| Early on, the key to boosting revenue is to replicate what has worked for you. Once you’ve acquired your initial paying customers, analyze what went well and what didn’t. Focus on amplifying successful strategies and enhancing areas that need improvement. |
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| Today, we’ll explore ways to increase your startup’s revenue by breaking down the buyer journey. And how, by optimizing each step, you can establish a streamlined sales system that you can scale. |
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Reverse engineering the sales flow
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| (For those already familiar with their sales flow, feel free to skip this section.) |
| Knowing exactly where and how a sale occurs in the user journey is crucial at this stage. |
| Rather than aiming to construct the “perfect flow” right away, begin by visualizing the ultimate goal. Then, work backward, identifying the preceding steps users must take before reaching that point. Here’s an example to illustrate: |
- B2B SaaS → Sales Conversion – Contract & Proposal Review – POC/Trial – Demo/Discovery – Qualification – Lead
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Defining what “success” looks like for each stage
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| Once you’ve outlined the stages, shift your focus to defining success for each stage. Ask, “What needs to happen in this stage for the user to progress to the next one?” to clearly define the success criteria. |
| For startups with existing sales, leverage the real data and market signals you’ve gathered. Compare the sales journeys of all your paying users and identify common patterns. You’ll be amazed at how this exercise can enhance growth efficiency. |
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Measuring & iterating
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| Once you’ve established success criteria for each stage, it’s crucial to have the right metrics in place to pinpoint where users are dropping off. |
| Identifying these drop-off points streamlines your focus and resources toward immediate bottlenecks in your startup. This approach allows for a “fail fast” mentality, facilitating rapid iterations until you uncover the missing piece. |
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Replicating the process
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| Continued growth depends on finding a “winning formula” and relentlessly leveraging it until repetitive success is no longer achievable. |
| As your startup progresses, your sales flow will inevitably require optimization to accommodate new growth. However, having a timeless playbook gives you a reliable framework for sustaining and further expanding your revenue as your startup grows. |
