does it strengthen our strategic position?

·      Is the long-term opportunity worth the investment?

Operations should be asking:

·      What would we need to learn?

·      Who needs to be involved?

·      How much preparation time is realistic?

·      What additional costs should be built into the quote?

·      Once we figure it out, could we efficiently support selling more of this type of work?

Instead of reacting after the customer says “yes,” the company makes an intentional decision before the proposal is written.

The quote reflects the true effort.

The schedule includes time to prepare.

The customer receives realistic expectations.

And operations has the opportunity to learn the new capability the right way—not at the last minute.

We spend a lot of time talking about getting everyone in the same boat.

But getting everyone into the boat isn’t enough.

Everyone also needs an oar.

And an oar only works if everyone is pulling in the same direction.

When sales is rowing toward growth while operations is rowing toward stability, the company doesn’t move forward nearly as efficiently as it could. It zigzags, wastes energy, and frustrates everyone in the boat—including the customer.

An Opportunity Alignment Review (OAR) gets everyone pulling together before the company commits to a destination.

Sales understands what’s required to deliver the work.

Operations understands why the opportunity matters strategically.

Estimating prices the project with eyes wide open.

Leadership decides whether the opportunity is worth the investment.

When everyone is aligned before the proposal is written, the customer receives a realistic promise instead of an optimistic guess.

The companies that grow successfully don’t simply sell more.

They create a repeatable process for deciding what’s worth learning to sell next—and they make sure everyone is pulling in the same direction before they start rowing.