10 Systems Every Founder Needs to Break the Feast or Famine Cycle for Good
Imagine a world where your sales growth is more consistent, predictable, and profitable. With the new Systematic Selling newsletter, that world is closer than you think.
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
~ James Clear, Atomic Habits
Read time: 5 minutes.
Welcome to Systematic Selling (formerly Strategy & Storytelling), a brand-new newsletter for founders and business owners ready to squeeze the stress out of sales and build a business they love.
Today, I preview the sales framework you can expect to learn as a Systematic Selling subscriber to help you generate more consistent, predictable, and profitable sales growth.
But before we dive in, here are a couple of quick housekeeping items:
1. If you were a Strategy & Storytelling subscriber and no longer wish to continue with Systematic Selling, you can unsubscribe at the bottom of this email.
2. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe to the Systematic Selling newsletter and join other smart entrepreneurs on the journey to mastering the sales process and achieving your most ambitious goals.
Let’s go! 👇
If you’re like most entrepreneurs I coach, you own your business to be free.
Free to:
Call the shots
Set your schedule
Earn what you deserve.
But you keep finding yourself trapped in the feast or famine cycle.
One moment, you’re riding high. Sales skyrocket. So much demand and so little time to do anything else but meet it.
But then demand crashes. Incoming calls and emails stop. Sales trickle. The project backlog dries up.
You were so busy fulfilling orders, you neglected the activities that filled your pipeline in the first place.
Now, you doubt yourself and feel desperate, taking on customers and projects you wouldn’t usually accept. Instead of loving your business, you can’t stand it.
So, how can you break this vicious cycle?
Build a high-performance sales machine.
But how?
Introducing the Systematic Selling Newsletter
Systematic Selling will help you harness the power of 10 sales systems to break the feast or famine cycle for good.
These systems propelled me to become one of the nation's top-selling fleet vehicle representatives within three years. And I’ve since refined those systems while coaching business owners and their sales teams for over a decade.
As the son of a NASA engineer (my dad) and a successful marketer (my mom), I have combined the best of both worlds—melding the systems thinking of engineering with the creative work of sales and marketing.
This fusion creates a unique and powerful approach to Systematic Selling.
In each issue, you’ll learn valuable insights and field-tested strategies for building a high-performance sales machine that produces:
steady sales growth
with a healthy profit margin
at a pace you (and your team) can manage
while delivering exceptional service to your clients.
The Power of Systems Thinking
When you view sales as a machine with interconnected and interdependent systems, you eliminate guesswork. You become more intentional about the next steps and gain better insight into diagnosing and fixing any sales problems that stand in the way of your goals.
As James Clear writes in Atomic Habits, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
That’s so true. And that’s why I’ve created this newsletter to teach you how to develop sales systems that rise to the level of your most ambitious goals.
What Can You Expect?
Here’s an outline of the Systematic Selling Framework, which I’ll flesh out for you over the coming weeks and months (and, hopefully, years!) in this newsletter:
The Goal: Impeccable Trust
The ultimate goal of sales is not closing a deal. It's building such impeccable trust with customers that they beg to buy anything you're willing to sell them.
The Compass: Ethical Persuasion
Persuade with character and integrity, not manipulation or high-pressure tactics. As the journalist Edward R. Murrow said, “To be persuasive, we must be believable; to be believable, we must be credible; to be credible, we must be truthful.”
The Mindset: Systems Thinking
The right systems will keep your emotions in check and your actions on track toward achieving your goals.
The Machine: 10 Sales Systems
Any issue emerging in one system is likely caused by a failure in another. So, use the 10-Systems Lens as your guide for quickly diagnosing and fixing your biggest sales problems.
System 1: Narrative:
Craft a brand narrative that piques curiosity and establishes trust.
System 2: Prospecting:
Find awesome customers who want what you sell and give you energy.
System 3: Cultivation:
Nurture your customer’s trust in you (and your solution).
System 4: Discovery:
Uncover the root cause of your customer’s worst problems.
System 5: Presentation:
Frame your solutions to make customers hungry to buy from you.
System 6: Proposal:
Write clear and concise sales proposals that consistently win the business.
System 7: Delivery:
Deliver exceptional experiences that WOW your customers.
System 8: Cash:
Make customers happy to pay you more (and sooner).
System 9: Capacity:
Identify and break through your biggest bottlenecks to growth.
System 10: Team:
Play “Moneyball” to build your sales team and win big.
The Fuel: Continuous Learning
Design a continuous learning plan to develop the skills you need to live up to your highest ambitions.
Read books. Subscribe to newsletters (like this one). Attend conferences. Get accountability. Hire a coach.
As Warren Buffet said, “The more you learn, the more you’ll earn.”
Join the Journey
What do you think?
Ready to begin your journey to end the feast or famine cycle once and for all?
If “Yes,” and you received this email straight from me, you don't need to do anything further. You're already a complimentary subscriber! (The email is free, while the complete archives can be found on Substack for paid subscribers.) Keep an eye out for the upcoming issue in your inbox!
If “Yes,” and a friend shared this email with you, we're glad to have you here! Sign up for the Systematic Selling newsletter today to fully harness the power of your sales systems.
Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:
1. Follow me on LinkedIn for daily content that empowers you to conquer your sales goals and build a thriving business.
2. Share your biggest sales challenge that's holding back your business growth. Reply to this email with your question, and I might address your challenge in a future issue of Systematic Selling. Your question could help you and others in our community overcome obstacles and achieve sustainable success.
3. Explore personalized 1:1 coaching tailored to your unique sales challenges. If you're ready to transform your business, email me at sean@lydencommunications.com to request a call. We'll discuss your needs, my availability, and determine if I'm the right fit to help you break through barriers and reach your goals.
Remember: Fix your systems. Fix your sales.
Whatever you do, take action today to fix your systems and unlock the full potential of your high-performance sales machine.