How to Build the Marketing & Sales Report Your CEO Wants in 2019

Why 2019 Demands a New Kind of Report

CEOs are no longer satisfied with a laundrylist of numbers. In 2019 they expect:

• Strategic relevance: each metric must tie directly to the companys growth goals.
• Actionability: the report should surface clear recommendations.
• Speed and clarity: a quick glance should reveal the health of the funnel.
• Visualization: data visualizations must be clean, consistent, and mobilefriendly.

StepbyStep Blueprint

1. Define Core Business Questions

Before you open Excel, list the top three questions your CEO will ask:

1. Are we hitting our revenue targets for Q4?
2. Which campaigns are delivering the highest ROI?
3. Where are we losing prospects in the funnel?

2. Choose the Right Metrics

Focus on a short list of highimpact KPIs that answer those questions.

3. Gather Data from a Single Source of Truth

Consolidate data in a cloudbased data warehouse (e.g., Snowflake, BigQuery). Avoid manual copypasting; use connectors for Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Analytics, and your ERP.

4. Build a OnePage Dashboard

Use a tool like Tableau, PowerBI, or Google Data Studio. Keep the layout simple:

• Top: Executive summary a headline metric with YoY change.
• Middle: Three visual blocks (revenue trend, campaign ROI, funnel conversion).
• Bottom: Whatif scenarios and nextstep recommendations.

5. Add Narrative Insight

Numbers alone dont move the boardroom. Below each visual, write a 2sentence insight:

Revenue grew 8% YoY, driven primarily by the Enterprise segment. However, the SmallBusiness pipeline fell 12% after the Q2 priceadjustment.

6. Highlight Action Items

Translate insight into a bullet list of decisions:

• Allocate additional budget to ABM campaigns targeting Enterprise accounts.
• Revise pricing for SMB tier to stem churn.
• Test a new nurture flow for leads stuck in the Marketing Qualified Lead stage.

Design Tips that Impress CEOs

• Use a limited color palette: brand colors for primary data, gray for background.
• Show trends, not just snapshots: line charts for revenue, bar charts for campaign compare.
• Keep fonts legible: 1112pt for body, 1416pt for headings.
• Make it mobileresponsive: CEOs often view on tablets.

Sample OnePage Report Layout (HTML Sketch)

+-----------------------------------------------------------+|            | Revenue Trend (line) | Campaign ROI (bar)   || Executive  |-----------------------------------------------|| Summary    |  $45M ARR  (+8% YoY)   |  Avg ROI: 3.4x       |+-----------------------------------------------------------+| Funnel Conversion (funnel diagram) | WhatIf Scenario Slider |+-----------------------------------------------------------+| Recommendations:                                                      ||  Increase ABM spend by 15%                                            ||  Test new SMB pricing                                                 ||  Deploy nurture flow for MQLs                                         |+-----------------------------------------------------------+    

This sketch can be recreated in any dashboard software; the HTML version below shows the same structure using simple tables.

Getting BuyIn from the CEO

Schedule a 15minute briefing with these tactics:

1. Start with the headline figure (ARR +8% YoY).
2. Show the visual that has the biggest impact (usually the revenue trend).
3. Present only two or three recommendationskeep it actionable.
4. End with a clear ask (e.g., Approve $150k additional ABM budget).