Why Disorganization Is Killing Your Sales Team (And How to Fix It)

You can have a great product, a smart team, and even a strong early signal in the market—but if your company is disorganized, your sales motion will suffer.

At Foundations, we’re often brought in to help companies with “sales issues.” But when we dig deeper, we find that the real problem isn’t sales—it’s how the organization is operating as a whole.

If your departments aren’t talking, your systems aren’t aligned, and your team is working in silos, it doesn’t matter how talented they are. You’ll stall out.

Here’s what’s really going wrong in disorganized startups—and how to fix it.

The Root Problem: Siloed Teams, Siloed Thinking

We see this constantly: operations doesn’t talk to sales, sales doesn’t talk to product, and product doesn’t talk to anyone. Everyone’s working hard, but they’re moving in completely different directions.

This misalignment almost always starts at the top. When co-founders aren’t communicating consistently, the teams they build start to operate in isolation too. Founders set the tone for how the company collaborates—or doesn’t.

And when that happens, the organization starts to rot from the inside:

• Teams blame each other for missed goals

• Standups become excuse sessions

• Product builds in a vacuum

• Sales pitches something marketing can’t support

• Marketing launches campaigns that don’t match what sales is actually selling
  

If this sounds familiar, the good news is it’s fixable. But only if you're willing to build connective tissue between your teams.

Step One: Cross-Team Communication (Daily)

The first thing we implement in disjointed organizations is a daily Kaizen-style standup. Here’s how it works:

• Every department shares what they’re working on

• They clarify what’s being completed that week

• They hear what other teams are pushing on

• Everyone has a chance to flag blockers or offer input
  
  

This kind of daily alignment eliminates finger-pointing and builds shared accountability. If product is blocked, everyone knows. If sales needs something, marketing hears it in real time. You stop operating in isolation and start building momentum.

Step Two: Use Shared Tools for Shared Goals

One of the biggest issues in disorganized companies is everyone using their favorite tool, none of which talk to each other. Sales is in HubSpot, product is in Notion, marketing is in Airtable, and nobody can see what anyone else is doing.

Instead, prioritize tools that create visibility across functions:

• Project management tools like Monday.com or Asana

• CRM tools like HubSpot that support sales, marketing, and customer success

• Centralized chat tools with structured Slack channels, not just DMs
  

This doesn’t mean using the most powerful tool in every category. It means using one shared tool where possible, so information flows freely and your team stays aligned.

Step Three: Structure How People Communicate

Slack can be either a productivity tool or a dumpster fire, it all depends on how you use it.

Create clear channels for specific workstreams. Set expectations like:

• “If it’s posted for review, respond in 48 hours or we move forward”

• “Use #announcements for updates, not chat threads”

• “DMs for 1:1, channels for team discussions”
  

Good structure builds clarity and velocity, especially in remote teams. It keeps collaboration visible and reduces friction across departments.

Step Four: Build Shared Respect Through Visibility

In early-stage startups, most people are heads-down. They don’t see what other teams are working on. Over time, that lack of visibility erodes trust.

Your product team doesn’t know that sales is doing 30 discovery calls a week.
Your marketing team doesn’t know that engineering is shipping updates every sprint.

Your customer success team doesn’t see how much thought went into that new feature.

Shared systems solve this. When teams can peek into each other’s work, they build mutual respect and self-govern better. They stop needing the founder to bridge every communication gap.

Step Five: Don’t Limit Ideas to the “Right” Departments

Sales doesn’t have all the best sales ideas.
Product doesn’t own all the best feature ideas.
Marketing doesn’t corner the market on positioning.

Some of the best work we’ve seen comes from cross-functional enrichment:

• A technical teammate asks a question that changes how sales pitches

• A product idea gets sharper when marketing weighs in

• A customer request sparks a content campaign
  

If your team is siloed, you’re not just disorganized. You’re cutting off the full potential of your ideas before they can grow.

Final Thought: Organization Is a Growth Lever

Being organized isn't just about being neat. It's about:

• Moving faster without chaos

• Building culture based on shared ownership

• Enabling ideas to cross-pollinate

• Scaling without losing clarity
  

Your team is the engine. Systems, tools, and communication are the oil. Without them, your GTM motion grinds down and stalls.

Build structure. Create visibility. And treat organization like the multiplier it really is.