E.122 - Who Owns Growth? Sales vs Marketing vs Customer Success (Revenue Leadership Debate)

Here’s a question most companies get wrong: Who really owns growth in a scaling company?Sales says, “We close it.”Marketing says, “We generate it.”Customer Success says, “We expand and retain it.”They’re all right.And that’s exactly the problem.In this episode of What Makes You Tick, we host a live debate between senior revenue leaders across Sales, Marketing and Customer Success to answer one big question:👉 Who actually owns growth — and why do most companies treat it like an individual sport?Inside this conversation, we unpack:Why growth breaks down in the handoffs between teamsRevenue ownership vs growth ownershipThe tension between pipeline creation and pipeline conversionWhy Customer Success is still underestimated as a growth engineWhat true GTM alignment actually looks likeThe difference between individual performance and system performanceThe highest leverage move founders can make to accelerate growthIf you’re scaling from $10M–$200M ARR, this conversation will feel very familiar.Growth doesn’t live inside departments.It lives in the system.🎙️ Meet the GuestsEric Hachmer https://www.linkedin.com/in/erichachmer/Fractional CRO and revenue strategist. Eric works with scaling B2B companies to build predictable revenue engines, align GTM teams, and turn strategy into execution. He specialises in enterprise sales leadership, revenue architecture, and building accountable growth systems.Neil Grayhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/neilsgray/Fractional CMO and B2B growth operator. Neil partners with founders and leadership teams to sharpen ICP clarity, drive demand generation, and build marketing engines that support sustainable revenue growth — not vanity metrics.Andrea Bumsteadhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/andreabumstead/Fractional CCO and Customer Success leader. Andrea helps scaling SaaS companies turn retention, expansion, and customer experience into competitive advantage. She focuses on aligning CS to revenue outcomes and long-term customer value.🎙️ About the Host – Richard WashingtonRichard Washington is co-host of Making Revenue Tick, GTM recruiter, and trusted advisor to B2B SaaS companies scaling from $0M to $250M+ ARR.He helps founders build revenue teams that actually perform — with strategy, talent, and execution that scales.🔗 Follow Richard on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/📩 Read his newsletter Growth Magnet → https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7083793079794556928If you’re a Founder, CRO, CMO, VP Sales, Head of CS, or revenue leader trying to build a high-performing GTM system — this episode is for you.Growth isn’t an individual sport.It’s a relay race.And if you’re arguing about who owns it… you might already have a gap.Subscribe for more conversations on revenue leadership, hiring multipliers, GTM alignment, and building self-managing growth systems.