Building a Repeatable Sales Process: From Founder-Led to Revenue Machine

Your founder can close deals. That's great. But founders don't scale.

The companies that scale from $10M to $100M+ ARR don't have the best salespeople—they have the best sales processes.

Here's how to turn your founder's sales magic into a repeatable system.

The Problem: Founder-Led Sales Don't Scale

At $5M ARR, founder involvement accelerates deals. At $50M ARR, it's a bottleneck.

The symptoms:

• Every deal requires the founder
• Sales cycles lengthen as the founder gets busy
• New AEs can't close deals without help
• Forecast accuracy is terrible
• The founder becomes the constraint

The solution:

Document the process. Train the team. Systematize the motion.

Step 1: Document What Works

Before you can teach it, you need to document it.

The framework:

1. Record - Watch your founder sell. Take notes.
2. Document - Write down every step, every question, every response.
3. Organize - Structure it into a repeatable process.
4. Test - Have someone else follow the process. Does it work?

What to document:

• Discovery questions - What questions does the founder ask?
• Objection handling - How does the founder respond to pushback?
• Demo flow - What's the sequence of the demo?
• Closing techniques - How does the founder advance deals?
• Follow-up cadence - When and how does the founder follow up?

Example:

At Hortonworks, I documented our discovery process:

1. Ask about current state (15 min)
2. Identify pain points (10 min)
3. Quantify the cost (10 min)
4. Map stakeholders (10 min)
5. Understand timeline (5 min)

Every AE followed this exact sequence. Our discovery calls became predictable. Our qualification improved.

Step 2: Create Playbooks

A playbook is a step-by-step guide for a specific scenario.

Essential playbooks:

1. Discovery playbook - How to run discovery calls
2. Demo playbook - How to demo the product
3. Objection handling playbook - How to handle common objections
4. Closing playbook - How to advance and close deals
5. Expansion playbook - How to expand existing accounts

Playbook structure:

• Objective - What are you trying to achieve?
• Prerequisites - What do you need before starting?
• Steps - What's the sequence?
• Questions - What questions do you ask?
• Responses - How do you respond to common answers?
• Success criteria - How do you know it worked?

Example: Discovery Playbook

Objective: Qualify the opportunity using MEDDIC.

Prerequisites:

• ICP fit confirmed
• Initial contact made
• Meeting scheduled

Steps:

1. Build rapport (2 min)

   • "Thanks for your time. I'm excited to learn about your challenges."

2. Understand current state (15 min)

   • "Tell me about your current solution."
   • "What's working well?"
   • "What's not working?"

3. Identify pain (10 min)

   • "What problems are you trying to solve?"
   • "What's the impact of these problems?"
   • "Why is this urgent now?"

4. Quantify metrics (10 min)

   • "What does this problem cost you?"
   • "What's the value of solving it?"
   • "What happens if you don't solve it?"

5. Map stakeholders (10 min)

   • "Who else is involved in this decision?"
   • "Who controls the budget?"
   • "Who's your champion?"

6. Understand timeline (5 min)

   • "What's your timeline?"
   • "What's driving the urgency?"
   • "What are the next steps?"

Success criteria:

• MEDDIC score ≥ 10
• Champion identified (learn more about building champions)
• Timeline confirmed
• Next steps agreed

Step 3: Standardize the Process

Consistency is more important than perfection.

The framework:

1. Define the stages - What are the stages of your sales process?
2. Set criteria - What qualifies a deal to move to the next stage?
3. Create checklists - What needs to happen at each stage?
4. Track metrics - How do you measure success?

Example: Sales Stages

Stage 1: Discovery

• Criteria: MEDDIC score ≥ 8
• Checklist: Discovery call completed, pain identified, stakeholders mapped
• Metric: Discovery-to-qualified conversion rate

Stage 2: Qualified

• Criteria: MEDDIC score ≥ 10
• Checklist: Economic buyer identified, budget confirmed, timeline set
• Metric: Qualified-to-demo conversion rate

Stage 3: Demo

• Criteria: Demo scheduled, key stakeholders attending
• Checklist: Demo tailored to use case, objections addressed
• Metric: Demo-to-proposal conversion rate

Stage 4: Proposal

• Criteria: Proposal sent, decision criteria met
• Checklist: ROI calculated, references provided, legal terms discussed
• Metric: Proposal-to-close conversion rate

Stage 5: Closed

• Criteria: Contract signed, implementation started
• Checklist: Handoff to success team, expansion opportunities identified
• Metric: Win rate, average deal size

Step 4: Train the Team

Documentation without training is useless.

The framework:

1. Onboarding - New AEs learn the process
2. Coaching - Ongoing improvement and refinement
3. Certification - AEs prove they can execute
4. Continuous improvement - Process evolves based on results

Onboarding program:

• Week 1: Learn the process, read the playbooks
• Week 2: Shadow experienced AEs, observe calls
• Week 3: Practice with role plays, get feedback
• Week 4: Take real calls with supervision
• Week 5: Independent execution, ongoing coaching

Coaching cadence:

• Daily: Deal reviews, quick wins
• Weekly: Pipeline reviews, skill development
• Monthly: Process refinement, best practices

Step 5: Measure and Optimize

What gets measured gets improved.

Key metrics:

• Conversion rates - Stage-to-stage conversion
• Sales cycle length - Time in each stage
• Win rate - Closed deals / total opportunities
• Forecast accuracy - Predicted vs. actual
• AE performance - Individual vs. team average

The framework:

1. Track - Measure the metrics
2. Analyze - Identify what's working and what's not
3. Optimize - Improve the process
4. Repeat - Continuous improvement

Example:

At Cockroach Labs, we tracked discovery-to-qualified conversion. It was 40%. We analyzed why deals weren't qualifying. We found AEs weren't asking about budget early enough. We updated the discovery playbook to include budget questions in the first 10 minutes. Conversion improved to 65%.

Common Mistakes

Mistake #1: Over-complicating

Keep it simple. A 50-step process won't be followed.

Mistake #2: Not enforcing

If AEs don't follow the process, it's not a process. It's a suggestion.

Mistake #3: Not updating

Processes need to evolve. Update them quarterly based on results.

Mistake #4: Founder doesn't follow

If the founder doesn't follow the process, no one will. Lead by example.

The Bottom Line

A repeatable sales process isn't about removing creativity. It's about removing variability.

Document what works. Train the team. Measure results. Optimize continuously.

That's how you scale from founder-led to revenue machine.

The Framework

1. Document - Write down what works
2. Standardize - Create consistent processes
3. Train - Teach the team
4. Measure - Track results
5. Optimize - Improve continuously

Use this framework. Build your process. Scale your revenue.

That's the difference between a sales team and a revenue machine.