Sales 101

Lead generation, prospecting, pipeline, CRM, forecasting, proposals, negotiation and account management: the system behind predictable revenue.

Build a predictable customer acquisition and revenue engine.

  • Sales fundamentals – What selling actually is, how a buyer moves from first contact to a decision, and the simple repeatable process that lets a small business win customers without relying on charm or luck.
  • Lead generation – How to build a steady flow of people who want to hear from you: choosing channels, turning attention into contactable leads, and measuring what each lead costs so you can spend with confidence.
  • Prospecting and outreach – How to find the businesses or people most likely to buy from you and start conversations with them: building a target list, writing outreach that gets replies, and following up without being a pest.
  • Sales pipeline management – How to define pipeline stages, keep every deal moving, spot where opportunities stall, and use pipeline coverage to know months in advance whether you will hit your revenue target.
  • CRM fundamentals – What a customer relationship management system actually does, when a spreadsheet stops being enough, how to choose and set one up without over-engineering it, and how to get your team to use it.
  • Sales forecasting – How to predict next month’s and next quarter’s revenue from your pipeline and history, which forecasting method suits your business, and how to use the forecast to make hiring, stock and cash decisions.
  • Proposal and negotiation – How to write proposals that get decided rather than filed, present price with confidence, handle the negotiation that follows, and agree terms that protect your margin and the relationship.
  • Account management – How to keep and grow the customers you already have: tiering accounts, running regular reviews, spotting churn early, and finding the expansion revenue that costs far less to win than a new customer.
  • Sales performance metrics – The handful of numbers that tell you whether your sales engine is working: activity, conversion, velocity and value, how to calculate them from your CRM, and how to use them to coach rather than just to judge.