Generated: June 14, 2026 | 9 Programs | Built for Alex Mercer
From prospect to revenue — the complete GTM transaction layer
Q: What triggers a CPQ quote re-price?
A: Field updates, config changes, or manual reprice action on the quote.
Q: Explain ASC 606 SSP.
A: Standalone Selling Price — the price you'd charge each performance obligation sold separately.
Q: How does Zuora handle mid-cycle upgrades?
A: Pro-rated amendment creates a new subscription version with delta charges.
Q: What is a waterfall revenue schedule?
A: Revenue distributed over contract term, month by month, based on performance obligations.
Q: NetSuite vs Salesforce for AR?
A: NetSuite owns the GL and AR ledger; Salesforce CPQ creates orders that sync downstream.
Strategy, messaging, and market execution at VP/C-level
Q: How do you define an ICP?
A: Combine firmographic filters with behavioral signals and closed-won pattern analysis.
Q: What is MEDDPICC?
A: Qualification framework: Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Process, Identify Pain, Champion, Competition.
Q: Explain Sales Velocity.
A: Opp count × win rate × ACV ÷ cycle length = pipeline throughput per unit time.
Q: PLG vs SLG trade-offs?
A: PLG lowers CAC, slows enterprise deals; SLG scales ACV, requires quota-carrying reps.
Q: How do you run a QBR?
A: Review pipeline health, forecast vs actuals, top deals, blockers, and next quarter targets.
Infrastructure, security, and technology leadership at scale
Q: Explain Zero Trust architecture.
A: Authenticate every user and device per request; no implicit trust by network perimeter.
Q: RTO vs RPO difference?
A: RTO = max acceptable downtime. RPO = max acceptable data loss window.
Q: How do you govern cloud costs?
A: Tagging policy, budget alerts, rightsizing reviews, reserved instances, FinOps council.
Q: What is a CMDB?
A: Configuration Management Database — inventory of IT assets and their relationships.
Q: SOC 2 vs ISO 27001?
A: SOC 2 is US-focused, trust service criteria; ISO 27001 is international, ISMS standard.
Unifying revenue data, processes, and systems across the funnel
Q: What is the purpose of RevOps?
A: Align go-to-market teams on shared data, process, and technology to maximize revenue.
Q: How do you calculate NRR?
A: (Start ARR + Expansion − Churn − Contraction) ÷ Start ARR × 100.
Q: Explain multi-touch attribution.
A: Distributes deal credit across all touchpoints in the buyer journey using a weighting model.
Q: What makes a good forecast model?
A: Stage-weighted probability, rep-submitted commit, AI overlay, historical velocity calibration.
Q: How do you build a lead SLA?
A: Define response time by lead score tier, auto-escalate if breached, track via Salesforce tasks.
AI-native prospecting, enrichment, and pipeline automation
Q: What is waterfall enrichment?
A: Sequential provider fallback — if Provider A lacks data, try B, then C, to maximize coverage.
Q: How does Clay differ from Apollo?
A: Clay is enrichment + AI research infrastructure; Apollo is a database + sequencing tool.
Q: Explain MCP protocol.
A: Standardized JSON schema for AI models to call external tools/APIs with typed parameters.
Q: What is a PQL?
A: Product-Qualified Lead — user who hit a usage threshold (e.g., 3 imports) signaling purchase intent.
Q: How do you measure AI outbound ROI?
A: Track reply rate, meetings booked, pipeline created vs tool cost per contact enriched.
Quota design, territory management, and sales process excellence
Q: How do you set quota fairly?
A: Blend historical attainment, market potential, territory capacity, and company growth target.
Q: What is OTE?
A: On-Target Earnings — total comp (base + variable) at 100% quota achievement.
Q: Explain clawback provisions.
A: Commission recovery if deal cancels or customer churns within defined window (often 90 days).
Q: What is pipeline coverage ratio?
A: 3-4x quota is healthy; too low = forecast miss risk; too high = rep activity is unfocused.
Q: How do you handle split credits?
A: Define split rules in CRM (overlay, geographic, named); automate via Xactly or CaptivateIQ.
Emerging topics and experimental curriculum
Q: What is a feature flag?
A: Runtime toggle that enables/disables code paths per user cohort without deployment.
Q: How do you define MVP?
A: Smallest shippable product that tests your core hypothesis and delivers measurable value.
Q: Explain beta vs GA rollout.
A: Beta: limited users, collecting feedback; GA: full availability, SLA commitments apply.
Q: What metrics matter in beta?
A: Activation rate, feature adoption, error rate, feedback sentiment, support ticket volume.
Q: How do you sunset a feature?
A: Deprecation notice → migration path → remove after sunset date; communicate early.
Apex, LWC, Flow, security model, and admin certifications
Q: What triggers a governor limit exception?
A: Exceeding per-transaction limits like 100 SOQL queries, 150 DML statements, or 6MB heap.
Q: Why bulkify triggers?
A: Triggers fire with up to 200 records; row-by-row DML/SOQL in loops hits governor limits.
Q: LWC vs Aura differences?
A: LWC uses Web Standards (ES6+, shadow DOM); Aura is proprietary; LWC is faster, preferred.
Q: What is a Permission Set Group?
A: Bundle of permission sets assigned together; muting PS can restrict individual permissions.
Q: Explain Record-triggered Flow vs Trigger.
A: Flow: declarative, recommended for simple logic; Apex Trigger: required for complex multi-object operations.
All 20 Salesforce APIs — REST, Bulk, GraphQL, Pub/Sub, and beyond
Q: When to use Bulk API vs REST?
A: Bulk API for >2000 records; REST for single/small batch; Bulk is async and CSV-based.
Q: Explain CDC vs Platform Events.
A: CDC auto-publishes record changes; Platform Events are custom pub/sub messages you publish.
Q: What is the JWT Bearer flow?
A: Server-side OAuth using signed JWT assertion; no user login required, ideal for integrations.
Q: GraphQL vs REST in Salesforce?
A: GraphQL lets you request specific fields and related data in one call; REST uses fixed endpoints.
Q: What is the Pub/Sub replay buffer?
A: 72-hour window to replay missed events using ReplayId in the subscribe request.