Importance of Documenting the Sales Process

The biggest mistake that I see revenue teams making is this… They try to improve performance before they have documented WHAT to do, and HOW to do it. I know, documentation is BORING. I think some of us in the revenue world might actually be allergic to it. But not documenting your agreed-upon sales process is like trying to be great at baking a cake without a recipe. You’ll probably be able to do it after enough times of screwing it up. But you’re going to forget different pieces each time. What temperature the oven should be, how many eggs, how much flour etc. Oh and if you aren’t writing down what you did each time, then you won’t remember what you did that worked the last time! If the process is written down in a recipe, and you also have resources to reference along the way of HOW to prep the ingredients… Isn’t it going to be so much easier to get really good at that recipe? And to teach it to others too? Instead, I see leaders wanting more training, more resources, wanting to do things like implement a sales methodology… And yet they don’t even have the end-to-end sales process fully documented WITH instructions. And since those instructions don’t always include how the cycle should be documented in the CRM, we also lack a reliable way to measure whether the right things are happening. To fix this, here is what I’m calling the “enablement order of operations”: 1️⃣ Document WHAT to do Examples: - writing down the sales process - entrance and exit criteria for stages - what has to be qualified at each step? - usually we call this a “playbook” 2️⃣ Train on and document HOW to do it (INCLUDING how we document the sale, ie CRM) Examples: - tutorials and guides - LMS courses and certifications - templates 3️⃣ Only then can you focus on doing it WELL (ie, performance improvement) Examples: - coaching - sales methodology - competency framework - value selling When the pipeline dries up and sellers aren’t hitting quota, it’s easy to blame lack of skills. But often what I’ve found it that simple process can fix a lot of problems quicker than upskilling can. So folks, let’s slow down to speed up. Write things down. Measure them. Once we know what “performance” looks like, only then can we improve it.

You can't scale a sales team without this. A document that tells reps exactly how to create new opportunities, run demos, and close new customers. Call it a script, playbook, or whatever you want to call it. Your team needs one. I put off creating playbook for too long. It felt like busy-work. Empty calories. Something that you do to pretend that you are being productive. Salespeople should be selling, not documenting their processes. Similarly, sales leadership should be leading and coaching, not writing things down. Right? Wrong. The naive and inexperienced version of me thought that hiring good people was enough. I felt like if I could just get the right salespeople on my team, then they will figure out how to sell and the revenue will go up. So I ran an intense interview process and sought out the best sales talent that I could find. After failing to onboard a few hires that should have been all-star salespeople, I realized that I was the problem. Or rather, my lack of a documented sales process was the problem. New sales hires were learning on the fly, which slowed their progress and made it harder to make money. I wasn’t doing enough to show them how to be successful in their role. Then one day while I was sitting on the sales floor, I heard something that made the hair stand up on my neck. Three different sales demos happening at the same time from three different reps. Each salesperson was using a different version of our sales deck. Each salesperson had a different way of explaining who we are and what we do. Each salesperson had a different method of ending the demo and setting clear next steps. And these were three of our tenured, successful reps! How could we possibly scale a sales team with such a mix of sales execution?! I decided to make a change. I rushed back into my office and started a word document: “How to Run A Demo”. This document outlined the exact steps for running a Levelset demo, in excruciating detail. I was done assuming that salespeople would know how to do things the right way. Leave nothing to chance. If they know, they will do it well. If they don’t know, then at least I have it written down. I included things like: - how to set up your zoom so your video stream looks professional - the ideal structure for a product demo - email templates to make sure your prospect shows up to the demo - what questions to ask your prospect to kick off the demo - key objections and how to overcome them - how to use the sales deck to drive conversation - how to set clear next steps For most experienced reps, it was too detailed but it reminded them of the fundamentals of generating new business. For new reps, it was like I gave them a magical compass. It was a blueprint for success. You can do the same for your team. Start with one page. It will grow into something that you can use for every new person on your team.

Escaping the Founder's Trap: How Sales Documentation Unlocked 200% Growth I had a founder of our Right Side Capital Management portfolio call me last week in a panic. They'd just raised $2M and needed to "build a sales team fast." My first question: "Great - where's your sales playbook?" The awkward silence told me everything. It's all trapped in their head. Which is completely normal at this stage - but also the exact reason most early sales teams fail. Here's the hard truth: You don't scale sales by hiring reps. You scale by giving them something repeatable to execute. What should you document? Nothing fancy. Just capture what's actually working:  • That cold email template that's getting 25% response rates  • The specific discovery questions that get prospects to open up  • How you start meetings that actually go somewhere  • The common threads between deals you've won (and lost)  • The objections you hear constantly and how you've learned to address them  • A recording of the pitch that finally clicked with customers  • The goal isn't some perfect sales bible. It's pattern recognition. This matters because otherwise, you're the bottleneck. If only you know the "magic" that closes deals, congratulations - you've built yourself a job, not a scalable company. Documentation also forces you to actually understand what's working rather than relying on gut feel or luck. And here's the thing - this doesn't require some fancy sales enablement platform. A simple Google Doc or Notion page is enough to start. Just write down what's working after calls. Save recordings of good conversations. The single best moment to document? Right after something works for the first time. That "holy shit, they actually liked that" moment is version 1.0 of your playbook. Start there. Your future sales hires (and your future self) will thank you.

Don’t be that startup that doesn’t create training and enablement documentation until something blows up in their face. Getting proper training and enablement documentation is one of those “eat your vegetable” tasks that no one really wants to do — yet it’s absolutely critical for scaling. And you’d be surprised how few Series A companies have it. Early on, when teams are small, you can get away with it. You can tell people to “just go ask Jennifer.” But as you move from startup to scaleup, this stops working… One, because Jennifer doesn’t scale. Two, even scarier, if Jennifer ever leaves your company, she’ll end up taking all of that know-how with her — leaving you to re-engineer or just stop following many of your processes. At some point, you have to stop relying on a handful of people with institutional knowledge and start documenting critical processes. This means clear, up-to-date guides on the critical processes people are doing every day. For sales reps, that might look like: - How to follow up with leads - How to turn leads into opportunities - How to ensure attribution data flows correctly For marketing, that might look like: - How to import leads after an event - How to ensure duplicates aren’t being created - How to set up campaigns properly and add them to reporting Just handing people documents isn’t enough. You need to train, re-train, and ideally certify your team on processes so that you can confirm they know what’s going on. This is something we’re packaging into our Operations Foundation program at Iceberg RevOps, where we build everything for you all at once, enable, and train your team. Startups that get this right scale faster, smoother, and without the headaches of constantly putting out fires.

Do you have your Sales process documented? Deal pipelines that aren't documented on paper BEFORE they go into HubSpot helps to tank GTMs. If you want to make the most out of pipelines and automation in HubSpot you've got to ensure that you've got your process mapped out. When we're working with our clients here's what we want to understand: • 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲: Outline the seller’s role at each stage, emphasizing their responsibilities in diagnosing needs, demonstrating the product, making recommendations, creating proposals, negotiating terms, signing contracts, and evaluating losses.    • 𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲: Define the buyer’s journey, detailing how they share information, evaluate products, engage in discussions, review proposals, negotiate, and finalize the deal.    • 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹: Identify the stages of the deal from discovery call scheduled, demo requested, proposal sent, to negotiation in-progress and closed/won or lost.    • 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹? Set clear objectives for each stage. For example, diagnosing pain points, educating decision-makers, presenting tailored proposals, and reaching mutual agreements.    • 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀? Specify the actions required at each step, such as preparing for discovery calls, identifying decision-makers, clarifying needs, presenting proposals, and finalizing contracts.    • 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗼 𝗪𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲? Detail the tools and resources needed to support each stage, like demo setups, proposal templates, and negotiation guidelines.    • 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲: Define the expected outcomes, such as gaining buyer trust, proposal acceptance, successful negotiation, contract signing, and insightful feedback collection.    • 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱/𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀: Analyze and document reasons for deal losses to refine strategies and improve future performance. We generally like a radio select and open text here to be able to report at a broad level and go deeper when necessary. Any questions? Drop them in the comments below! #hubspot #salesprocess #selling #crm

Last year, I worked with a high growth company where their "sales knowledge" was scattered everywhere. This is what reps were using: - The founder's original pitch deck (3 years outdated) - 10+ different Google docs with conflicting messaging - A Slack channel called #salestips with 2,300+ messages - Various "cheat sheets" saved on individual reps' desktops The founder was doing a pretty good job closing deals, but nobody had documented what led to the success. When your sales knowledge lives in various docs, Slack threads, and sticky notes on monitors, you're not just disorganized, you're leaving money on the table. When I joined, we took a completely different approach to building their playbook: 1. We started by documenting what was already working, analyzing their last 10 wins and identifying patterns 2. We captured the exact qualification framework they used (not what they thought they used) 3. We built an objection handling matrix based on actual customer conversations, not theory 4. We created battle cards that acknowledged competitor strengths while highlighting their differentiators 5. We designed the format to be searchable, accessible, and actually useful in the moment This wasn't a one time project but a living system that became part of their daily workflow. The results? We were able to add three reps to the team and ramp time dropped from around 4 months to 6 weeks. The amount of meetings booked and close rates jumped significantly. Most importantly, for the first time ever, we were seeing predictable growth I've packaged this entire process into my step-by-step guide for building a playbook that people will actually use. Inside, you'll find: - The exact framework for extracting what's working in your sales process - Templates for the five essential playbook components (no more, no less) - A system for keeping your playbook updated as markets and products evolve - Methods to make it accessible at the exact moment your reps need it Check it out and let me know what you think!

You might think you can rely on your team's experience to get things done. But without solid sales process documentation, you're setting yourself up for inconsistency and missed opportunities. In my experience, having clear, written processes is what separates teams that excel from those that struggle. Here’s why: ➜ When everyone follows the same steps, you eliminate guesswork. This consistency leads to predictable results, making it easier to replicate success. ➜ New hires can get up to speed faster when they have a clear process to follow. This not only saves time but also ensures that your team operates at the same high standard from day one. ➜ With documented processes, it’s easy to identify where things are going wrong. You can make adjustments and improvements based on real data, not just gut feelings. I’ve seen how a lack of documentation leads to confusion and dropped balls. On the flip side, when everything is laid out, your team can focus on what they do best ➜ closing deals. How well-documented is your sales process? #sales #documentation #leads