How to Create a Sustainable Sales Process

As startups scale, effective sales implementation becomes the difference between stagnation and sustainable growth. After analyzing hundreds of sales organizations across startups, I’ve distilled the key pieces of advice that founders and leaders should keep in mind. 1. Sales Strategy Fundamentals - Start with the right price: Establish pricing that reflects value rather than just covering costs. - Define your ICP: Clearly identify your ideal customer profile before building your sales process. - Understand sales velocity: Recognize that sales success depends on both deal size and deal frequency—optimize for predictability. Your first sales hire should generate predictable and consistent revenue, not just hunt elephants 2. Team Structure - Build a complete sales organization: Structure your team with marketing, SDR/ADRs, and account executives with clear handoffs. - Choose between top-down or bottom-up: Determine whether to pursue enterprise-led or product-led sales motion. - Invest in sales operations: Create systems that maximize selling time and minimize administrative burden. Effective sales organizations separate lead generation, qualification, and closing responsibilities 3. Pipeline Management - Calculate required pipeline coverage: Pipeline is prologue. Maintain a pipeline that’s at least 5x your bookings target. - Master lead qualification: Develop clear criteria for MQLs, SQLs, and PQLs to maintain quality. - Analyze conversion metrics: Track conversion rates at each funnel stage to identify bottlenecks. 4. Sales Process - Implement Challenger selling: Train reps to teach prospects, tailor messaging, and take control of the sale. - Map key stakeholders: Identify champions, opponents, decision-makers, and influential stakeholders. - Create a consistent demo: Develop a compelling product demonstration that clearly shows value and addresses pain points. Great salespeople don’t just ask about problems—they teach customers about problems they didn’t know they had 👉 Read the full post here: https://lnkd.in/gePqUC3g

Sustainability teams are shrinking. Government funding is disappearing. Regulations are stalling. If you’re still selling sustainability the old way, you’re already behind. This isn’t just about business strategy - it’s about figuring out how to move forward when so much is at risk. For many of us, this work is personal. And while policy shifts are out of our control, how we adapt and keep pushing forward isn’t. Companies still need to manage risk, improve efficiency, and meet customer and investor expectations. The responsibilities haven’t disappeared - they’ve just shifted. ➡️ Instead of sustainability teams driving decisions, the focus has moved to operations, finance, and manufacturing leadership. ➡️ Instead of compliance or ESG goals being the reason to act, the justification is now cost savings, efficiency, and risk mitigation. ➡️ Instead of selling into a sustainability department, companies need to make the case to CFOs, COOs, and heads of manufacturing. This shift is happening fast. Over the last few weeks: ⚠️ Government funding for sustainability initiatives has been frozen or cut back. ⚠️ Regulatory momentum has slowed, reducing external pressure to act. ⚠️ Inflation Reduction Act incentives are at risk, disrupting investment in sustainable technologies. For greentech companies, this means one thing: 👉 If your sales strategy still depends on sustainability teams and ESG goals, it’s time to pivot. How to Stay Ahead: ✔ Reposition your pitch: don’t lead with “sustainability.” Instead, start with how your solution solves a specific business problem for your customer - whether that’s reducing costs, improving efficiency, or mitigating operational risks. ✔ Speak to new decision-makers: finance, operations, and manufacturing leaders care about measurable business impact. Show them how your solution improves margins, reduces downtime, or increases productivity. ✔ Map your customer’s real business problem: before pitching, pinpoint the operational challenge your prospect is facing. Is it rising energy costs? Supply chain inefficiencies? Labor shortages? Position your solution as the answer. ✔ Arm yourself with proof points: bring real numbers. Cost savings, efficiency gains, risk reduction - whatever matters most to the decision-maker. ROI calculations and case studies will get the attention of finance and operations leaders. Sustainability isn’t disappearing - it’s just moving to a new seat at the table. The work continues, even when the path forward feels uncertain.

As a Sales Leader, structuring a repeatable top-of-funnel process is crucial for sustainable growth. Here’s a 9-step checklist you can use to build a durable sales funnel that not only fills the pipeline but ensures its longevity and effectiveness. 👇 1. Identifying and Understanding Your Ideal Customer Start with a clear picture of who you’re targeting. Analyze market data and customer feedback to define your ideal customer profile (ICP). This understanding directs all other sales efforts, ensuring they’re focused and effective. 2. Crafting and Communicating Your Value Proposition Your value proposition should resonate deeply with your ICP. It’s about clarity and relevance—make sure it addresses the specific needs and pain points of your target audience. 3. Developing a Targeted Outbound Strategy Tailor your outreach to the preferences and behaviors of your ICP. A targeted strategy ensures that your efforts are concentrated on the most promising leads. 4. Writing Sales Copy That Generates Pipeline Effective sales copy is clear, compelling, and directly speaks to your ICP’s needs.  Ensure your messaging consistently aligns with your value proposition and appeals to your audience. 5. Optimizing and Managing Outreach Channels Choose your channels based on where your ICP is most active. Regularly review and optimize these channels to maintain engagement and improve response rates. 6. Building and Maintaining Effective Sales Sequences Develop sequences that nurture leads at every step of the funnel. Automated workflows can help maintain timely follow-ups and consistent engagement. 7. Mastering Objections with Curiosity and Confidence Equip your team to handle objections by fostering a mindset of curiosity and confidence. This approach not only addresses concerns but also opens up opportunities for deeper engagement. 8. Conducting Discovery Meetings and Building Relationships Discovery meetings are crucial for understanding the prospect’s needs in-depth. Focus on building relationships rather than just selling, fostering trust and collaboration. 9. Creating Repeatable Processes to Ensure Durable Growth Systematize successful strategies to create a scalable and repeatable sales process. Continuous training, regular audits, and adaptability to market changes are key to sustaining success. ✨ Leadership Takeaway - Implementing these steps requires more than just strategic planning; it demands a commitment to continuous improvement and adaptation. Focus on these fundamentals to build a robust sales funnel that drives sustainable growth. Need a helping hand? Shoot me a DM and we can chat 1:1. #GTMAdvisor #SalesConsultant #SalesTraining #SalesProcess