Sales Strategy & Planning Flashcards
7 cards from real CSM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Sales Strategy & Planning flashcards as text
A CSM is reviewing quarterly performance and finds that 80% of revenue came from 20% of accounts. This observation should inform which strategic decision?
Answer: Prioritize resources and expansion efforts on the high-value account segment
The Pareto principle in sales directs managers to concentrate retention, upsell, and referral efforts on the top-performing account cohort.
What is the key risk of setting quotas that are consistently unattainable by more than 50% of the sales team?
Answer: Rep attrition, morale decline, and distorted pipeline reporting
Chronically unattainable quotas drive top performers to leave, lower effort levels among remaining reps, and incentivize pipeline inflation.
In territory design, 'geographic concentration' of accounts within a rep's territory primarily benefits:
Answer: Travel efficiency and relationship density
Geographic concentration reduces travel time between customer visits, allowing reps to build denser, more frequent relationships within a manageable area.
A sales plan includes a 'coverage model' section. What does the coverage model define?
Answer: How many reps, channels, and resources are deployed against each market segment
The coverage model determines resource allocation—headcount, channel mix, and touch frequency—required to effectively address each target segment.
Which of the following best describes a 'hunter' versus 'farmer' sales role distinction in strategic planning?
Answer: Hunters focus on acquiring new business; farmers focus on growing and retaining existing accounts
Hunters are optimized for new business acquisition while farmers focus on account expansion and retention, requiring different skills and compensation structures.
A strategic account plan for a key customer should always include:
Answer: Account history, stakeholder map, revenue potential, and next 90-day action plan
A complete strategic account plan maps relationship health, decision-maker hierarchy, growth whitespace, and time-bound actions to protect and expand the account.
What is the purpose of a 'sales capacity plan' in annual planning?
Answer: Calculating how much revenue the current or planned sales headcount can realistically generate
A sales capacity plan models ramp times, productivity rates, and headcount to determine whether existing resources can hit revenue targets or if hiring is needed.