8 Tips for Building Strong Relationships Between Operations and Sales
In today's competitive business landscape, the synergy between Operations and Sales is crucial for success. This article explores expert-backed strategies to strengthen this vital relationship. From leading with results to implementing structured knowledge sharing, discover practical tips that can transform your organizational dynamics.
- Lead with Results to Build Trust
- Coordinate Cross-Functional Debriefs
- Implement Structured Knowledge Sharing Opportunities
- Include Operations in Sales Meetings
- Organize Interdepartmental 'How It's Done' Days
- Practice Kindness for Better Collaboration
- Set Up Informal Check-Ins
- Assign Decision Owners for Alignment Sessions
Lead with Results to Build Trust
Start by showing results before asking for support. A lot of times, marketing teams go to sales or other departments with ideas and requests that don’t have anything to back them up. So it usually gets brushed off because it just feels like extra work.
Instead, lead with something that already worked. For example, run a quick email campaign that re-engages cold leads or test a landing page variation that bumps up demo requests. Then share those results in a clear, no-fluff way. Because when sales sees booked meetings or pipeline growth tied directly to a marketing move, the whole conversation shifts. It’s not just about getting aligned anymore. It’s about building on something that’s already working.
One practical tip is to deliver a small, measurable win first. Then share what happened, how you did it, and invite others to help scale it. Because results build trust way faster than decks or strategy docs.
Coordinate Cross-Functional Debriefs
One of the most effective ways I've found to build strong relationships with departments like sales and marketing is through regular cross-functional debriefs. These are short, focused meetings where we openly share updates, challenges, and upcoming priorities.
For example, every Monday morning, I coordinate with the sales team to review the week's planned shipments. I share any potential issues like port congestion or carrier delays, and they update me on urgent client requests or last-minute bookings. This helps us prevent last-minute chaos and ensures smoother execution.
My specific tip is to speak their language. Instead of just reporting operational details, I explain how those updates impact customer satisfaction, delivery timelines, or revenue targets. It shows that operations is not just about movement, but about contributing to the company's bigger picture.
When teams see that you're invested in their success, collaboration becomes natural and much more effective.
Implement Structured Knowledge Sharing Opportunities
Cross-departmental alignment isn't just a corporate buzzword—it's the backbone of operational excellence in the logistics world. My most effective strategy at Fulfill.com has been implementing what we call our weekly "Fulfillment Forum"—a 90-minute session where leadership from all departments shares insights, challenges, and wins.
Here's my specific tip: Create structured opportunities for transparent knowledge sharing across teams. When we were expanding our 3PL vetting process, our technology and operations teams had completely different visions for implementation. By bringing these competing viewpoints to our Forum, we developed a hybrid approach that ultimately improved our matching accuracy by 22%.
What makes this work isn't just the meeting itself—it's fostering a culture where leadership openly shares both successes and failures without ego. This transparency creates a foundation of trust that extends beyond formal meetings into daily operations.
I've seen this especially in the 3PL space, where marketing teams might focus on client acquisition metrics while operations teams prioritize fulfillment accuracy. When these teams operate in silos, the disconnect affects the entire customer journey. But when they regularly share data and insights, they create a seamless experience that retains clients.
Remember that alignment doesn't mean agreement on everything. The most innovative solutions often emerge from constructive disagreement in an environment where everyone understands they're working toward the same goal: helping eCommerce brands find their perfect fulfillment match.
Include Operations in Sales Meetings
One of the most effective ways we've built stronger alignment is by having operations team members regularly attend sales and marketing meetings. It's not about adding tasks but creating shared context.
A few years ago, we consistently encountered the same problem where our operations team would produce based on internal timelines, while marketing pushed promotions that didn't match our actual stock readiness. This created delays and, worse, frustrated customers. Instead of blaming each other, we changed the process.
Now, someone from our operations team joins the weekly sales call. They don't have to speak much, but just being in the loop means fewer surprises and better coordination. It also builds trust. When operations hear the pressure sales are under, they understand the urgency. And when sales hears why certain production timelines can't be rushed, they start communicating differently too.
That small shift helped reduce launch misalignment by more than 40% in our internal tracking. More importantly, it made people feel like they were on the same team, not working in separate silos.
Organize Interdepartmental 'How It's Done' Days
Building strong relationships with other departments within a company can be challenging. However, we have recently seen a dramatic change after implementing a "How It's Done" day. This consists of each team member putting together a fun presentation of how and what they do, and presenting it to all departments. We usually order in food and allocate it to our team bonding budget. All departments and their staff have responded really well to this, greatly improving our operations.
Practice Kindness for Better Collaboration
When it comes to building strong relationships with other departments to improve overall operations alignment, the most important thing in today's world is kindness. Kindness matters more than it ever has. Outside of work, we truly do not know what everyone has going on in the background of their lives. Even if you disagree with an approach another department is taking, as long as you are kind and provide reasonable discussion points that focus on the overall success of your project, you will see the other department wanting to work with you on the path to success. People will only work with others whom they like and trust, and that principle is built strongly on being kind to everyone.
Set Up Informal Check-Ins
One thing that has really worked for me is setting up regular, informal check-ins with other departments—just a quick coffee or a short call—to talk through challenges and goals. These conversations, like the huddles we have in football, let everyone feel heard and often spark ideas for smoother collaboration. By making the effort to connect personally, I've seen barriers break down and everyone feels more invested in our shared success.
Assign Decision Owners for Alignment Sessions
Schedule recurring, agenda-driven syncs with one point person from each department. These aren't status updates—they're alignment sessions where each team shares blockers, upcoming priorities, and what they need from others.
One change that made a difference for us was assigning each sync a rotating "decision owner." That person keeps the meeting focused and ensures we walk away with clear action items, not just notes.
