Founder-led sales to a team · 7 minutes
Why the founder closes more than the reps, and how to close the gap
Because the founder applies judgment that the reps have not been given. The gap is a gap in method, not in talent. You close it by writing down what the founder does at each step and the evidence they rely on, until your weakest rep can run a deal close to the level of your strongest.
An example
Imagine a founder who closes eight demos in ten, and a best rep who closes four. Same deck, same questions, same kind of prospect. The founder thinks it is talent. The rep thinks it is luck. It is neither: it is a difference in what each of them knows to do, and in when.
What the founder does that the deck does not show
Most of the difference happens before and after the demo. The founder decides early which deals are not worth the time. They know who signs and get to that person. They ask the questions that surface the real problem. They leave each conversation with a dated next step, and they notice when a deal has gone quiet for a reason.
None of this is in the deck, so none of it travels when a rep uses the same deck.
Aim at the weakest rep, not the best
A team is repeatable when the average person can do the job, not only the exceptional one. A useful target: your weakest rep working at about seven tenths of your best. Two things help get there. Write down the moves, as below. And narrow what each role is asked to do, so that onboarding someone means teaching one skill at a time rather than a whole craft.
Write down the moves
- For each stage, the conditions a deal must meet before it moves on.
- The questions the founder asks, and what an answer must show for the deal to be real.
- What the founder does when a deal stalls, in each of the usual situations.
- What they ask for at the end of each conversation.
- Test it on two current deals: does it tell the rep what to do next on each?
Review deals on evidence
Once the moves are written, review each deal against what the customer has done: who has attended, what has been agreed in writing, what is still to confirm. A review based on how the rep feels about a deal brings the old gap back. A review based on evidence lets a rep improve without waiting for the founder to find time.
Why it should not wait
Selling in person starts as a source of energy and, over time, takes it. The founder who treats it as a scramble burns out before the team is ready. The earlier you turn it into a method others can follow, the longer you last, and the sooner you can spend your time on what only you can do.
Where this fits The question behind it: How to know what to do next on a deal
More in this category
- What to write down before you hire your first sales repWrite down three things about the deals you have already worked: where each one came from, how long it stayed in each stage, and how it ended, with the reason when you lost. Most founders can say how many deals they closed but not why. If the why stays in your head, the first rep starts with nothing and builds a process from scratch. A plain record of past deals gives them something to work from on day one.
- Before you hire another sales rep, look at your reps' calendarsHire another rep when three things are true: the reps you have are at or above their quota, their calendars are full of conversations with buyers, and there is enough pipeline to keep one more person busy. If one of the three is missing, another rep adds a salary and not revenue.
- How long should founder-led sales last?Founder-led sales usually carries a company to its first $1 million in ARR, and many founders keep selling well past that. It should last until the way you sell is written down well enough for someone else to use it on their own deals. The date matters less than that test.