Announcement:
We’ve officially rolled out a fully fleshed out self-service sales model, built specifically for bootstrapped founders and lean teams who need structure but can’t afford 1.1 coaching. We’ve had dozens of requests from early stage operators. I packaged the Rampd framework (used by venture backed teams) into a lean, tactical version you can implement on your own terms.

It includes the full sales stage breakdown, pipeline reporting dashboards, outbound templates, and forecasting tools, plus, you still get 1:1 time with me and a few call reviews to review your process.

I created a short video on what’s included, how it works, pricing and a link to purchase if you’re ready.

This gives you a real foundation you can build revenue on. You can check it out here!

#105: The Hidden Reason You're Losing Deals (And How to Stop)


Read time: 4 min

Today I will discuss how to define your sales stages (leads and opportunities)with clear exit criteria that create visibility, consistency, and control across your funnel.

If you're running founder led sales and this is not fleshed I can almost gurantee you’re losing deals and have no clue why. It’s not because you're bad at selling, it’s most likely you are not tracking deal flow correctly.

This lack of structure creates:

• Forecasting issues

• Misaligned team activity

• Bloated pipelines

• Sky-high CAC

In this issue we’ll define the rules of the game and discuss the exit criteria to clarify when deal are actually qualified to move forward.

Founder-led sales is not a knowledge problem. It’s a repetition problem.

~Yours Truly

Where I see many founders struggle is they confuse activity with progress. A booked meeting feels like momentum, but without clear exit gates, you're just dragging dead weight through your pipeline. Conversations aren't pipeline. Qualified movement is.

Here’s the tactical breakdown of how to apply stage specific exit criteria from lead to close:

Lead Funnel: Pre Opportunity Stages

These are TOFU activities that don't yet qualify as revenue opportunities.

Key metric: % of leads progressing from “Connected” → “Discovery Booked”

Opportunity Funnel: Revenue Pipeline

Only once discovery is booked and intent is confirmed does a lead become a qualified opportunity.

1. Discovery

• Buyer Status: Are they trying to solve a problem you fix?

• Your Exit Criteria: You confirmed BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing) + strong fit

• Buyer Exit Criteria: They express urgency to fix the problem and align with your solution

Takeaway = If this isn't true, kill the opp or recycle to “Future Opportunity”

2. Demo

• Buyer Status: Does your product solve their exact use case?

• Your Exit Criteria: You mapped your product clearly to their use case

• Buyer Exit Criteria: They say, “Yes, this can solve our problem,” and agree to scope POC

Takeaway = If no forward motion post demo = not qualified. Don’t carry ghosts.

3. Scoping Call

• Buyer Status: What needs to happen in the POC for them to buy?

• Your Exit Criteria: You captured success criteria, confirmed expectations

• Buyer Exit Criteria: They commit to POC with specific outcomes in mind

Takeaway = This is your deal filter. Don’t enter POCs you can’t win.

4. POC (Pilot)

• Buyer Status: Did the product deliver in a real-world scenario?

• Your Exit Criteria: POC recap completed; technical + stakeholder feedback logged

• Buyer Exit Criteria: They’re ready to negotiate terms

Takeaway = POC without recap = POC that dies silently. Always schedule recap before POC starts.

5. Negotiation

• Buyer Status: They’ve internally agreed to buy

• Your Exit Criteria: Proposal and final terms sent

• Buyer Exit Criteria: Contracts reviewed and agreed to

Takeaway = This stage is NOT “we’re close.” It’s “we’re trading redlines.”

6. Close

• Buyer Status: They’ve received the contract

• Your Exit Criteria: Signed deal + go-live date scheduled

• Buyer Exit Criteria: Implementation in motion

Takeaway = No signed agreement = no closed won. Period.

Reporting Metrics

Don’t just look at pipeline volume, you want to track conversion between stages. Here’s your tactical data view:

Outbound Metrics (Top of Funnel)

• Emails sent per week

• Open rate / reply rate

• % of replies that are positive vs negative

• LinkedIn requests sent / acceptance rate

• Booked call rate from LinkedIn

• Booked call rate from email

Funnel Health Metrics

• Discovery call show rate

• % of Discovery → Demo

• % of Demo → Scoping

• % of Scoping → POC

• % of POC → Pricing Call

• % of Pricing → Closed Won
  
  

Takeaways:

• Understand what’s working

• Kill unqualified deals early

• Build accurate forecasts

• Improve CAC

• Scale beyond founder-led sales

Don’t just build a sales process. Build a system with rules, reporting, and ruthless qualification.

That’s it for today folks.


See you all next week!

Darren

P.S. Connect with me on LinkedIn here! (write newsletter in the note with the invite)

P.P.S. If you’re a venture-backed company interested in coaching, book a call here.

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