What is a Sales Strategy?

Over five years ago, I decided to make the jump from the security of corporate America and get into the start-up software game. Looking back, I still am not exactly sure what drew me in, but I have to imagine it was the challenge to build something from nothing into something sustainable and great.

I still remember when I took my first role as Vice President of Customer Experience at a company in San Diego, CA. Walking in was a complete culture shock having just left an ultra-conservative Minneapolis, MN 30 plus year-old company. It was everything I had hoped for, and then quickly became everything I feared.

When I met with the owners, I knew part of my role would be to introduce some structure and process. What I was not entirely ready for was to create almost all of it from the ground up.

Over the next three months, I would author a ton of SOP across the entire organization to ensure our client journey was measurable and real. It was a ton of work, but as I watched each new strategy roll-out, it was gratifying. Then as I saw all my support teams start to take shape, I would be asked to take over sales and marketing under my umbrella. Two departments I was VERY familiar with, but ones I had not touched yet as they initially reported up to another VP on the team.

Jumping back into Sales and Marketing was like climbing into your bed after a very long trip. It was familiar territory that I loved and excited to dig into what needed to happen to kick our numbers up to where they needed to be. Pulling all my team leaders together, we plotted out our current client lifecycle and then worked backward to include sales and marketing. This way, our strategy was cohesive and ensured that each client's expectations were always set correctly. Then the final step was to lay it all out in what we called back then the Sales Bible, or as it is known now the "Sales Manifesto."

Rather than tell you about what this Sales Manifesto is, I wanted to show you one. This way, you can see what an actual sales strategy should contain.

The Sales Manifesto below was a version from 2017 for my company BizSprints. My rule for all my companies was that these manifestos must be reviewed and updated every quarter minimally. If you find new pieces to add weekly at first, then go for it. The most important part is to get it down in writing, so you have a source of truth.

I hope this can help you Sales Leaders out there with getting your sales strategy together. Just remember you don't have to make it as pretty as this one I have here. It would be best if you focused on getting the data in one place that every team member can access. When that is done, all your training and mentorship will be so much easier to run and measure.

To Your Success & Prosperity,

Michael McMillan