A sales process is the defined, repeatable sequence of stages a deal moves through from first conversation to close, with clear criteria for advancing at each stage. It makes selling teachable and forecasting possible, replacing improvisation with a system.

If your sales process lives only in the founder's instincts, it cannot be taught, measured, or improved. That is why the first sales hire so often fails: there was nothing to hand them. A documented process is what turns your personal ability to sell into something the business owns rather than something you own.

Example:

Defined stages with explicit exit criteria, such as the economic buyer being identified before a proposal is issued, prevent deals from advancing on optimism alone.

Why does the first sales hire often fail?

Usually because there is no documented process to hand them. They are asked to replicate the founder's instinct without any system that makes it repeatable.

What makes a sales process effective?

Clear stages with explicit criteria for advancing, so deals progress on evidence rather than optimism, and so the process can be taught and measured.