How to build a sustainable sales model as a scaleup

By the time you’re a scaleup, you’ve already done the hardest part of sales, proving that people want what you’ve got.

But now growing your business without burning out requires more than just hard work. You need a sales process that works over and over again.

That means having a steady flow of new customers, a clear way to turn them into buyers, and a team that can sell without you.

Here's our step-by-step approach to create a sustainable sales process that helps you scale.

Step 1: Focus on high-value customers

Not all customers are created equal.

Some take forever to decide, argue over price, and stop using your product after a month. Others buy quickly, get great results, and increase their spending over time. If you want to grow without wasting time, focus on these high-value customers.

The better you understand who they are, the easier it is to attract and keep them. Here’s how to do it.

1a. Find out what your best customers have in common

To figure out who your most valuable customers are, start with data. Look at your current customer base and ask:

• Who spends the most? Revenue matters, but only if it’s steady and long-term.
• Who buys the fastest? A customer who makes quick decisions is more valuable than one that drags things out.
• Who stays the longest? If a customer stops using your product after a few months, they may not be worth the effort.
• Who buys more over time? Some customers start small but increase their budget as they see success. These are the ones you want more of.

Ask enough questions and the patterns will emerge. You’ll start to see which people, industries, company sizes, and job titles are most likely to buy and which are the most valuable for your business.

1b. Refine your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Now that you have data on your best customers, the next step is to turn it into a clear Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).

This is a filter that helps you focus only on customers who are worth your time. Your ICP will have some combination of these traits:

• Urgency and budget – They know they have a problem and are ready to invest in fixing it. If you have to spend months convincing them they even need your product, they’re not a great fit.
• Authority to make decisions – If you’re always pitching to someone who has to “check with their boss,” deals will stall. The best customers are the ones who can say yes on their own.
• Be in industries with repeatable success – If companies in a certain industry love your product, go after more of them. Word-of-mouth, case studies, and credibility will make selling even easier.

Your product can’t be for everyone. The more focused your ICP, the smoother your sales process becomes.

So let’s say you’re a B2B SaaS company with two types of customers:

• Startups with 5-10 employees. They love your product but don’t have much budget. They take forever to decide, ask for discounts, and leave within a year. These may not be worth your effort.
• Mid-sized companies with 100+ employees. They move fast because they have a clear need, a budget, and a decision-maker who can approve the deal. Once they’re in, they stick around and keep expanding their usage. These are great customers to pursue.

If you don’t define your ICP, your sales and marketing teams will waste time chasing the wrong customers instead of focusing on the ones who bring real value to your business.

1c. Refine your product

Now that you know who your best customers are, it’s time to tune your product so it works even better for them.

Here’s how to refine your product to attract high-value customers:

• Solve the most common problems first – Your product should address the core needs that apply to at least 70% of your best customers. Prioritise features that help them get more value, stick around longer, and use your product more often.
• Cut what’s not working – If a feature isn’t being used, it’s just clutter. Unnecessary complexity slows down adoption and makes it harder for your best customers to see the real benefits.
• Make it easy to start – Even the best product won’t sell if it’s too hard to use. Simplify onboarding so new users get value quickly. This could mean a better user interface, automation, or a hands-on setup process.
• Price it for growth – Your ideal customers should feel like they’re getting incredible value for what they pay. If pricing is a sticking point, test different models like tiered plans, usage-based pricing, or more flexible contracts.
• Keep improving based on real feedback – Talk to your customers, run surveys, and watch how they use (or don’t use) your product. Small, fast improvements based on real data will make your product indispensable.
• Make it part of their routine – The harder it is to leave your product, the more valuable it becomes. Add integrations, automate key processes, and create ways for teams to collaborate inside your platform.

Every product update should bring you closer to becoming the go-to solution for your ideal customers.

For example if you’re a SaaS company targeting mid-sized businesses, you might remove lightweight, budget features meant for startups. That frees up time to build deeper integrations and better security, things that actually matter to your high-value customers.

Step 2: Create a repeatable sales process

When sales are working well, it feels effortless. The right customers show up, conversations flow naturally, deals close, and revenue grows.

But when sales aren’t working, it’s chaos. Wins feel random, dry spells drag on, and every deal feels like a struggle.

The difference between these two realities is a repeatable sales process – a system that turns sales into something predictable and scalable.

2a. What makes a repeatable process

At the scaleup stage, you can’t rely on a few star salespeople to carry the team. You need a step-by-step process that anyone can follow to get consistent results.

A repeatable sales process ensures that:

• Every salesperson follows the same proven steps
• New hires can start selling quickly without figuring everything out on their own
• Sales cycles become more predictable, making revenue easier to forecast
• Prevents leads from slipping through the cracks because everyone knows what to do next.

When you have a structured process, sales become a machine that can be fine-tuned and scaled.

2b. Map out your sales process

A strong sales process should move leads smoothly from first contact to closed deal.

Here’s what that journey looks like:

• 1. Lead generation – Where do your leads come from? And how are you following up on these?
• 2. Discovery and Qualification – Are these leads worth pursuing? Do they have sufficient budget, authority, need and urgency?
• 3. Proposal – Presenting a solution tailored to their needs, with clear pricing and return on investment.
• 4. Closing – Addressing final objections, handling paperwork, and securing the deal.
• 5. Expansion – After the sale, what’s the plan for upsells, referrals, and long-term retention?

Once these steps are clear, they should be documented in a sales playbook so everyone follows the same approach.

2c. Build your sales playbook

A sales playbook is a guide that outlines exactly how your sales team should operate. Think of it like a recipe – if someone follows the steps, they should get the same results every time.

A great playbook should give sales reps everything they need to succeed. Your playbook should include:

• Who your best customers are – your sales team needs to know who to focus on and what problems they need solved.
• How to explain your product’s value – so your sales team can show why customers should choose you over competitors.
• Step-by-step sales process – so your sales team knows exactly what to do, from finding a lead to closing a deal.
• How to qualify leads – so your sales team spend more time on the right customers instead of chasing bad-fit leads.
• When and how to follow up – with a clear plan for calls, emails, and LinkedIn messages to keep deals moving.
• What to say in calls and emails – with ready-to-use scripts and email templates for outreach, demos, and follow-ups.
• How to handle objections – so your sales team can confidently respond when customers ask about price, competitors, or timing.
• How to speed up closing – with simple approval steps, pricing rules, and contract templates to remove delays.
• How to track deals – with clear instructions on updating the CRM, so nothing gets lost or forgotten.

It should also help your team know when to move a deal forward and when to walk away. With your playbook in place, your team can follow a consistent, repeatable process that drives growth.

2d. Review and optimise your lead management system

A great sales process is only as good as the system behind it.

If your team is losing track of leads, struggling to follow up, or working with messy data, it’s time to fix your lead management system.

Your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool – whether it’s Salesforce, HubSpot, or another platform – should keep everything organised and make sales easier. Here’s how to make sure it’s working for you:

• Is your CRM set up correctly? Every lead should be tracked from first contact to close, with clear stages that match your sales process. If deals keep falling through the cracks, your CRM setup might need adjustments.
• Are you using the right CRM plan? Many businesses start with a basic CRM but outgrow it. If you’re missing key automation, reporting, or integrations, it might be time to upgrade to a higher-tier plan.
• Are reps actually using the CRM? A CRM only works if it’s used. Make sure your team logs every interaction, updates deal stages, and follows a process. If adoption is low, give them training and enforce best practices.
• Is the CRM helping or slowing you down? Your CRM should make sales easier, not harder. If your team spends more time managing the system than selling, then you need to streamline processes, automate tasks, and remove unnecessary steps.

A great CRM system helps you keep track of leads, follow up on time, and monitor your team's sales performance. When every step is documented and repeatable, your sales team can close more deals with less effort.

Step 3: Scale your lead generation

Founders often fall into the trap of sticking to what worked early on. If LinkedIn Ads brought in their first customers, they assume scaling means spending more on ads. If cold outreach worked, they think they just need to send more emails.

But a sustainable sales model doesn’t rely on a single lead source, it spreads the risk across multiple channels.

Think of lead generation like investing. Putting all your money into one stock is risky, but spreading it across different investments gives you stability. The same applies to how you bring in new customers.

All channels come with their own set of strengths and challenges:

• Referrals and networking are powerful but don’t scale well.
• Cold email helps break into new markets but loses effectiveness over time.
• Paid ads bring quick leads but can become expensive.
• Content takes months to build momentum but creates long-term demand.

If you use multiple channels, even if one underperforms, others can pick up the slack and keep your business driving forward. Here are three types of lead generation you should put in place.

3a. Inbound: Make customers come to you

Inbound lead generation happens when customers find you on their own and reach out because they’re already interested.

These leads are the best kind because they’re actively searching for a solution, making them easier to convert. Examples of these include:

• Blog posts and SEO: A potential customer searches Google for “How to send money internationally with low fees” and finds your blog. They read it, see you as an expert, and sign up for a trial. This works because people trust businesses that help them solve problems.
• Social media content: You post insights about scaling a business on LinkedIn. A founder finds it useful, follows you, and later reaches out. This builds credibility and keeps you top of mind.
• Webinars and events: You host a free webinar on “How to Scale B2B Sales.” Attendees get value from it and some become customers. This works because it lets people see your expertise in action.
• Word of mouth: A happy customer tells another business about you, and they reach out. This is one of the most effective ways to get new leads because trust is already built in.

The downside to inbound is that it takes time to get everything in motion. That’s why you should also use outbound sales to drive immediate results.

3b. Outbound: You go find your customers

While inbound leads come to you, outbound is when you go to them. These prospects weren’t actively looking for your product, but you reached out and started the conversation.

Examples of outbound lead generation techniques that you can use include:

• Cold emails: You send a personalised email to key decision-makers introducing your product and its benefits. If it’s relevant and well-targeted, a cold email can spark interest.
• Cold calls: Your sales team calls potential customers to introduce your solution. Done right, this can start valuable conversations.
• Paid ads: You run LinkedIn ads targeting CFOs in mid-sized companies. They see your offer, click through, and request a demo.
• Direct messages (DMs): You send LinkedIn messages to potential clients, offering a free consultation. This creates direct engagement and a chance to build relationships.
• Networking and outreach: You attend industry events and introduce yourself to potential customers. Face-to-face conversations build trust and open doors to future business.

Outbound is faster than inbound but harder to scale over time. That’s why it should be balanced with inbound, and a third channel: partnerships.

3c. Partnerships: Work with others to get leads

As your business grows, traditional lead generation tactics may start to lose their edge. Bigger deals take longer to close, involve more decision-makers, and require a tailored approach. This is where partnerships can be useful.

Partnerships help you reach new markets, build credibility, and generate high-quality leads at scale. There are different types of partnerships you can explore:

• Resellers – You can reach more customers by working with businesses that already sell to your ideal audience. Resellers package your product alongside their own, making it an easy add-on for their customers.
• Distributors – Distributors give you access to broader networks, helping you scale faster. This approach is especially useful for B2B SaaS, hardware, and enterprise solutions, where trust and existing relationships matter.
• Service providers – Experts such as digital agencies, IT firms, and consultants already have established relationships with potential customers. When they recommend your product, it carries weight, making it easier to close deals. Their trusted endorsements can shorten your sales cycle and increase conversion rates.
• Tech partnerships – These allow you to integrate with widely used tools like Salesforce, AWS, HubSpot, or Slack. Customers prefer solutions that work with the platforms they already use, making integrations a strong selling point.
• Co-Marketing – Hosting joint webinars, creating co-branded content, or organising in-person events with partners allows you to engage potential buyers together.
• Incentives – Offering commissions or discounts to partners who bring in new customers creates an extra incentive for them to promote your product, helping you scale with less direct effort.

Partnerships take time to build, but they result in bigger deals with less effort. Unlike outbound sales, they don’t require a huge sales team, making them a scalable growth engine for your business.

Step 4: Automate your lead qualification

Most startups waste valuable time chasing leads that will never buy. It’s not intentional, they just don’t have a system for sorting out high-value prospects from those who aren’t serious.

Without this, sales teams end up burning hours talking to students downloading whitepapers, managers who love the product but can’t approve a purchase, and companies that seem like a great fit but don’t have the budget.

The best sales teams don’t waste time manually sorting leads. Instead, they use lead scoring to identify which leads are worth pursuing.

4a. What is lead scoring

Lead scoring is a way to measure how likely a lead is to become a paying customer.

It assigns a score to each lead based on their engagement with your brand, fit for your product, and their likelihood of buying.

High-scoring leads are sent to the sales team for follow-up, while lower-scoring leads enter a nurture sequence (usually a series of ads or emails) to keep them engaged until they’re ready to buy.

While lead scoring can be done manually, automating the process makes it faster and more accurate. To automate lead scoring, you need two things:

• Your CRM system – Your CRM (e.g. HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo) should integrate with your forms, website, email campaigns, and ads to track lead behaviour in real time.
• Your lead scoring framework – This assigns numerical values to the attributes you’d like to see in your ideal customer.

Once this system is in place, every lead is tracked, scored, and sorted instantly, saving your team time and keeping your sales team focused on the right opportunities.

4b. Collecting data for lead scoring

Lead scoring only works if you have good data.

That’s why collecting good data should be a big part of your marketing strategy – it helps you figure out who is really interested in buying.

One of the best ways to do this is through website forms, especially when combined with ads that drive potential customers to fill them out.

But many businesses don’t use forms well. They often ask for basic details, like a name and email, which provide little insight into whether a lead is actually valuable.

Your forms should go further by collecting information that helps determine if a prospect is a high-value lead. This may include:

• Job title – Are they a decision-maker or just an end user?
• Company size – Are they a high-value enterprise or a small business?
• Location – Are they in a region you serve or prioritise?
• Industry – Helps determine if the lead fits your ideal customer profile.
• Pain point – Does your product solve a problem they care about?

But forms only tell part of the story. The most valuable insights come from lead behaviour:

• Engagement signals – Have they opened your emails? Visited key website pages? Attended a webinar?
• Intent signals – Have they searched for pricing? Requested a demo? Repeatedly interacted with sales materials?

Not all engagement is equal. Someone who downloads a free eBook might just be curious. Someone who checks your pricing page three times in a week is probably a serious buyer.

Your CRM should track and store this data in real time. The more signals you collect, the smarter your lead scoring system becomes.

4c. How to use data for lead scoring

Once you have data, the next step is to assign values to different actions and attributes.

Each item should add or subtract points to reflect how valuable the lead is. For example, a lead:

• Opening multiple marketing emails might add +5 points
• Being the CEO might add +10 points.
• Visiting the pricing page might add +15 points.
• Requesting a demo might add +20 points
• Not engaging for a month might subtract -10 points.

Once a lead reaches a predefined score (e.g. 50+ points), your CRM should automatically send them to your sales team.

This is what’s known as a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL). That is, a lead that has been qualified as valuable based on the data you’ve collected through your marketing efforts.

4d. Implement a qualification framework

Lead scoring is the first filter, but sales reps still need to confirm whether a lead is truly worth pursuing.

This process is known as sales qualification, where an MQL becomes a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) after passing a structured set of criteria.

There’s plenty of models out there, but here’s a simple one – called the BANT framework – which helps determine whether a lead is ready to buy:

• Budget: Can they afford it?
• Authority: Are you talking to a decision-maker?
• Need: Is there a real pain point your product solves?
• Timeline: Is this a priority now, or just “interesting” to them?

When you qualify the leads who have the budget, decision-making power, a clear need, and urgency, your sales team can spend their time on customers who are most likely to convert. This reduces wasted effort and helps close deals faster.

Step 5: Build a strong sales team

Even if you have the best product and process in the world, you won’t make money if your sales team isn’t able to deliver on it.

But hiring more salespeople is not the answer. Instead, you need to make sure your team has the right training, goals, and rewards that motivate them to succeed.

This step drills into finding the right people, teaching them how to sell, and setting them up for success so your business can grow.

5a. Hire based on proven sales skills

Many startups make bad sales hires because they don’t know what to look for. They think that if someone has sold before, they’ll succeed anywhere. But that’s not always true.

For example, someone who sells to small businesses might struggle with big corporate sales because those deals take longer and involve more decision-makers. On the other hand, a corporate sales rep might fail at a startup because they’re used to selling with a well-known brand behind them.

Here’s how to find the right sales team:

• Look for top performers from similar industries – If you sell B2B software, look for people who’ve sold B2B software before. If your sales process takes months, don’t hire someone who’s only done quick sales.
• Prioritise reps with enterprise sales experience – If you’re growing your business, you need salespeople who understand large deals, legal contracts, and working with complex customers.
• **Get the right personality **– When in doubt, hire your sales people based on authenticity, credibility, coachability and personality, not just on past performance.

One of the mistakes we regularly see startups make is hiring salespeople too early. Before you bring in your first sales hire, make sure you’ve closed a number of deals yourself. If you, as the founder, can’t close deals, it will be even harder for new hires to do it.

5b. Do structured onboarding and training

So many companies hire a salesperson, throw them into the deep end, and hope they figure it out. Then they’re surprised when the new hire isn’t closing deals.

That’s why proper training is so important. Salespeople need regular coaching on things like handling tough questions, leading discovery calls, and closing deals.

Sales is all about thinking fast and responding well in the moment. One of the best ways to build this skill is live practice.

For example, if a customer says, “We already use a competitor,” how should your salesperson respond? If they say, “That’s too expensive,” what’s the best comeback?

Running these real-time practice drills helps sales reps prepare for the actual conversations that matter.

Another fast way to get new hires up to speed is by learning from your best salespeople. Have top reps record their best sales calls and break them down step by step.

New hires should also watch and learn from real sales meetings before they start handling their own. The better your training, the faster your team will succeed.

5c. Track sales performance

If you don’t measure performance, you can’t improve it. That’s why you need to keep an eye on key sales numbers to see what’s working and what’s not.

Here are some important things to track:

• Win rates – How many deals are your sales team closing versus losing?
• Sales velocity – How quickly do deals move through the pipeline? The faster they move, the faster you grow.
• Customer cost vs. value – Are you spending more to get a customer than they’re worth?
• Pipeline coverage – Does each salesperson have enough high-quality leads?

If a sales rep isn’t hitting their targets, don’t assume they’re bad at sales. Check the numbers to see where they need help:

• Losing deals early? They might need better questioning skills.
• Deals stalling? They may need coaching on urgency and closing.
• Talking to the wrong people? They might need better lead qualification.

Great teams solve problems with data, not just guesses. It’s easy to trust your gut, but the numbers will tell you the real story.

5d. Incentivise long-term revenue

It’s common for sales teams to focus on short-term wins, closing as many deals as possible this quarter to reap the rewards.. But if you want real growth, your team needs to think long-term.

Here’s how to encourage that mindset:

• Pay for customer retention, not just new deals – If a salesperson signs a bad-fit customer who quits after six months, that’s not a win. Tie commissions to retention so reps focus on bringing in the right customers.
• Avoid end-of-quarter deal rush – Reps often offer big discounts just to close deals before the quarter ends. Instead of only rewarding closed deals, encourage them to build a strong sales pipeline all year long.
• Match incentives to business goals – If your company wants to gain market share, reward sales volume. If profitability is the focus, reward high-margin deals and customer lifetime value.

Great sales teams don’t just think about the next quarter, they think about long-term success. Your incentives should push them to do the same.

Step 6: Improve your sales conversions

At scale, small improvements in win rates can lead to massive revenue growth.

It’s easy to find yourself focusing only on getting more leads, but that’s only half the battle. The other half is closing more of the leads you already have.

Think about it: if your team converts 20% of leads today and you increase that to 30%, that’s a 50% revenue boost, without spending a dollar more on marketing.

This step is about tightening the sales process so you don’t lose deals before they’re closed.

6a. Refine your sales scripts to make your startup a safer choice

So many deals aren’t lost because of a bad product – they’re lost because the message isn’t strong enough.

The best sales teams don’t just talk about features; they sell why their product is the safest and smartest choice to solve their customers’ pain points.

Here’s how to make your sales pitch stronger:

• Use case studies to remove risk – Show how other companies (especially those in the same industry) have succeeded with your product to build trust and demonstrate your value. For example, when pitching your product to a company in the health industry, say: “Health Company X grew their annual revenue by 27% after switching to us.”
• Build ROI-driven sales decks – Deals get stuck when buyers can’t justify the cost versus the value. That’s why you should rarely pitch features, only value and results. This may be financial (e.g. “For every $1 spent on us, our customers make $5.”), but it can also be time-saved or reliability or anything else that solves a pain point.
• Offer a guarantee – Some buyers love your product but fear risk, such as in enterprise sales. Try offering a pilot with clear success metrics: “Try it for 3 months. If you don’t see [specific result], no commitment.”

Make it easier to say yes by eliminating doubts before they even come up.

6b. Shorten the sales cycle

The longer a deal takes, the less likely it is to close. To keep momentum, you need to speed up the process. Here’s how to do that:

• Automate follow-ups – So many deals don’t close because sales teams don’t follow up enough. Set up automated email or LinkedIn reminders to keep your company top-of-mind.
• Use self-serve demos – Don’t make potential customers book a call just to see your product. Provide an interactive demo so they can explore on their own. People who try before they buy are more likely to convert.
• Use pre-approved contract templates – A slow legal process can kill deals. Instead of creating a new contract for every customer, use pre-approved templates to save time.
• Set expected KPIs for time to close – Define a target timeframe for closing deals. If sales are dragging, figure out why: maybe it’s pricing objections, slow internal approvals, or weak follow-ups. Then you have the knowledge to adjust your process.

The faster you move, the fewer deals fall apart, and the faster you can grow your business.

6c. Use data to improve win rates

The best sales teams don’t just track revenue, they track why deals are won or lost.

Here’s how to use data to improve your sales success:

• Spot the biggest deal killers – Log every lost deal in your CRM with a reason (e.g. “Price too high,” “Lost to competitor,” “No budget”). Review the trends each month where possible. Then use this to make decisions about what to fix in the process e.g. if 30% of deals are lost on pricing, it’s a positioning issue, not a sales problem.
• Compare top performers with underperformers – Study what your best salespeople do differently. If one rep closes 40% of leads while another closes only 15%, analyse their approach? Do they ask better discovery questions? Are they handling objections differently? This will help you shape your process and your training
• Test different approaches (A/B testing) – Run experiments on your product and sales process. Good places to start include pricing, email outreach, and call scripts. For example, one group gets standard pricing, while another gets a discounted pilot offer. Which one converts better?

If you don’t measure, you can’t improve. And to keep growing, you need to keep improving.

Step 7: Keep and expand revenue

Many companies spend too much time chasing new customers and not enough time keeping the ones they already have. But research shows that selling to existing customers is 5–10x cheaper than finding new ones.

If customers are leaving as fast as they’re joining, your business won’t grow. A strong customer success strategy helps them stick around, spend more, and become your biggest advocates.

7a. How to lose less revenue

If you want to grow fast, you need to stop losing customers.

The majority of customers who stop using a service leave within the first 90 days, not because your product is inherently bad, but because they don’t get value fast enough.

If onboarding is confusing or they feel unsupported, they’ll leave before you even have a chance to retain them. Fix that, and retention skyrockets. Here’s how to do it:

• Make onboarding easy – The first few weeks set the tone. Give customers a clear path with guided steps, milestones, and dedicated support so they don’t feel lost.
• Assign a team member to high-value accounts – A single welcome email won’t cut it for big customers. Assign someone to check in, introduce key features, and make sure they’re seeing value early on.
• Track customer health to spot early warning signs – Look for clues that a customer is unhappy. If logins drop off, they might be struggling to use your product. If feature usage stalls, they aren’t seeing full value. And when support tickets spike, they’re frustrated.
• Intervene before they leave – If a customer is slipping, don’t wait for them to cancel. Reach out, understand their issue, and fix it.

If customers aren’t hanging around long enough to be of value to your company, adding more customers isn’t going to fix that. That’s why you need to fix your retention first.

7b. How to make more revenue

The best time to sell more is when a customer is already seeing success.

If they’re happy with your product, they’re primed to buy more. Your job is to make the next step obvious. Here’s how:

• Trigger upgrades when customers hit usage limits – If a customer is using 80% of their plan, it’s the perfect time to start the conversation. e.g. “You’re on track to max out soon, let’s discuss an upgrade so you don’t hit any roadblocks.”
• Offer premium features and add-ons – Customers who already see value will happily pay for things that make their lives easier. This could be higher-tier analytics, faster support response times or new integrations.
• Turn customer success into a growth driver – Your support team shouldn’t just fix problems, they should look for expansion opportunities. They can nudge customers toward new features and help them see the value of scaling their spend.

The best companies bake expansion revenue into their DNA. If your customers are growing, your business should grow with them.

Final thoughts

Growing your sales means building a system that works without you.

If your business still needs you to close every deal, if your sales process is messy and different every time, or if you only have one way to find new customers, then you're not really growing in a way that can last.

A strong sales system should be easy to repeat, give you steady results, and grow with your business. The best companies do this by following a clear process, using automation to save time, and making improvements based on data.

To know if you're on the right track, think about whether you:

• have a clearly identified customer
• have a clear sales process written down that’s easy for others to follow.
• have multiple ways to find new customers
• have an automated process to qualify and rank your leads
• have a strong team that is set up for success
• are making the strongest possible pitch for your company
• are keeping your customers happy and encouraging them to buy more.

Most importantly, are you making changes based on what the data tells you? What works today might not work next year, so you need to keep checking your results and adjusting your approach.

That’s how you build a business that keeps growing for the long run.