4 Steps to Setting up your Startup's Sales Strategy

Earlier this year, Breakthrough Labs’ members were given the exclusive opportunity to learn from renowned Sales Coach Meg Roundell-Greene when she delivered a sales masterclass for our female founder community.

During this session, Meg provided numerous practical tips, as well as a guide for start-ups planning their go-to-market sales strategy.

“The question I hear, over and over, in various forms, from various founders,” Meg began, “is ‘How do I actually create a monetisation strategy for my start-up?’”

Immediately, all pairs of eyes darted from notebooks and up to the webinar screen, because yes - this is exactly what most founders most want to know (and sometimes feel compelled to pretend we already know) - how are we actually going to sell products and make money?

During the live masterclass, Meg shared her expertise, guiding us through the process of building a go-to-market sales strategy. In this article, we’ll highlight the key takeaways from what we learned.

What is a Go-To-Market Sales Strategy?

Many founders struggle to talk about sales. We love talking about our business concept or product. We like spending time focusing on our ideal client, creating brand assets, and brainstorming marketing ideas. But sales is so often a subject to skirt over. Something we hope will ‘just happen’. After all, ‘if you build it, they will come, ’ so they say. The issue is, what you also must build is a plan, because sales is a key part of any business and one that deserves its own, well-thought-out, research-led strategy.

A go-to-market strategy defines the target audience, sets pricing, and establishes sales, marketing, and distribution channels, giving you a mapped-out route to sales. Or, as Meg Roundell-Greene told us - “it’s about finding who your end-buyer is and then working out how you’re going to reach them, in the simplest way possible.”

We begin by getting to know the customer.

Step One - Sales Strategy for Start-Ups: Know Your Buyer 

You’ve probably already carried out some kind of ideal client exercise. Possibly within your marketing or business strategy. However, we now have to understand how that connects to your sales and, as Meg puts it, “the mechanics of actually reaching them.”

Defining your target market begins with research, which may involve conducting focus groups and/or surveys, or you may go to public information such as market data, public domain data, statistics, etc. (Answer the Public and Semrush are particularly useful tools).

Proper market research should gift you a deeper understanding of your potential customers’ needs, pain points, and goals.

Once you have these insights, the next step is to connect your solution to those needs and demonstrate how your solution can help them achieve their desired outcome.

Connecting Customers With Your Solution

“I’m just going to say this - your customer doesn’t care about 90% of your marketing. They only care about the stuff that helps them,” Meg explained.

Once you are realistic about this - that they aren’t invested in your back story or credentials - then your USPs (unique selling points) become front and center, and they are what will make your messaging targeted and powerful.

Make sure you know the answers to these questions:

• How does your solution help your target market?

• What makes you uniquely able to offer this?

• Why does it work?

• What is the process?

  
  

Your Customer Journey

Whatever product or service you’re selling, you need to lead your customers on a journey, from awareness through to purchase.

Along the way, there are multiple touchpoints: opportunities to move the customer from initial interest to consideration, selection, and ultimately, a decision to buy. Understanding this journey is crucial. It ensures you appear at the right moments, provide the right information, and guide them smoothly toward taking action.

“It’s about building a journey that makes sense.”

Step Two - Sales Strategy for Start-Ups: Selecting Your Channels

Now that you’re clear on your end customer and the problem they’re trying to solve, we can work out where we might reach them. So ask yourself:

• What are they doing to try to solve their problem? 

• What is their search behaviour?

• Where are they already consuming media?

• Where might they be already gathered? (Social media, podcasts, events, etc.)

Remember, you’re not trying to get them to come to you - it makes far more sense to reach them where they already are. So, whether paid or free, consider the places your potential buyers are already gathered, and this will inform the platforms and channels you choose to show up on.

Furthermore, you may use this information to form collaborations and/or partnerships that fast-track your access to your target market. Applying creative thinking at this point can not only make your sales strategy more effective, but can also help to minimise costs.

“Utilise everything to the maximum before going through paid routes, because if it’s not working when you don’t put money behind it, it won’t work when you do.”

After you’ve selected your channels, return to communication and customer journey. Weak sales strategies often ask too much of their customers - the journey is too complex and they aren’t communicating their USPs (unique selling points) effectively.

Of course, it’s important to warm up your audience, especially if you’re approaching them in their spaces. However, at some point, you need to be able to identify with their problem and present your solutions. Then, you need to be able to direct them towards it without detours or unnecessary steps.

“It’s much more effective when you’re designing these narratives, to think about it all from the customer’s point of view.”

By now, your sales strategy should be able to define:

• Where you are going to reach your target audience (consistency is key, so be strategic and don’t overextend yourself)

• How you will communicate your solution (what materials you need to create)

• How you will measure success (impressions, website traffic, conversions, etc.)

  
  

Step Three - Sales Strategy for Start-Ups: Embracing Sales

For many, a mindset shift must take place upon the entrepreneurial journey, and that’s the movement into becoming Sales Director for your company. It can be uncomfortable, but it is crucial because without sales, you have no business.

“As the head of your business, you must embrace your sales director role and recognise that sales is the oxygen that makes your business live.”

Of course, this doesn’t mean you’ll get it right every time. Much of your sales efforts will involve experimenting, but these will also be learning experiences, which will be essential for helping you and your business grow and find the right path to success.

As a Sales Coach for entrepreneurs, Meg has helped many founders step into their sales persona, and here is her leading advice:

• Shift from ‘failure’ to ‘unexpected results’ - Everything is an experiment, and sales is about testing, learning, and gathering information to keep you informed.

• Evaluate as you go - Build your knowledge and be prepared to keep adapting your go-to-market strategy to capitalise on what’s working and shift away from what isn’t.

• Note your metrics - Scrutinise all that you do across your channels, part with anything not serving you, and invest more in those producing results. Use your measurements to gauge success and inform business decisions, but recognise that you may also need to change how you measure (or even define) success.

• Seek to convert - Are you losing people along the journey? Pinpoint those areas and keep tightening up the customer journey to ensure your marketing efforts are resulting in sales.

Step Four - Sales Strategy for Start-Ups: Conversions

Your ultimate goal is to convert interest into sales. This is the stage where all your hard work pays off and, without it, your business can’t succeed.

In step one, we covered the customer journey and how you might guide potential buyers from awareness through to purchase. But this isn’t a set-and-forget process. Once you start selling, you’ll need to regularly review and refine that journey. Simplifying it over time will also help boost conversions while reducing your cost per sale.

Meg advises casting a wide net initially, embracing the opportunity to speak to as many people as possible, and resisting over-qualifying leads too early. Yes, this will dilute your conversion rate at first, but it’s the fastest way to learn who your ideal customers are, where to find them, and what messages resonate. As you gather insights, you can tighten your process, remove barriers, streamline onboarding, and automate where possible.

Remember, sales strategy isn’t a straight line. It’s research, planning, testing, and constant refinement. There’s no one-size-fits-all formula. Your results will depend on your business model, audience, and how well you connect the two.

➡️ Reach out to Meg Roundell-Greene at this link to book a free consultation with her!