Sales Strategy and Business Goals

There are many different ways to achieve product/market fit. Ideally, you want to find a balance between ambition and realism while articulating your value to customers. This is harder than it sounds.

Read on

Consider your sales team

  • What function do sales serve for your organization?

  • How does the sales department work with other departments?

  • What role does your sales team have in helping your startup achieve its business goals?

  • What resources does your sales team require to get the job done?

  • What recommendations does sales leadership have?

Designing and executing your sales strategy

Here’s something to consider when devising a sales strategy. An old business statistic says, "80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers." This means it could be five times cheaper to retain a current customer than to acquire a new one. With that in mind, here are some guidelines to think about when designing a versatile sales plan.

  • Ask yourself about goals for the future and anticipate milestones along the way.

  • Make a list of all potential markets.

  • Take this list and define criteria against which to "filter" it. This includes variables such as size and growth potential of customers, transaction volumes vs. size, brand value, how much effort and time it might take to acquire clients, and technology integration capabilities.

  • Score the list against the criteria. Put unattractive markets to one side and rank attractive ones in order of overall appeal.

  • Come up with a shortlist of prioritized markets.

  • Define sales channels, process, and evaluation criteria for acquiring customers from each market.

According to Shoprocket's CEO, Anthony Gale, "Actually taking some time to identify all the markets available but focus on the most appropriate ones is really valuable. [Otherwise], in a startup environment, it's very easy to disappear off in random directions, without the physical and financial resources to execute on them all and understand where the real value lies."

Entrepreneur and investor Mark Suster reminds us that "the best teams are hyper-focused" and often defined by what they choose not to do: "The scarcest resource in your company is management bandwidth. Spend it wisely."

Cash flow

Overall, 90% of startups fail, and many of them sink because their lack of focus prevents them from building a customer base, they have unrefined business models, or they struggle to create cash reserves. Most fail because of cash flow issues. Cash flow refers to the net amount of cash and cash equivalents moving in and out of business.

Cash-flow issues include:

  • Not having enough cash on hand to pay bills

  • Disorganized accounting systems

  • An inability to achieve profitability

A good sales strategy is a safeguard against cash-flow issues like these.

Creating business goals

The goals you should focus on most emphatically are the ones that keep your sales team in good condition. For example, if your startup is bleeding money, make sure your expense tracking and policies are up to par. Identify your sales team's KPIs. Maybe you should hire new sales reps? Measure your sales team's health by following these steps, and then you'll be able to figure out a way to reach the next level of success.

Creating business goals is a data-driven way to measure your sales strategy's impact. If you're hitting your goals, you've identified a way to bring all the different departments of your team together to achieve a shared vision. If you're not hitting your business goals, you may need to rethink your strategy.

When making goals, include all internal stakeholders, from the CEO to your customer service reps.

Goals should reflect your company's identity. Understanding what your startup is all about (see previous articles on defining your vision) is key to formulating appropriate, actionable goals. You should set goals that are ambitious but achievable.

Ask yourself questions like:

  • What are my startup's core values?

  • Why does my startup exist?

  • What problem is my startup aiming to solve?

  • Why am I the only solution to this problem?

Your business goals can be broad or specific. Figure out what problem your startup is solving, then make a "best case" scenario to see if you're solving it.

Your goals should explain your reason for getting into business in the first place, including your value proposition.

Your team and customers alike need to be reminders of the reasons why your business is the unique solution to a certain problem.

The SMART system

The SMART system helps you create a realistic picture of how your startup's different departments will interact to achieve your business goals.

  • Specific

  • Measurable

  • Achievable

  • Realistic (use a best, medium, worst-case scenario framework to get precise)

  • Time-based (give your goals an end-date)

A startup is a kind of ecosystem: marketing, product, finance, and other divisions will need to interact effectively and work together to achieve harmony and success.

Once you understand your sales process, you've probably identified opportunities for improvement. What hasn't been working? What needs to be changed? Ask yourself tough questions. Has management, for example, actually been effective? This process needs to include all stakeholders, including departments outside of sales. Figure out ways to get your team to work together better.

Don't be too attached to a particular sales plan. If it doesn't work, try something else. If your team isn't hitting your outbound lead numbers, measure the different channels they've used to acquire leads and figure out a way to mix it up.