Let’s say what everyone is afraid to say

Sales thinks Product is slow.
Product thinks Sales is chaotic. In fact, product loves the saying, "sometimes you need to slow down to speed up".

Both are right.

But neither understands why — and the misunderstanding is killing deals, slowing momentum, and creating internal politics that make your job a misery.

Here’s the simplest explanation you’ll ever hear.

Sales is built for speed

Sales is the only job at most companies where the take home pay is dictated by performance. This is a fundamental difference other parts of the company do not appreciate enough.

Sales lives in:

  • daily cycles
  • weekly targets
  • monthly quotas
  • fast-moving pipeline
  • shifting priorities
  • real-time feedback
  • high-pressure signals
  • emotional intensity
  • immediate outcomes

Sales culture is:

  • adapt quickly
  • respond fast
  • remove friction
  • maintain momentum
  • course-correct instantly
  • fight for the customer
  • win the quarter

Speed is the job.

 

Product is built for stability

Product's job, historically, has been the keeper for the most scarce resource a company has, engineers. Product lives in:

  • quarterly planning
  • roadmaps
  • cross-team dependencies
  • engineering constraints
  • customer interviews
  • prioritization frameworks
  • long-term market bets
  • sprint cycles
  • tradeoffs

Product culture is:

  • minimize risk
  • validate assumptions
  • protect engineering
  • prevent thrash
  • avoid rework
  • optimize long-term impact
  • solve root problems

Stability is the job.

 

So of course they clash

Sales: “This is killing deals, we need to move.”
Product: “We need evidence and a clear scope.”

Sales: “We’re losing momentum.”
Product: “We’re not going to blow up the roadmap for one deal.”

Sales: “We know exactly what customers want.”
Product: “You’ve talked to five. We’ve talked to hundreds over months.”

Sales is urgent.
Product is thorough.

This is a cultural mismatch — not an attitude problem.

 

The CRO’s nightmare scenario

You get stuck between:

  • reps who feel unheard
  • PMs who feel overwhelmed
  • executives who want clarity
  • buyers who want urgency
  • engineers who want stability
  • a roadmap that feels disconnected
  • deals slipping because of missing features

You become the translator, mediator, and political operator — none of which you were hired to be.

 

Why AI changes the game

AI removes the core friction between these cultures.

It can:

  • translate sales urgency into product-ready clarity
  • extract patterns from every Gong call
  • show frequency and segments
  • validate themes at scale
  • generate problem statements
  • create user stories
  • show exactly what customers want
  • align sales speed with product evidence

Suddenly:

Sales isn’t chaotic — it’s data-rich.
Product isn’t slow — it’s informed.
Engineering isn’t blindsided — it’s aligned.
Leadership isn’t confused — it’s empowered.
Deals stop slipping — they accelerate.

AI creates shared truth.

 

The CRO takeaway

Sales and Product will always move at different speeds.
That’s not the problem.

The problem is the lack of a translation layer that harmonizes the two.

With the right insight pipeline, you get:

  • Sales urgency
  • Product clarity
  • Engineering confidence
  • Leadership trust
  • Customer alignment
  • Faster deals
  • Fewer internal fights
  • A roadmap that reflects reality

Because the goal was never to make Product faster.
It was to make Product informed.