CES Sales Strategy & Pipeline Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When qualifying an international prospect for your export pipeline, which factor is MOST critical to evaluate first?
- The prospect's social media presence
- The prospect's ability to pay and creditworthiness (Correct answer)
- The number of employees at the prospect's company
- Whether the prospect has a modern website
Correct answer: The prospect's ability to pay and creditworthiness
Creditworthiness is the primary qualification factor because export transactions carry payment risk across borders with limited legal recourse.
Question 2: A company using a 'pull' export sales strategy primarily relies on:
- Outbound cold calling to foreign distributors
- Creating end-user demand so channel partners seek out the product (Correct answer)
- Sending sales representatives door-to-door in target markets
- Offering the lowest price in every target market
Correct answer: Creating end-user demand so channel partners seek out the product
A pull strategy generates demand at the end-user level, motivating distributors and retailers to carry the product.
Question 3: Which export sales channel typically offers the LOWEST per-unit margin but the LOWEST market-entry cost for an SME?
- Direct sales force in-country
- Wholly owned foreign subsidiary
- Export management company (EMC) (Correct answer)
- Joint venture with a local partner
Correct answer: Export management company (EMC)
EMCs handle export logistics and distribution for a commission or markup, reducing the exporter's net margin but requiring minimal upfront investment.
Question 4: In the CES framework, 'pipeline velocity' measures:
- The speed of international shipping transit times
- How quickly deals move through each stage of the sales funnel (Correct answer)
- The number of new leads added per quarter
- Currency exchange rate fluctuations affecting deal value
Correct answer: How quickly deals move through each stage of the sales funnel
Pipeline velocity tracks the rate at which opportunities progress from prospecting to close, helping forecast revenue timing.
Question 5: An exporter discovers that a key prospect in Germany is already working with a competitor. The BEST strategic response is to:
- Immediately cut prices to undercut the competitor
- Identify unmet needs the competitor is not addressing and position accordingly (Correct answer)
- Abandon the prospect and focus on easier targets
- Copy the competitor's product features exactly
Correct answer: Identify unmet needs the competitor is not addressing and position accordingly
Identifying competitive gaps allows differentiated positioning rather than a destructive price war.
Question 6: Which document is most commonly used to formally initiate an export sales relationship with a foreign distributor?
- Bill of lading
- Distributor agreement (Correct answer)
- Certificate of origin
- Pro forma invoice
Correct answer: Distributor agreement
A distributor agreement defines territory, performance expectations, pricing, and terms governing the ongoing sales relationship.
Question 7: A company sets a 'funnel conversion benchmark' of 20% from qualified lead to closed deal. If the pipeline has 50 qualified leads, the expected number of closed deals is:
- 5
- 10 (Correct answer)
- 20
- 25
Correct answer: 10
50 qualified leads × 20% conversion rate = 10 expected closed deals.
CES Sales Strategy & Pipeline Management 2
When qualifying an international prospect for your export pipeline, which factor is MOST critical to evaluate first?