Why you need to stop selling the tool & start selling the fix

I've had lots of conversations recently about how founders can get better at selling, and the best practice around setting sales hires up for success. That's why, for this month's Revenue Rocket, I've put together articles to help you sell better - and onboard better.

As always, I hope it adds value.

Matthew  

The best sellers sell change, not features and functions 

Most early-stage founders fall into the same trap: focusing too much on features, specs, and demos. But buyers don’t wake up craving a new tool. They’re just trying to fix something that’s slowing them down.

It's a proper mindset shift.

Instead of selling your product, you need to sell change. That means making prospects feel the pain of their current way of working, showing them a better future, and then making the switch feel like a no-brainer.

What the best sellers do:

The best sellers ask sharp, specific questions and resist the urge to jump straight into a demo. Because, let's be honest, people don’t really care what your tool looks like. They care about what it lets them stop doing.

This article shares real examples, common slip-ups to avoid, and one question every founder should be asking before they open their laptop. If you’re relying on your product to do the selling, this one’s a must-read.

Read more here

Onboarding properly is more important than you think

Hiring someone great isn’t enough. If your onboarding plan is just “have a few chats and hope they start selling,” you're setting them up to fail. 

Build a structure, but make it digestible

Start by scrapping the marathon 3-hour info dump. Instead, break things into short, focused sessions. One hour on competitors. One on your CRM. One on sales process. Small blocks with time in between to breathe, ask questions, and actually retain what you’ve said.

Set milestones

Then set clear milestones. Week 1? Nail the elevator pitch. Week 2? Write a couple of prospecting emails. Week 3? Run through a product demo. Week 4? Present a strategy. These aren’t just boxes to tick – they show you how your new hire thinks, applies info, and handles pressure. 

Be realistic

Be realistic with your expectations and focus on activity, not revenue, in those early weeks. If you’ve got a playbook, great – use it. If you don’t, even a scrappy 4-pager is better than nothing. And make sure you’re tailoring onboarding based on the role. SDRs don’t need a full product breakdown, they need just enough to book meetings. AEs need the whole picture.

Bottom line: don’t wing it

Proper onboarding is the difference between a commercial hire that builds pipeline and one who quietly walks out the door in month four. If you don’t have one hour a day to help them ramp properly, you probably shouldn’t be hiring yet.

Read more here

Founder-led sales: It's where the good stuff happens

Founder-led sales isn’t just a phase – it’s where all the good stuff happens: learning what buyers actually care about, spotting patterns in objections, and figuring out who your real customer is. Make sure you:

• Sell before you hire sellers. You need a repeatable process before handing it over.
• Build a backwards sales plan. Start with your revenue target, then break it down into number of customers, conversion rates, and daily sales activity.
• Don’t wing it. Map out your ICP, layer on multichannel prospecting, and build your sales motion around selling meetings, not products.

Most people think that "closing” is where the magic happens. It’s not. It’s just the last step in a solid process of; discovery, value, relationships, and timing.

You’ll know you’re getting it right when you stop guessing and start measuring – tracking pipeline velocity, drop-offs, and conversion rates.

Early-stage founders need to sell the product themselves, learn fast, and build a simple machine that others can run. This article will show you how.

Read more here

About me

Thank you for reading Revenue Rocket

With 15 years of commercial experience helping VC-backed B2B tech firms scale revenue and transition from founder-led sales, I'm putting my knowledge and insight into this monthly newsletter to help early-stage start-ups with GTM expertise, sales best practice, and hiring insights.

If you have any topics you'd like me to cover in future editions, please let me know.

Matthew