How to Build a Repeatable Sales Process

When my client took over as Sales Director at a cybersecurity company two months ago, he walked into a situation many leaders would recognize. An organization built entirely on raw talent with zero process. No phone blocks. No time management. No pipeline visibility. No forecasting capabilities. No documentation. No Salesforce discipline (reps going entire quarters without logging activities). The company had been stagnant for three years. They were consistently missing their targets ($45M annual), tracking toward just $39M this year. Despite having genuinely talented salespeople, they couldn't grow. Why? Because talent without structure has a ceiling. Here's the three step process he implemented to create immediate structure. 1️⃣ Daily Architecture Method I mapped every rep's day hour by hour, creating specific blocks for prospecting, follow ups, and admin work. The goal wasn't micromanagement but rather intentionality. Ensuring high value activities receive adequate time. 2️⃣ Mandatory Pipeline Visibility I established the core principle: if it's not in Salesforce, it doesn't exist. Two reps hadn't entered data for an entire quarter. They were the first to go. Harsh? Perhaps. But you can't improve what you can't measure and if you’re not coachable? You can’t be on the team. 3️⃣ Standardized Sales Process I helped build a repeatable selling system that worked with their unique 3-4 week sales cycle. This included consistent discovery frameworks, value articulation methods, and urgency creation techniques. The results after just 60 days? $7.3 million in new pipeline and, for the first time, the ability to forecast our business with confidence. Most importantly, we've shifted from a "referral and relationship" business model (which is inherently limited) to a proactive, scalable approach. Here’s some truth for you… If your sales organization runs on tribal knowledge and raw talent alone, you're leaving millions on the table. Structure isn't boring. It's the foundation that makes predictable scale possible. — Hey Sales Leaders. Want to build a top 1% sales team? Let’s talk: https://lnkd.in/gfn_qi9E

The worst thing in sales isn’t losing a deal. It’s not knowing why your team lost it. Because if your sales team is celebrating closed deals without understanding the “why” or worse, losing deals and shrugging it off You’re not building a sales process, you’re building on luck. And luck doesn’t scale. Repeatable sales success comes from listening to the people who said no, really understanding buyer behavior, not guessing it. Sales leaders, your sales reps can’t sell effectively if they don’t know how buyers make decisions. This is where win-loss analysis becomes your secret weapon. You can’t build a repeatable sales motion without doing win-loss analysis. So ask yourself: → Are we collecting the voice of the customer consistently? → Do we analyze both wins and losses, or just move on? → Where does the sales funnel needs work and increase your win rate → Can we coach based on actual data, not just gut instinct? When you incorporate win-loss interviews and track behavioral patterns, your sales motion stops being reactive, and becomes repeatable. Here’s how I help leaders build sales processes that actually work: --> Start with win-loss interviews Have your reps talk to decision-makers on both won and lost deals. The goal isn’t to defend, it’s to understand. --> Run a most-mortem on every major deal Not just the losses. Reverse-engineer the wins too Because replicating success is just as important as learning from failure. The best sales playbooks are built from what’s already working. --> Document & share what works Turn buyer insights into frameworks your entire team can follow. Don’t hide it in a 1:1, scale it across the org. Because wins leave clues, and when you surface them, you create a playbook everyone can execute. Sales performance doesn’t improve because you push harder. It improves because you understand why things happen and make intentional changes based on that insight. These insights can improve your sales strategy, identify strengths and weaknesses, optimize your customer experience, and increase win rates.

After 20 years managing global sales teams—gov, edu, enterprise, consumer—I’ve seen the same patterns of failure repeat. Here are the usual suspects: 🕵️ Witness Protection Program -Always “mid-deal” at a new job. Big logos in the pipeline, zero conversions. 🏈 The Hail Mary -One giant deal, always a month away from closing. Nothing else in the funnel. 🤝 Everybody Knows So-and-So -Endless industry connections. Can’t close. Relationships ≠ revenue. 📉 “I Can’t Sell This” Syndrome -Blames product or marketing. Often a rep who can’t articulate value or ask the right questions. 📦 I’ve Got Something to Sell You -Always pitching. Never partnering. Clients feel sold to, not served. 🗣️ The Conversation Hog -Talks 90% of the time. Never hears what the customer actually needs. ✨ Holiday Inn Express Hero -Confident, charming, but skips process. Confidence ≠ competence. What works? Process. Metrics. Discipline. 🏁 Track the right metrics: -Calls/emails sent -Meetings set/held -Stage-to-stage conversion rates -Time in stage / deal velocity -Pipeline coverage ratio (3–5x quota) -Forecast accuracy -Win % by stage 📊 Build a real process: -Define clear sales stages with entry/exit criteria -Use a consistent qualification framework (BANT, MEDDIC, etc.) -Conduct weekly pipeline reviews -Post-mortem every lost deal -Coach based on data—not vibes 🎯 Winning sales teams don’t guess—they inspect. And yes, after all this time, “The Little Red Book of Selling” still delivers more timeless sales truth than most courses out there. Sales isn’t magic. It’s measurable. #SalesLeadership #B2BSales #SalesProcess #CRM #SalesMetrics #SalesExecution #LittleRedBookOfSelling #PipelineManagement #SalesEnablement

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

“Our GTM motion was fast—but not repeatable.” a $17M CEO told me: “we grew 30% last year—but this year, nothing’s working the same.” my response? “you didn’t build a system. you built speed without scale.” most GTM teams mistake traction for repeatability. 📌 a few reps crush quota 📌 a new outbound playbook works—for a while 📌 one marketer drives insane pipeline through hustle but here’s the truth: fast ≠ scalable growth ≠ repeatable GTM isn’t about how fast you can move— it’s about whether it can run without you here's the BIG shift: the game is changing. AI has increased speed for everyone. tools are commoditized. what wins now? systems. because hustle breaks. heroics burn out. and if your GTM depends on a few high-performers, you’re one resignation away from chaos. what does a repeatable GTM system look like? 1. consistent demand generation how do we create pipeline without guesswork? ✅ campaigns aren’t reactive—they’re planned quarterly ✅ marketing and sales agree on ICP, SLAs, and lead stages ✅ every channel (inbound, outbound, paid, brand) supports each other 🚀 example: → Gong scaled outbound with inbound fuel + clear POV → ClickUp drove demand through content, SEO, and product-led growth—all aligned 2. pipeline conversion that runs on rhythm how do we ensure reps don’t win by luck? ✅ sales process mirrors the buyer journey ✅ velocity, conversion, and forecast are tracked weekly ✅ sales enablement is a system, not a series of decks 🚀 example: → HubSpot mapped inbound handoff → structured sales follow-up → Figma ran a PLG engine with strategic sales touchpoints to close 3. post-sale growth isn’t an afterthought how do we turn customers into a growth channel? ✅ CS owns expansion playbooks ✅ NRR is the north star ✅ product + success + sales align on when/how to upsell 🚀 example: → Datadog moved from observability → full platform expansion → Shopify scaled revenue by layering fintech services onto core product final truths: 📌 if it only works when certain people are in the room—it’s not a system 📌 if every new hire “figures it out” themselves—it’s not a system 📌 if success is a surprise, not a standard—it’s not a system GTM speed is good. GTM repeatability is better. GTM systems win. so i’ll ask you: is your GTM built for hustle—or built to scale? let’s discuss 👇 — love, sangram p.s. follow Sangram Vajre to learn how to build repeatable GTM systems with GTM O.S.

I just talked to a new AE. She was a recruiter who thought, "Selling jobs makes me less money than selling a product," so she switched jobs. Cool...but she is set up to fail. Why? Despite having beautiful decks and $60M+ in funding, there is no sales process. The evidence? - vaguely names sales stages - everyone uses stages differently - stages are determined by the leader in forecast calls ("That feels stage 4") - forecast categories - same deal - no exit criteria - feeling lost at the end of a deal ("What do I do now" syndrome) A repeatable sales process helps reps to: - know where to go next - practice at things to master them - receive clear and precise coaching - benefit from structured, consistent data that can provide meaningful insights - understand a unified sales language and vocabulary If you are a new AE (as in new to selling) and your company does not have a documented sales process, don't take the job. It took me weeks to create this laminated document while I was at Outreach. It was the basis for every seller, every deal, every coaching conversation. I sent it as a PHYSICAL thing to every seller so it would stay on their desk as a guide. We built out training for every exit criteria. We built out materials specific for every stage. We built out a deal review process around helping sellers move deals through the stages in this card. We built stage duration and conversion dashboards that were wildly valuable. We built a sales culture around mastering this process. We built feedback loops to make sure we improved. By doing all that...ultimately, we built a high-powered, self-sufficient sales team where 80%+ of reps hit aggressive quotas. Many of those reps moved on to be top reps and leaders at other companies. This is how we took someone who was a: - former school teacher to a top enterprise AE - former manufacturing line manager to a top AE - great SDR to a great AE - failed AE and sent them to President's Club - good AE and got them their first VP gig - power washing rep to a founding AE at an awesome startup The sales process isn't just about developing deals. It's about developing sellers.