Startup Sales Playbook

By following this comprehensive sales playbook, startups can ensure that their sales process is structured, repeatable, and customer-focused, ultimately driving more successful engagements and closed deals.

🎯 Sales Process Overview

The startup sales process is centered on understanding customer pain points, building relationships, and offering tailored solutions. It involves structured stages, personalized demos, and continuous follow-ups to ensure alignment with customer needs and successfully closing deals.

🥷 Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Key Components of the Ideal Customer:

• Business Type: Identify prospects that can derive significant value from your product.
• Challenges: Determine the typical challenges they face (e.g., infrastructure complexity, workflow inefficiencies).
• Decision Makers: Engage with key decision-makers and influencers who can move the deal forward.

🔑 Key Questions for Sales Teams & Leads

1. What challenges are you facing today?
2. What criteria will you use to make your decision?
3. Who is involved in the decision-making process?
4. What is your timeline for implementing a solution?
5. How do you currently handle [the task/product feature]?

💡 Sales Playbook Stages

1. Discovery Call

Definition: Initial meetings held to assess customer pain points and qualify leads.

Goal:

• Disqualify poor fits.
• Identify the challenges and assess the depth of their needs.
• Generate excitement by demonstrating how your product solves their challenges.
• Book additional discovery calls with more influencers or stakeholders.

Discovery Call Checklist:

• Send a pre-call email 24 hours before the meeting.
• Research attendees, their roles, and company background.
• Use a discovery script to ask pain-quantifying questions.
• Conduct an “excite to act” demo if necessary.

Post-call Checklist:

• Send a follow-up email within 24 hours.
• Document notes in your CRM (HubSpot) and update the meeting outcome.
• Create a deal if the lead is qualified, focusing on decision-makers, existing challenges, and willingness to engage further.

Pre-call Resources:

• Pre-call Snippet
• Discovery Script / Questions

2. Demo Session

Definition: Tailored demonstration to align product capabilities with the customer's pain points.

Goal:

• Relate demo features to the business issues uncovered during the discovery call.
• Create a personalized experience to show how the product solves their specific problems.

Demo Session Checklist:

• Prepare a tailored demo based on the prospect’s pain points.
• Keep the demo interactive and ask engaging questions throughout.
• Confirm if the demo meets their needs and outline the next steps.

Demo Key Resources:

• Demo Deck Template
• Customer Stories

3. Hands-on Session & Support

Definition: Involve the customer in using the product during a real-world scenario.

Goal:

• Validate that your solution fits their workflow through hands-on interaction.
• Confirm their ability to use the product independently and solve their pain points.

Checklist:

• Create a use case from scratch based on their needs.
• Schedule the next steps, such as further demos, onboarding, or closing.

4. Stakeholder Demo

Definition: A more comprehensive demonstration for multiple stakeholders, showing how the product can address the business's core challenges.

Goal:

• Showcase the business impact of your solution.
• Move the discussion toward licensing and pricing.

Stakeholder Demo Checklist:

• Understand the stakeholders' pain points and roles.
• Tailor the demo to their specific use cases and focus on the value provided.
• Engage them in conversations about ROI and how your solution fits into their workflow.

📊 Managing Sales Operations

Required Meeting Processes

• Always title first meetings with "Discovery" but avoid it for subsequent meetings.
• Record meetings using available tools (e.g., tl;dv) and update your CRM after each meeting with relevant snippets and outcomes.

Pre- and Post-Meeting Actions

• Pre-call: Research attendees and relevant company information. Use snippets to prepare.
• Post-call: Add comments, update HubSpot, and ensure all meeting outcomes are documented.

Sales Dashboards:

• All Sales Dashboard
• Sales Danger Dashboard
• All Meetings Dashboard

📌 Next Steps for Each Stage

1. Discovery Call → Demo
• If qualified, schedule the demo and invite relevant stakeholders.
• Document key pain points and motivations uncovered during discovery.
2. Demo → Hands-On Session
• Offer hands-on sessions to validate their needs and show how the product integrates with their workflows.
3. Hands-On → Pilot (if applicable)
• If necessary, run a short pilot to further validate the solution before moving to procurement.
4. Pilot → Negotiation & Closing
• Validate results and move forward with contract discussions.
• Finalize pricing, confirm budget availability, and ensure there are no blockers for closing.

💼 Negotiation & Procurement

Once the demo, hands-on session, or pilot is completed, it's time to move toward closing the deal. Use the following steps to guide the negotiation process:

1. Pre-Negotiation Call:
• Prepare your pricing strategy, including potential concessions.
• Understand what the prospect needs in order to approve the budget.
2. Negotiation Call:
• Present the ROI and emphasize the cost of not taking action.
• Ensure that any discount is tied to concessions, such as longer commitment or volume purchase.
3. Contract & Signature:
• Send the contract or invoice and ensure all necessary documentation is in place.
• Move the deal to "Closed Won" in HubSpot and hand off to customer success for onboarding.

Negotiation Resources:

• Formal Quote Template
• Business Case Deck Template

🧠 Observations & Learnings

Common Challenges Observed:

• Quantifying ROI: Prospects often struggle to understand the full value of your product. Help guide them with quantifiable success metrics.
• Demo Customization: Avoid generic demos. Tailor them based on the customer's specific use case to enhance relatability and impact.
• Champion Buy-in: Often, prospects need guidance on how to advocate for the product internally. Equip them with the right resources (e.g., email templates, case studies).

Continuous Improvement: Regularly document new learnings and incorporate them into your sales process to refine and improve.