The Do’s and Don’ts of Scaling a Startup

 

“Revenue solves all problems.”

Eric Schmidt

 

Wouldn’t you know it, searching “How to Grow Your Startup” delivers an endless list of “good” advice: from founders and investors, stories of unicorns, tools and services that claim to guarantee success, ultimate tips and steps, …

 

Starting, growing, and succeeding with a startup is complex and has a multitude of aspects. My simple list of just four success factors looks something like this:

• Product: Have a product or service with market fit.

• You: Work hard and smart.

• Team: Be a leader that people want to follow and hire people that are smarter than you.

• Sales: since revenue solves all problems and no product sells itself, be sales-centric and find the right approach to building a successful sales organization.

 

Picture a B2B tech start-up with an engineer as a founder.

The founder and a team of developers have built a product, and the founder has taken it to some potential clients and received a positive response. As the company gets ready for a Series A investment, they need to do some early phase scaling, aka sales, to shore up the funding.

So, what are the right steps to take? What comes first?

 

One of the standard steps seems to be the hire of a VP of Sales. That person is

(1.) costly,

(2.) immediately carries a target on his back,

(3.) quickly has to become an individual sales contributor,

(4.) as well as a product development contributor to pivot the product toward salability,

(5.) and ultimately becomes the fall guy for the lack of sales success.

 

This type of VP stays in place less than a year and in hindsight turns out to be a costly endeavor for a cash-strapped start-up.

 

There are smarter steps to take!

·       Engage a Fractional Sales Leader: In this phase, leverage the expertise and leadership of a senior executive without the costs and time associated with hiring. The focus should be on acquiring senior expertise, not on paying for extensive fieldwork. This leader will assist in executing the subsequent steps alongside the founder.

·       Clarifying Strategic Direction: The initial task for the founder and fractional sales leader is to define the strategic direction, which involves substantial customer interaction. Positive client feedback is crucial for shaping an effective go-to-market strategy.

·       Improving Operational Processes: Early implementation of a process-centric tech stack is essential, as sales success relies heavily on systematic operations.

·       Developing Personas and Messaging: Without clear criteria for deal selection, companies risk ineffective sales efforts and diluted market positioning. Defining and targeting the right customer personas ensures more valuable engagements and sustained positioning.

·       Recruiting & Developing Sales Lead Representatives (SLRs): Building a robust sales lead development structure involves creating a lead-focused marketing process, nurturing engagements, and forming a strong SLR team to qualify leads for sales.

·       Recruiting & Developing Inside and Field Sales Teams: This step is often the most challenging. It involves finding the right balance between structure and creativity, transferring the go-to-market strategy, and ensuring consistent messaging. Managing and inspiring a diverse sales team requires a multifaceted approach.

·       Recruiting a Permanent Sales Leader: After executing the above steps under the guidance of a fractional sales executive, it is time to hire a full-time VP of Sales to lead the organization forward.

Talk to us about putting a Fractional Sales Leader into your business.