• How would the key decision-makers be placed in communication with each other quickly so they could be informed and make a joint decision? What is their advance standard of how fast they would commit to making a decision? Would all of them be involved in the decisions related to financial commitments involved in decision-making? If not, who would be?
• Who inside and outside your

… [ Read more ]

Subject: Business Continuity / Crisis Questions

Decision-makers will inevitably see your idea from their own perspective. In other words, your idea must be expressed in terms that address the practical business concerns of the potential buyer. Below are hot button questions for C-level execs

• Chief Executive Officer: Will it increase the value of the firm?
• Chief Financial Officer: Where’s the return on investment?
• Chief Operations Officer: Can we execute on this plan?
• Chief Information Officer:

… [ Read more ]

Subject: Innovation Questions

As you consider building your own Value Growth Agenda, ask yourself the following questions:

Competitive position

• Is our market value growing as fast as it could?
• Do investors value our company fairly?
• Are we as profitable as our toughest competitors?
• Are we meeting our revenue and earnings growth targets?
• Have we created barriers to entry for new entrants in our industry?
• Can we pinpoint why customers choose us over our competitors?

Patterns and … [ Read more ]

Subject: Strategy Questions

• Have you established a program that will recruit the people you want rather than carbon copies of the people you have?
• Do you have experienced reps on the frontline and change agents at the top?
• Is your sales compensation system congruent with your enterprise´s economics?
• Do you review sales force size regularly, particularly with regard to whether the force is flexible enough to handle channel shifts, market changes,

… [ Read more ]

Subject: Sales Questions

1. What is your TSR aspiration? Is that aspiration appropriate given the expectations embedded in your stock price and the ability of your plans to deliver improved performance?
2. How much growth do you need in order to deliver on that aspiration? What target revenue-growth rate is required in order to meet your goal given the momentum contribution of other TSR drivers?
3. Will optimizing growth and margins

… [ Read more ]

Subjects: CEO / Executive Questions, Finance Questions

1. Market Share
   Are you gaining, holding or losing market share in each of the segments that constitute your business? Why? Against which competitors?
2. Customer Leverage
   What percentage of your product is sold to customers who have significant leverage over you? Which customers are they, and why do they have leverage? Please provide a list of your top 25 customers and approximate sales volume to each. How

… [ Read more ]

Subject: CEO / Executive Questions

1. What fundamental value will your current plans generate? Is that performance really defensible given the competitive dynamics of your industry? Is it enough to meet your TSR aspirations?
2. What are the market expectations embedded in your stock price? Is there a gap between what you can deliver and what investors expect? If so, do you have a plan for closing it?
3. What drives valuation multiples in

… [ Read more ]

Subject: CEO / Executive Questions

• Before you engaged our services, what was your impression of our company?
• How were those initial impressions satisfied during the course of our work?
• Why did you choose our company over the competition?
• If someone called you for a quick reference about us, what is the first thing that would come to mind?

Source: How to Get Your Message Across, Soft and Clear / Carl … [ Read more ]

Subject: Customer Questions

Most companies incorporate five basic building blocks into their financial reporting: the two sides (active and passive) of the balance sheet including the asset register, a profit-and-loss statement, an investment plan or budget, and some form of competitive benchmarking. Recently, shareholder-value-management indicators have been added to the list. These six measures answer some basic questions:

• How much capital do we have, what kind is it,

… [ Read more ]

Subject: Finance Questions

Scholar and ethics consultant Laura Nash suggests twelve questions that can help leaders avoid the mind game of over simplifying. The following questions may raise ethical issues not otherwise considered, or help generate a variety of “out of the box” alternatives. Before settling on a solution, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Have I specified the problem accurately?
2. How would I describe the problem if I were on

… [ Read more ]

Subject: Decision Making Questions