05/28/2026
Here is a question more CEOs should ask before hiring another salesperson:
Would I invest in my own revenue engine?
Not in the product.
Not in the brand.
Not in the customer relationships.
In the engine.
Would you invest in a sales system where:
* Forecasting depends on leadership interpretation
* pipeline stages mean different things to different people
* New hires ramp slowly because no one has defined the work clearly
* CRM data is incomplete because the system does not help management make decisions
A strong revenue number can hide a weak revenue system.
And weak systems become very obvious the minute growth slows, a key seller leaves, or the founder tries to step back.
A lot of CEOs are trying to scale on top of a revenue engine they would never knowingly buy.
That is worth thinking about.
If you were evaluating your own company as an outsider, what part of the sales engine would make you nervous first?