5Ps

Hey, Scott from The Sales Mastermind here. Today’s edition only takes 3 minutes.

On Thursday, I ran a LinkedIn Live with Scott Dunphy-Brown on the topic of “Five Common Mistakes by Founders Who Sell”

Today’s newsletter is a summary.

If you prefer to watch the Live yourself, click here - and please forgive the tech problems at the very beginning.

The Mistakes - 5Ps

Scott DB and I are both sales coaches who work primarily with founders. So we are well positioned to comment on the Five Mistakes. Which are:

1. Prospects
2. Pipeline
3. Process
4. Plan
5. People

Prospects

“Are you talking to the right people?”

The first mistake we see is that some founders are desperate to pitch anyone, and they forget to focus on prospects who want to solve the pains their product/service solves. This comes in two forms:

• Not ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)This is when founders talk to prospects who would never buy because they do not fit the profile. For an extreme example, imagine a butcher pitching a lamb shoulder to a vegan; there is no world where the vegan becomes a customer because they are not ICP.
• Right ICP, Wrong IndividualSometimes founders are talking to the right audience but the wrong individual. The example Scott DB used in the Live was a tutoring company pitching past students, but the parents are the buyers.

To fix this, document your ICP and qualify the individuals you're speaking to against that profile.

Pipeline

“Is there a documented buyer's journey from awareness to revenue?”

The second mistake we see is that founders don't have a Pipeline that matches their ICP's buying journey.

This means that if they have a Pipeline at all, they aren't tracking their prospects' progress. As a result, they don't know where their prospects are in the buying journey at any given time, or what it takes to move them forward.

To fix this, create a Pipeline with stages that match the buying journey your ICP follows. Each stage needs clear entry and exit criteria. Then run a weekly Pipeline Review to confirm that deals are successfully progressing through the journey.

(Not sure how to run a pipeline review? Reply "Pipeline Review", and I'll hook you up.)

Process

“Is there a documented, standardised process during each stage of the Pipeline?”

The third mistake we see is that the Process is neither standardised nor documented. The Process is all the individual actions the buyer or seller take during the buyer's journey. For example, a standardised price list or a documented process for sending out a quote.

Without solving the Process, you can'tknow which lever to pull to improve performance.

To fix this, create SOPs for each Process that makes up the Pipeline.

Plan

“Are there targets and goals for success?”

The fourth mistake we see is that founders do not have documented targets or goals. Meaning founders want “more” but have no idea how much more they need/want.

Sometimes there is a goal/target, but it is a fantasy and not based on anything.

For example, I worked with a company turning over ~$1.5m per year that hired a sales rep with a target of $2.88m in new revenue per year. They asked the seller to 3x the business's revenue in the first year.

To fix this, create both a bottom-up and a top-down goal structure looking at what the business needs, what's possible, and what’s been achieved historically. Expect the first Plan to be wildly wrong, then iterate and improve it every cycle.

People

“What happens when you leave the room?”

The fifth mistake we see is that founders hire the wrong people or expect too much of them.

Founders often hire an expensive, experienced seller who was a top performer at a competitor. Then the founder is hands-off, giving the seller too much space and not enough structure. Lastly, founders are surprised when the seller underperforms and quits or is fired 3-6-12 months later.

To fix this, solve all the mistakes above first. Then hold your team accountable to:

• Talking to the right Prospects
• Holding weekly Pipeline Reviews
• Joining, or reviewing, sales calls and deals to ensure the Process is enforced
• Looking at leading and lagging indicators of the Plan

Friction

“How do you ensure only the best buyers become customers?”

We talked about adding strategic friction to the buyer's journey, but I want to leave something to those who watch the live ;).

If you want to learn about the friction, watch the live here.

Were you at the LinkedIn Live? What feedback do you have for the next one (with a recruiter on "Your Next Sales Hire")?

PS When you're ready, here are three ways I can help you get out of the founder-only sales trap:

1. Got a deal slipping or a buyer ghosting you? Get my four email templates to send to any ghosted deal.
2. Want to binge more tips, tricks, ideas, and my best trainings? Check out the back catalogue of over 130+ newsletters.
3. Are you a founder and thinking about working with me? Let me know here.