How to manage product development without neglecting sales

Ever found yourself at the end of the day wondering why you haven't touched your sales tasks?

Ever feel like there just aren't enough hours to juggle both sales and product development?

You know what I'm talking about:

It's 5 PM. You've been debugging code and tweaking designs all day. That list of sales calls? Untouched. Those follow-up emails? Still drafts.

What if there was a way to ensure that sales activities got their share of your attention without derailing your product development?

What if you could end your day knowing you've moved forward not just on product features but also on generating revenue?

Instead, imagine wrapping up your day with a sense of accomplishment in both areas. Reaching this balance is not only doable, but you need it to grow your business.

Let's see how we can make this happen.

Table of Contents

• 1. Treat Every Sales Call as an Opportunity for Pr …

• 2. Write a Daily To-Do List of 1-3 Sales Tasks and …

• 3. Bias Towards Action

• 4. Daily and Weekly Reflections

One of the realities of doing sales when finding product-market fit is that it’s really easy to procrastinate.

When results aren’t where you want them to be, every sales task seems like a mountain to climb.

And that becomes demotivating. Which makes it way too easy to focus on product development instead of doing what grows your company - talking to prospects and customers.

So you need a method to keep you accountable to sales.

Here’s a simple framework I’ve been using, building SalesMVP Lab and helping Savio find product-market fit.

It sounds really simple, but doing this every day has helped create momentum and kept me on track. If I didn’t do this, it would be way too easy to push of sales tasks.

Tip #4 SINGLEHANDENDLY made me the most productive.

1. Treat Every Sales Call as an Opportunity for Product Discovery

Every sales call is a chance to learn about the void in the market. Sure, you're trying to sell. But you're also picking up clues about what your market really needs.

Think of it this way: You're talking to a customer, and they mention something they wish your product did better. That's gold. It's exactly the kind of stuff that can make your next update a big hit.

Next time you're on a sales call, try this: Ask questions that get to the heart of the customer's daily struggles.

Ask them, "What's one thing you wish our product could do that it doesn't do now?" See what they say.

2. Write a Daily To-Do List of 1-3 Sales Tasks and Schedule Them

Balancing product development with sales isn't easy, but it starts with good habits. Every morning, take five minutes to define your top sales priorities for the day.

Clear priorities and scheduled tasks help ensure that sales activities don't get drowned out by the day-to-day urgencies of product development.

Let's say today's tasks are to follow up with yesterday's leads, prepare a tailored proposal for a potential big client, and check in with a recent convert who might be ready for an upsell.

Right after reading this, open your calendar and block out specific times for today's sales tasks. Treat these blocks as non-negotiable appointments with yourself. This will help you make consistent progress without the day slipping away.

3. Bias Towards Action

It's super easy to let product work shove sales tasks aside. You've got to act, not just plan. Doing actual sales work every day is what grows your business—even when you're deep in product updates.

It’s also way too easy to focus on project work for sales. Updating the website. Writing a template. Making a prospecting list. Making a conference list. All of these are great, but there’s no action taken with prospects.

Set a simple goal every day. Maybe send personalized emails to 10 new leads. Or make follow-up calls to five people from last week's demo.

Think about the most important sales task you've been putting off. Tomorrow, first thing, spend an hour on it. Knocking it out early sets you up for a productive day and makes sure it really gets done.

4. Daily and Weekly Reflections

Reflecting on your daily and weekly activities can transform how you manage your time and focus, especially with sales.

Regular reflection helps you understand what's working, what's not, and how you can improve. It's about making small, consistent changes that lead to big results over time.

At the end of today, you might realize that while you managed to send all planned emails, phone calls took up more time than expected, squeezing out some key development work.

Before you leave your desk today, take five minutes to jot down your key sales activities, any distractions you faced, and the biggest challenges of the day. At the end of the week, review these notes to plan better for the following week. This could involve adjusting call durations, rescheduling deep work periods, or setting more realistic daily goals.

I do this with pen and paper. I have a nice leather journal that I write in every morning and every evening. I also spend about 15 minutes reflecting on Sunday evenings. Then do a deeper dive for monthly reviews.

Daily notes:

• To-dos: 1-5 tasks I need to get done. I write this down in the morning, then immediately schedule in my calendar.

• Accomplishments: I jot down what I actually got done at the end of the day.

• Distractions: I write down what took me away from doing work. Often it’s my phone, LinkedIn, social media, etc.

• Challenges: I write down what felt difficult to me. Sometimes it’s mindset. Sometimes I just didn’t know how to get a task done and needed to do more research. Sometimes the tech I used was crapping out on me.

• Wins: I write down at least one win for the day, no matter how small. Important to recognize progress.

Weekly reflections:

• I break down my reflections by different themes. For me it’s Fitness, Finance, Work (Savio), Business (SalesMVP Lab)

• For each of these, I write down progress, challenges, any adjustments needed for following week, and successes.

I do a deeper reflection once a month, and once a quarter, where I compare to goals. I also write out what I need to learn, and make a high-level plan for next 30 days or 90 days.

Let me know what you think of the newsletter! Always want to cover topics that you care about.

For more practical early-stage sales tips, connect with me on LinkedIn.

If you’re looking for more hands-on help implementing your first sales process, reach out for coaching packages.

P.S. Starting the waitlist for summer group coaching cohorts. Reply if you’re interested.

P.P.S. Coming soon - the only upskilling community for founder-led sales. Ask me about details :)