Worked exchange

A short dialogue on a role page: the leader's question, the answer read from a named table with its row and citation, and the next question it prompts. It shows what an answer with a table behind it sounds like, and how few words it needs.

DefinitionA short dialogue on a role page: the leader's question, the answer read from a named table with its row and citation, and the next question it prompts. It shows what an answer with a table behind it sounds like, and how few words it needs.

No adjectives

The answer is a figure, a row and a reason. "Difficult month" is not in it.

Three questions, three tables

A worked exchange rarely needs more. The fourth question is the action.

How it is used

A short dialogue on a role page: the leader's question, the answer read from a named table with its row and citation, and the follow-up. It shows what a good answer sounds like.

Example

Question: whose forecast can I not trust? Answer: two reps, from the bias table, at plus 19 and minus 12 percent over four quarters. Follow-up: which deals explain it.

Where it goes wrong

Answers with adjectives. Strong, healthy and on track are not rows in any table.

Articles that use this term

Wallet share and penetration

How to present a gap to a customer: the conversation the data supports

A rep has a gap list that says a customer spends a third of what similar customers do on a line. What they say in the room decides whether the number helps or offends. This guide sets out what the gap is evidence of and what it is not, the framing that works, similar customers, their basket, the customer's own trend, the questions the rep asks before proposing anything, the data the rep should never show, and three worked conversations.

16 Sept 20262 min read Coverage and territory · Telecoms and connectivity

Ten questions a B2B telecoms sales director asks, and the table that answers each

The ten questions a business telecoms sales director puts to the account managers, what is site penetration and is the estate current, which sites are near their capacity, which contracts end in the notice window untouched, which orders are stuck in provisioning and where, which customers' estates have closed sites still billed, what is product attach per site against the norm, which customers could co-terminate, which sites went quiet, which account managers cover at cadence, and what changed, each with the table from billing, the estate file, the contract register and the usage export, and the answer to send back.

16 Sept 20263 min read Wallet share and penetration · Construction and building materials

Ten questions a builders' merchant managing director asks, and the table that answers each

The ten questions the managing director of a builders' merchant puts to the branch managers, which trade accounts buy below their trade's norm, which accounts were opened and never used, which good payers are stuck at their credit limit, which contractors won projects nearby and have no account, which accounts lapsed against their own cadence, what is category share per branch, which branches have not typed their accounts, which counter customers deserve an account, what is contribution per account after drops and returns, and what changed, each with the table from the ledger, the account master, the credit file and the project data, and the answer to send back.

16 Sept 20263 min read Board and management reporting

Ten questions a CFO asks about sales data, and the table that answers each

The ten questions a chief financial officer puts to the commercial team, does the sales number reconcile, how concentrated are we, what is the base worth, is the forecast believable, where is revenue leaking, what does it cost to serve the top accounts, are credits under control, is the pipeline real, what did the discounting cost, and what changed, each with the computed table that answers it, the identity that makes the answer trustworthy, and the answer a CFO should refuse.

16 Sept 20263 min read Board and management reporting · Supply chain

Ten questions a chief operating officer asks about supply and service, and the table that answers each

The ten questions a COO puts to the supply chain and service functions, which suppliers are deteriorating, where is single-source risk, what is the lead time really, where is inventory ageing, which sites are short and which are long, is the demand plan biased, what are we paying early for nothing, which accounts consume the most service, are we meeting the SLAs we signed, and what changed, each with the computed table, the identity behind it, and the answer a COO should send back.

16 Sept 20263 min read Procurement and supply chain · Procurement

Ten questions a chief procurement officer asks, and the table that answers each

The ten questions a CPO puts to the category managers, how much spend do we actually manage, where is off-contract buying coming from, did the savings reach the ledger, how many suppliers are in the tail and which to keep, are we paying to terms, where is single-source risk, which suppliers are slipping, is the contract price being applied, which contracts expire when, and what changed, each with the computed table from the payables ledger and the contract register, the identity behind it, and the answer a CPO should not accept.

16 Sept 20263 min read