{"id":131142,"date":"2024-01-30T14:24:36","date_gmt":"2024-01-30T14:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/technation.io\/?p=131142"},"modified":"2024-01-30T14:24:38","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T14:24:38","slug":"how-to-scale-sales-at-your-startup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/technation.io\/how-to-scale-sales-at-your-startup\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Scale Sales at Your Startup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article was originally published on\u00a0The Founder Coach<\/a> by\u00a0Dave Bailey<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve built a product or service that you plan to sell into companies. While the development team was building it, you went out and started to build relationships. After months of effort, you\u2019ve landed a few pilots that represent a foot in the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You lean back and think, \u2018This product is amazing. It\u2019s time to scale sales as quickly as possible\u2019. If this is where you are right now, great \u2014 I\u2019m going to share with you exactly how to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you\u2019ve already tried to scale sales and it hasn\u2019t worked, that\u2019s fine too. We\u2019ll go through the process step-by-step and see where you might have tripped up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scaling mindset<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you want to scale sales, you have to understand what you\u2019re selling. Consulting or early-stage fundraising are often the only sales-like experience founders have, and both boil down to selling yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to scale your sales, you need to realise that you aren\u2019t selling yourself, you are selling your product outcomes. You aren\u2019t actually needed to sell a product outcome, and it\u2019s critical to understand that. Rather, you\u2019re building a machine you can step out of later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018standard\u2019 sales org structure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before we begin, it\u2019s worth looking at where you want to end up. At scale, sales organisations tend to look similar, with four categories of roles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Media<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

1. Sales Development Reps (SDRs)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sales development reps provide account executives with a quota of relevant leads, known as \u2018sales qualified leads\u2019 (SQLs). This starts with a clear understanding of your ideal customer profile (ICP), which helps narrow down the types of people or businesses that could get the most value from your offering. You\u2019ll continue to refine your ICP as you learn more about customers, evolve your product, and grow into new markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armed with a clear ICP, SDRs can reach out to new prospects by asking them, \u2018Are we a fit?\u2019 (known as the \u2018AWAF question\u2019). They can also qualify inbound prospects from marketing campaigns and partnerships and if they are a fit, congratulations \u2014 you\u2019ve found an SQL. If not, it\u2019s on to the next prospect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many teams use software to help them do this at scale. You know those emails and LinkedIn reach-outs you receive? They are most likely automated using software\u2014an approach that many teams experiment with. Sales is a numbers game and a high proportion of outreach will be unsuccessful. After all, you have to reach the right person at the right time with the right message, and this isn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Effective sales development is fundamental to scaling. If you\u2019re limited to your own network, or if you believe cold outreach is scarily impossible, then you\u2019re going to find it hard to massively grow your customer base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Account Executives (AE)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An account executive\u2019s objective is to work with leads and help them make the right purchase decision, hopefully resulting in a sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prospects rarely go from \u2018interested\u2019 to \u2018signed\u2019 in one step, so AEs work with the concept of a sales pipeline \u2014 a research-based series of discrete steps along the way to the sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Rather than push all leads straight to the sale, the goal is to move them one step along the pipeline.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many founders approach sales in the same way they pitched investors. However, there\u2019s usually a big difference \u2014 unlike VC funds, companies have a much wider variety of stakeholders. It\u2019s common for multiple departments to be involved, such as IT, HR, and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This makes pipelines complex and lots of materials will be required. For example, you might have multiple sales decks, depending on the stakeholder you\u2019re speaking with. At each stage of the pipeline, you\u2019ll uncover best practices that help maximise your sales team\u2019s effectiveness. These tactics can form a \u2018playbook\u2019 to help AEs improve their performance and quickly onboard new recruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frameworks like\u00a0MEDDICC<\/span><\/a>\u00a0can help you qualify the strength of complex sales by breaking them down:<\/p>\n\n\n\n