How to Create a Sales Strategy That Works (And Why Your Small Business Needs One)

If you asked your team right now, “What exactly do we sell, and why does it matter?” would everyone give the same answer? The uncomfortable truth for many businesses, particularly startups, is: probably not.

Working closely with smaller companies has highlighted just how crucial a clear, focused, and shared sales strategy is. Without a solid sales strategy, messaging becomes inconsistent, diluted, and important features or unique selling points get overlooked. It weakens your pitch and can make you look clumsy in front of prospects.

So, how do you build a sales strategy that closes new business?

Step 1: Get Clear on What You’re Selling

It sounds basic, but you’d be amazed at how often companies struggle to articulate their offering. Ask yourself:

• What problem does your product or service solve?
• Who are you solving it for?
• How is your solution different or better than what’s already out there?

When your team is aligned on these points, you’ll have consistent messaging, clearer pitches, and better results. In the early stages, creating a product which isn’t immediately scalable is pretty normal. Think white glove management, high-level reporting, and doing the heavy lifting to keep clients satisfied and engaged. Essentially, you do whatever it takes to secure revenue (again, this is normal), but always keep clear boundaries on what's out of scope. Watch that you don’t build a rod for your own back down the line.

Tip: Run a simple workshop. Ask everyone on your team to write down their description of your product or service, align on a shared, clear, concise message, and keep it close. Share scripts, decks, or a laminated one-pager, repeating it frequently internally.

Step 2: Define Your Ideal Customer Clearly

Smaller businesses often try to appeal to everyone, thinking it maximises opportunity. In reality, this dilutes your messaging. Define your ideal customer clearly:

• What industry are they in?
• What challenges are they facing?
• What motivates them to buy?

The better you understand your audience, the easier it is to align your product’s benefits to their needs. When the business is ramping up, you might start with the "a mile wide, an inch deep" approach. But as you become better at selling and gathering feedback internally and externally, you start narrowing your focus. This leads you to prioritise your ideal customer and their most pressing pain points, shifting from a mile wide and an inch deep to a mile deep and an inch wide.

Tip: If you’re not sure, ask. Call the companies or people you’re trying to sell to and get direct feedback. Run surveys and discover pain points straight from the “horse's mouth”. If resourcing is an issue, hire a consultant to conduct market research and distil the findings.

Step 3: Create a Clear Value Proposition

Your value proposition is your elevator pitch. It explains what you offer, who you offer it to, and why they should care, all in one simple sentence.

A strong value proposition is clear, concise, and memorable. For example:

• Slack: “Make work simpler, more pleasant, and more productive.”
• Shopify: “Anyone, anywhere, can start a business.”

Once you’ve nailed yours, weave it consistently into every sales message and communication.

Step 4: Map Out a Repeatable Sales Process

You don’t need a complicated manual, but a clear, repeatable sales process is essential, even for small teams. Document, practise, iterate, repeat. Ask yourself:

• How do we generate leads?
• How do we qualify them?
• What does the journey from first contact to closing the deal look like?
• What tools or tech do we need to support this?

The clearer your process, the easier it is to scale and track.

Step 5: Set Goals and Measure Your Progress

What gets measured gets managed (trite, but true). Set achievable goals around revenue, conversion rates, or pipeline development. Track your progress weekly or monthly, adjusting quickly if something isn’t working. You don’t need a fancy CRM; a spreadsheet is just fine.

Why Does This Matter?

Without a shared sales strategy, your team risks working in silos, unclear about your product’s real benefits, ideal customers, or how to communicate effectively. Opportunities get missed, and your bottom line suffers.

With clear alignment around your sales strategy, you’ll gain:

• Confidence in your messaging
• More effective sales conversations
• Sustainable growth and predictable revenue

Final Thoughts

Sales strategy isn’t just for big corporates. It’s crucial for small companies that want to scale sustainably. When everyone shares a clear understanding of what you sell, who it’s for, and why it matters, growth becomes simpler, faster, and far less stressful.

This is my speciality. If you’d like support in clarifying your sales strategy, identifying your ideal customers, or accelerating growth, get in touch. I’d love to help.

Your future self (and your bottom line) will thank you.