As a CEO or business owner, you know that your sales leader plays a key role in driving revenue and developing your sales team. But are you holding regularly scheduled meetings with your sales leader to ensure they’re maximizing their impact?
Way too often, CEOs assume their sales leader has everything under control. However, without structured, strategic one-on-one CEO sales leader meetings, even the most experienced sales leaders can miss opportunities to improve performance, develop their team and hit company goals.
That’s why Lisa Peskin, CEO of Business Development University (BDU), has been helping CEOs take a more active role in coaching their sales leaders. As a new Vistage speaker, Lisa has been working with business leaders to help them conduct impactful one-on-one meetings with their sales managers to drive revenue growth and maximize results.
During her Vistage presentations, Lisa provides CEOs with a Sales Leader Planning and Review Tool, which she created to help guide these conversations. This structured framework helps CEOs hold their sales leaders accountable, track key performance indicators (KPIs) and ensure they’re focused on the right priorities.
Want a copy of Lisa’s Sales Leader Planning and Review Tool? Just contact us and we’ll email it right over to you!
Why CEO Sales Leader Meetings Matter
Your sales leader has a one-line job description: to help maximize the performance and potential of each individual on their team, as well as the team as a whole. However, many sales leaders get caught up in the daily grind and don’t take a step back to focus on big-picture strategies that drive results.
As the CEO, your role isn’t to micromanage but to ensure your sales leader has:
- A clear vision for where the team is headed
- A plan to coach and develop each team member
- Accountability measures to stay on track
- The right tools and strategies to drive revenue growth
The key is to turn your CEO sales leader meetings into strategic conversations that focus on the areas that truly will help move the needle.
How to Structure Your CEO Sales Leader Meetings
Here’s how you can make the most of your one-on-one meetings and help your sales leader achieve real, measurable success.
1. Start with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Goals
The first step is to check in on progress toward key metrics. These could include:
- Sales pipeline and revenue targets
- Conversion rates and close ratios
- Team performance metrics (e.g., calls made, appointments set)
Instead of just reviewing numbers, ask questions to help you focus on solutions instead of just tracking statistics. These might include:
- What’s working well?
- Where are we falling short and why?
- What’s the game plan to turn things around?
2. Address Staffing and Team Development
A sales leader is only as strong as their team. Use this time to discuss:
- Hiring and turnover – Do we have the right number of the right people?
- Coaching plans – How are we helping underperformers improve?
- Recognition and incentives – Are we motivating top performers?
Ask questions to keep your sales leader focused on building a high-performing team rather than just chasing numbers, such as:
- Who on the team needs extra coaching right now?
- What skills would make the biggest impact if improved?
- Are we rewarding the right behaviors and results?
3. Identify the Top Three Areas for Improvement
Not all problems are created equal. Guide your sales leader to triage their team and pinpoint the three biggest areas that, if improved, will have the most significant impact.
This could be:
- A specific salesperson who needs extra support
- A sales process bottleneck that’s slowing deals down
- A training gap that’s preventing the team from closing more business
Helping your sales leader focus on a few high-impact changes keeps them from feeling overwhelmed and ensures continuous progress, and some questions to pose might include:
- If you could improve just one thing this month, what would it be?
- What’s the plan to address it?
- How can I support you in making it happen?
4. Align on Next Steps and Action Items
Great meetings don’t just end with a discussion. They finish with a clear plan of action. Ask your sales leader to summarize their top priorities for the next 30 days and set concrete next steps, and agree on accountability check-ins to track progress. Some priorities may be:
- Implement a new training program for the team
- Increase coaching sessions with struggling reps
- Fine-tune the sales process to speed up deal cycles
The Sales Leader Planning and Review Tool: A Game Changer for Your CEO Sales Leader Meetings
To make these meetings even more impactful, BDU’s Sales Leader Planning and Review Tool provides a structured framework to help you and your sales leader ensure you’re:
- Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) and goals
- Evaluating sales team strengths and areas for growth
- Holding sales leaders accountable for coaching and development
- Focusing on the top three areas that will drive the biggest results
This tool helps keep your conversations productive, strategic and action-driven so your sales leader isn’t just managing but truly leading and developing the team.
Want a copy of this tool to use in your next one-on-one meeting? Just contact us!
Final Thoughts: Make Every Meeting Count
Your CEO sales leader meetings shouldn’t feel like a routine check-in. Instead, they should be strategic sessions that lead to real improvements. By following this structured approach and using the Sales Leader Planning and Review Tool, you’ll help your sales leader stay focused on the right priorities, develop their team, drive stronger performance and take ownership of key growth initiatives.
Ready to take your CEO sales leader meetings to the next level? Simply enter your contact information below to get your own downloadable copy of our Sales Leader Planning and Review Tool. Start driving bigger, better results today!