Owner

The owner sets the goals of the business and decides the resources for sales: budget, people, prices and the discount you may give. They are usually not in the department's daily work, but they carry the risk. If you are the head of sales, the owner is the main customer of your work. They hired you to change something, and your report goes to them.

The owner does not need to open the CRM to see your work, but your report is built from it. Revenue, the forecast, pipeline coverage and the main lists come from there. The owner adds what no system holds: what matters most this quarter, what they will not change, and how much they will spend before results show.

For example, the owner decides how much to spend on advertising and what discount is allowed.

Example (invented numbers): in a company with four sellers, the owner gets a one-page report every Friday and a 20-minute call every two weeks. The report holds the weekly numbers, the forecast in three versions and up to three questions that need a decision.

Most of what you bring is a question about resources. More inquiries need advertising budget, so bring the cost per inquiry and CAC. A discount to close a deal this month needs the profit per deal. A hire needs the forecast that would pay for it. Bring a number with a proposal, and it can be decided on the call.

In small companies the owner often still sells or handles the largest customers. Treat those deals like any other: they go into the CRM, get a next step and come up at the pipeline review. Otherwise the forecast misses them, and the team learns that the rules are optional.

• Reporting only good news. When a gap shows up late, the owner has no time left to react. Show the cautious forecast and the risks as soon as you see them.
• Bringing problems without proposals. “The leads are bad” hands your work to the owner. Bring the number, two options and the one you recommend.
• Agreeing on goals once and never rereading them. Goals drift when nobody checks them. Write them in the owner’s words and open them on every regular call.
• Letting decisions reach sellers past you. A change agreed in a hallway breaks the rhythm. Agree with the owner that changes for the team go through you, and that you report back on them.

By Friday, the head of sales sends the owner a one-page report: the weekly numbers, the forecast in three versions and up to three questions that need a decision. Each question comes with your proposal. In the same message, ask for a regular slot in the owner’s calendar. Settle the day and time of the next talk before the week is out.

A weekly meeting on stuck deals that ends with a decision and an owner for each.