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The CEO as Sales Manager: Asking the Right Questions

The CEO as Sales Manager: Asking the Right Questions

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In growing small and mid-sized companies, the CEO is often the company’s best salesperson. As the company grows, so does the sales team, but the CEO seldom is able to totally abdicate a role in sales.

Our sales pipeline guide offers tips for:

Whether you’re acting as the sales manager or about to hire a sales manager for the first time, one of the most important skills is asking great questions. You should have visibility into:

  • What’s the pipeline value?
  • What’s the seasonality of the customer’s buying cycle?
  • When do deals close?
  • At what stage are deals getting stuck?

For each opportunity, your sales team should be able to answer:

  • Who owns the next step?
  • What’s the customer’s decision making process?
  • Does the customer have a budget or are they seeking a budget?
  • What is the decision date? Contract start?

Questions like these set the stage for truthful, supportive discussion, collaborative problem solving, and process-oriented action, which helps cut out false optimism and can give you a truer sense of your revenue forecast.

 

Download the Sales Pipeline Guide for more tips on building a productive sales organization.

Download Sales Pipeline Guide

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