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The No Smoke And Mirrors Pre-Strategic Planning Checklist

Here’s the No Smoke and Mirrors™ Pre-Strategic Planning Checklist we’ve developed around the No Smoke and Mirrors process. Our goal is to prepare teams to write strategic plans that drive explosive growth.

The No Smoke and Mirrors core principle :

Assess → Sense-Make → Strategize → Execute.

Below is the list we have used for over 30 years to help senior leadership teams prepare for strategic planning.

The No Smoke And Mirrors™ Pre-Strategic Planning Checklist

  1. Sales Effectiveness Assessment.

  • Do we have the right people in the right sales roles?
  • What are each salesperson’s strengths and weaknesses?
  • Can they hunt, farm, cross-sell, and grow key accounts?
  • Can they reach and sell to decision-makers?
  • Can they sell value rather than default to price?
  • Can they qualify opportunities effectively?
  • Can they negotiate and close?
  • Can sales managers coach and hold the team accountable?
  • What capability gaps could prevent execution of the new strategy?

  1. Voice of Customer Interview Insights

  • Why do customers buy from us?
  • What factors drive customers to switch to competitors?
  • What do customers value most?
  • What problems do we solve particularly well?
  • Why do customers leave?
  • What would make customers buy more?
  • What products/services are they asking for?
  • How do customers describe our value proposition—in their words?
  • What changes are occurring in their businesses?
  • What unmet needs or new opportunities are emerging?

  1. Transaction Data

    Look beyond total revenue.

  • Revenue by customer
  • Revenue by salesperson
  • Revenue by product/service
  • Revenue by market/vertical
  • Average order size
  • Purchase frequency
  • Customer retention
  • New vs. existing customer revenue
  • Cross-sell/upsell penetration
  • Customer concentration
  • Lost/inactive customers
  • Three-year trends

  1. Net Profit Analysis

    This is where the picture often changes.

  • Net profit by customer
  • Net profit by salesperson
  • Profit leaking customers
  • Net profit by product/service
  • Net profit by market
  • Gross-margin trends
  • Discounting
  • Cost-to-serve
  • Freight, rework, returns, and warranty costs
  • Customers producing revenue but destroying EBITDA

 

No Smoke & Mirrors question: Where are we actually making money—not simply generating revenue?

 

  1. Industry & Market Trends

    I’d use a PESTEL analysis here:

  • Political
  • Economic
  • Social
  • Technological
  • Environmental
  • Legal/regulatory

Then add:

  • Market growth/decline
  • Competitor changes
  • Consolidation/M&A
  • New entrants
  • Substitute solutions
  • AI/automation
  • Tariffs and supply-chain changes
  • Labor availability
  • Interest rates/capital investment
  • Changes in buyer behavior

  1. Competitive Position

  • Who are our real competitors?
  • Where do we consistently win?
  • Where do we lose?
  • Why?
  • How are competitors positioning themselves?
  • Where are we truly differentiated?
  • Which supposed differentiators are really table stakes?
  • What would customers say makes us different?

  1. Sales Pipeline & Process

  • Pipeline coverage
  • Pipeline quality
  • Win rate
  • Sales cycle
  • Average deal size
  • New opportunities created
  • Conversion by stage
  • No-decision rate
  • Lost opportunities
  • Forecast accuracy
  • CRM adoption/data quality
  • Decision-maker and stakeholder coverage

  1. Operational Capability & Capacity

    Before planning aggressive growth, know your numbers:
  • Where are we currently at capacity?
  • Where do we have excess capacity?
  • What happens operationally if sales grows 20%?
  • What jobs/customers create operational chaos?
  • Where are the bottlenecks?
  • What additional people/equipment/capital will growth require?
  • At what sales level should we add capacity?
  • Can variable-cost partners handle overflow until that point?

  1. People & Leadership

  • Do we have the right leadership team?
  • What positions will growth require?
  • Where are our succession risks?
  • Is the leadership team aligned?
  • What roles need to change?
  • Where are we overly dependent on the owner/CEO?
  • Are responsibilities and accountability clear?
  • Do managers have the skills required for the next stage of growth?
  • Do leaders talk about what matters?
  • Does your culture support psychological safety?

  1. Financial Current State Data

    Before setting a three-year revenue target, we need to know:
  • Revenue
  • Gross margin
  • EBITDA
  • Cash flow
  • Working capital
  • Debt
  • Capex requirements
  • Revenue/customer concentration
  • Break-even
  • Desired EBITDA
  • Capacity investment triggers

 

This no-smoke-and-mirrors pre-strategic planning checklist has produced the best use of the strategic planning offsite meetings and created plans teams could execute. Plans that drove explosive growth.
We are entering the business fall strategic planning season.
If you wish to update or write your strategic plan, let’s schedule a call.

 

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