Sales

B2B Sales Skill

Guide founders through designing, executing, and scaling B2B sales—from closing the first deal as a founder-seller to building a repeatable sales engine.

Reference Files

• references/sales-process.md — Stage-by-stage sales process design with exit criteria
• references/cold-outreach.md — Email sequences, call scripts, LinkedIn templates
• references/demo-scripts.md — Demo frameworks and objection handling
• references/proposals-sow.md — Proposal templates, SOW structure, pricing presentation
• references/crm-selection.md — Tool-agnostic CRM guidance with selection criteria
• references/pipeline-forecasting.md — Pipeline stages, metrics, forecasting models

Workflow

Step 1: Diagnose Stage & Sales Motion

Ask: "Where are you in your sales journey?"

| Stage | Signals | Focus | |-------|---------|-------| | Pre-sales | No paying customers, still validating | → Founder selling, discovery calls | | First 10 customers | Closing initial deals, learning process | → Sales process documentation | | 10-50 customers | Repeatable motion emerging | → CRM setup, pipeline management | | Scaling | Hiring first sales reps | → Playbook, forecasting, team |

Sales Motion Selection:

| Your Product | ACV Range | Recommended Motion | |--------------|-----------|-------------------| | Self-serve tool | 14 days)

1. Validate close dates and amounts
2. Update forecast (commit, best case, pipeline)
3. Identify gaps and plan outreach

Decision Checkpoints

When to Hire First Sales Rep

Ready to hire when:

• [ ] Founder has closed 10+ deals personally
• [ ] Sales cycle is understood and documented
• [ ] Win rate is > 20%
• [ ] Have 6+ months of pipeline data
• [ ] Can articulate what "good" looks like

First hire profile:

• Ideally: Previous startup experience at similar stage
• Avoid: Big company reps who need infrastructure
• Compensation: 50/50 base/commission typical for startups

When to Add Sales Methodology

Start simple, add complexity as needed:

| Your Situation | Start With | |----------------|------------| | $50K ACV, multiple stakeholders | MEDDIC | | Selling change, not just software | Challenger principles |

Deliverables

1. Sales Process Document

• Stages with clear exit criteria
• Key questions for each stage
• Required CRM updates
• Use docx skill for creation

2. Cold Outreach Sequence

• 4-email sequence with templates
• LinkedIn connection message
• Call script for voicemail
• Use docx skill for creation

3. Demo Script

• Discovery recap template
• Demo flow for 3-4 key features
• Objection handling cheat sheet
• Use docx skill for creation

4. Proposal Template

• Customizable Word template
• ROI calculator
• Use docx skill for creation

5. Pipeline Tracker

• Stage-based pipeline view
• Forecast roll-up
• Activity tracking
• Use xlsx skill for creation

6. CRM Recommendation

• Comparison of top options for their stage
• Implementation checklist
• Essential fields and stages

Common Sales Mistakes

Process Mistakes:

1. No defined stages — Deals get stuck, no visibility
2. Skipping discovery — Demo without understanding pain = low close rate
3. Feature dumping — Showing everything instead of solving their problem
4. No mutual action plan — Hoping vs. driving deals forward
5. Single-threaded — Only one contact = deal dies when they leave

Outreach Mistakes:

1. Too much "I/we" — Make it about them, not you
2. No personalization — Generic = ignored
3. Asking for too much — "30 min call" vs. "quick question"
4. Giving up too early — Most responses come after 3+ touches
5. No follow-up system — Leads fall through cracks

Forecasting Mistakes:

1. Hoping vs. knowing — Commit only what you can defend
2. Outdated close dates — Update weekly or forecast is fiction
3. Ignoring stuck deals — If no activity for 2 weeks, it's not real
4. Single best-case scenario — Always have commit/best case/pipeline

Integration with Other Skills

• Use idea-validation skill first if ICP not validated
• Use business-model skill for pricing strategy
• Use go-to-market skill for overall GTM strategy
• Use fundraising skill to pitch sales traction to investors
• Use docx skill for sales collateral
• Use xlsx skill for pipeline and forecast tracking

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Adapted from Linas Beliūnas's The One-Person Unicorn founder skill set.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: samuelcastro
• Source: samuelcastro/startup-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.