Sales is a numbers game; you may need to reach out to hundreds of companies to find a few interested buyers.

It's crucial to understand that you cannot expect to close five customers from just ten leads; you need a larger pool of leads.

When building a sales strategy, decide whether to pursue a top-down or bottom-up approach, as this will influence hiring and sales tactics significantly. I focused on having our sales representatives call every lead five times and schedule 15 demos each week, regardless of how they achieved that activity level.

Your first customers should be the easiest to acquire. Focus on simplifying the sales process and prioritize leads that are most likely to close, rather than trying to chase every potential lead.

If your goal is to get one customer, you may need to send 800 emails to achieve that, depending on your conversion rates at each step of the funnel.

Sales should be prioritized early in the startup process, as engaging with customers can lead to better product development and quicker sales success.

When scaling from 10 to 100 customers, it's vital to transition from founder-led sales to hiring your first sales team to prove the business can grow beyond the founder's efforts.

Understanding the sales funnel is crucial. Start by making a list of potential customers, which is known as prospecting or lead generation. Use tools like Google spreadsheets to organize this information.

In enterprise sales, building personal relationships and being persistent are crucial for success and shortening the sales cycle.