Planning sales for 2025

This will be my last newsletter of the year. Starting mid next week, I’m blocking off focus days to get strategic work + planning + special projects done.

I do this every year. I make sure I reflect on how the year went. Where it could have been better. What I should do next.

I also use the quiet time to do writing, work on product, so I don’t dip into 2025’s sales time.

In this newsletter, I’ll walk through how to come up with napkin math for your sales plan. I’ll also update you on SalesMVP Lab’s progress. And I’ll wrap up with direction.

I appreciate every single one of you for making this an amazing kick-off year for SalesMVP Lab. It means the world that I get to work with and learn from founders like you every day.

Finish 2024 strong, and get ready for an amazing 2025!

Table of Contents

• How do to a basic sales plan

• SalesMVP Year-end wrap up

• What’s next for SalesMVP Lab

How do to a basic sales plan

For most founders, numbers you put in a spreadsheet will be irrelevant in 90 days. But the exercise of “quantifying your gap” is enlightening. And this is where I focus for my sales plan.

There are typically two types of sales plans - top down and bottom up.

• Top down plan: You come up with a revenue number you want to hit. Then you work your way down to how many deals, meetings, leads, and outreach you need to do.

• Bottom up plan: You use your current lead flow and conversion rates to tell you what’s a realistic number you can if all of your numbers stay consistent.

The best plan uses both. The exercise will highlight a gap of leads, deals, customers. Then you can have a realistic conversation (or if you’re solo, either converse with ChatGPT or do deep thinking), about what you really need to do to hit your desired revenue for the next year.

Here’s an example of my sales plan for SalesMVP Lab if I want to add USD $200k ARR next year.

Let’s break this example down:

• In the first column, I have the different conversion points in my sales process. My sales cycles are pretty straightforward, going from intro meeting, to verbal, to close. When I’m selling SaaS at Savio, they’re a little more complex, going from intro call to demos/trials completed, to verbal given, to procurement started, to close. I would add whatever steps make sense in your process.

• I also added days/week/month breakdowns for each key number (meetings, convos, prospects, etc.)

• I also added my conversion points in my LinkedIn outreach.

• The second column, I started at the top with a $200k ARR goal. Then I used my real numbers for average contract value (ACV), conversion rates in my sales cycles, and conversion rates in my prospecting cycles.

• I worked my way down, dividing the ARR by ACV to give me number of clients. Then dividing my conversion rates down to give me steps, meetings, convos, outreaches, and connects.

• I divided all these number by working days/weeks/months to tell me what I need to do daily to be on track.

• In the 3rd column, I went the opposite way. I started with what’s realistic for me to do, so 22 LI connections a day (staying within LI limits). Then went up the spreadsheet, multiplying by the conversion rates.

• When you go down the spreadsheet, your numbers should get bigger. When you go up, your numbers should get smaller.

• In the 4th column, I calculated the gap between top down where I want to be, vs current ability given my conversion rates/channels.

So what this plan tells me is that I can’t reach my number on just LinkedIn prospecting alone. I would need to significantly improve my response rates (which are already pretty high), or find ways to increase deal size (which is more plausible).

This tells me that I need to find another channel that will have better conversion. In my experience this year, that will likely come from referrals/intros, or speaking gigs.

So this means for me to add $200k ARR next year, I need to:

• Send minimum 22 connection requests a day on LinkedIn

• Send minimum 6, but likely 15 new DMs a day on LinkedIn

• Have at least 1-2 fruitful conversations a day on LinkedIn

• To drive 1-3 intro calls a week.

• I need to have more frequent speaking gigs - 80% of my current clients came from 2 speaking gigs.

• I need to actively ask partners and existing customers for referrals, and focus more on customer success stories to drive word-of-mouth.

So now, with a simple napkin-math exercise, I basically have my marketing plan done. I know exactly how many meetings I need to drive, and how many I can realistically expect from my LI outreach. And then double down on other channels that worked.

So in January, when I come back from holiday break, I can get to work. No need to wait around to figure things out.

This plan works for any stage that you’re at. It’s more precise if you have good data. It’s less precise if you’re really early on - but you can use assumptions based on your anecdotes.

If you’re really early stage, don’t plan all of 2025 as a big number. Just focus on the next milestone. If you’re at 5 customers, then do the plan for getting to 10 customers (so 5 new customers). Then adjust the days to 60-90 days sprints. This will make it more manageable.

SalesMVP Year-end wrap up

This was my first year in business, and I’m happy with how things went.

I started the year off with a fractional contract at Savio. I spent the first 2-3 months honing in on my coaching product, productizing my frameworks, doing some marketing.

I was introduced to TinySeed and Microconf through a couple founders I worked with, including Savio’s.

From there, I got invited to speak at a Microcong Remote conference on sales, and things really took off.

Between January to March, with a few slack intros and speaking, I sold over 120 ebooks (one bulk purchase of 60 + self-serve). You can check out the ebook here with a 50% off coupon valid until January 3, 2025.

I started my first group coaching cohort in April. From there, improved my pricing and packaging.

Relaunched the offers + website in June. July to October I increased coaching MRR by 298% as a result.

I worked with 21 different founders from April to December in various coaching capacity (1:1 vs group coaching). And a dozen more have joined the SalesMVP Lab community.

I wrote 68,000 words in my newsletters. Published 36 posts, with a 50.3% open rate. Went from 0 to 548 subscribers in 9 months.

On LinkedIn, I generated 1,004,363 impressions, reaching 363,399 members. Added 4,978.

But most importantly, I was able to slow down and spend a lot more time with my wife and daughters, while still generating a good income. And that’s a major win for me, given my background in VC-backed startups.

What’s next for SalesMVP Lab

I’m really happy with how 1:1 coaching is going. I’ve found a sweet spot helping early-stage founders (mostly technical) learning sales.

The 1:1 coaching allows us to dive deep into active pipeline, deals, and prospecting. Inspect the work, troubleshoot any issues, and come up with action plans to get stuff unstuck.

Group coaching started off strong, but needs to be re-imagined. Which is what I am working on to relaunch in the new year. The program will have a lot more structure, more participation, more accountability, and an immersive learning experience. I’m really excited about the direction this will be taking in 2025 (thank you to those who gave me feedback on how to improve along the way, it means a lot!).

I’m also looking at ways to help even more founders, exploring a freemium plan, and prepping for a series of virtual events to reach a wider audience.

2025 will be an amazing year for this founder community. I can feel it.

I’d love to hear from you - let me know what your plans are, what you’re excited about, and where you need help.

Also, if you want a copy of my sales planning spreadsheet, just hit reply. Happy to send it to you.

Hope you had a great 2024. Happy holidays, we’ll see you in the new year!

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.