The Ultimate Tech Stack for Early-Stage Startups
Hey Friends,
I often get asked about the essential tools every founder should have when building their first sales team.
With so many software options available - and prices for SaaS subscriptions consistently dropping - it's easy to use too many tools or duplicate efforts.
To avoid that, I suggest breaking down your ultimate sales stack into crucial sales cycle stages.
Sales Cycle Template
Starting from acquiring new logos to closing won, what tools should we use?
1. CRM:
The first non-negotiable tool is your CRM. The two main contenders here are HubSpot and Attio. I've been testing Attio recently as my company's CRM, and it's very powerful—possibly a solid replacement for HubSpot.
However, Hubspot works well for you and your business if you need to scale up to €10M ARR. I have no evidence of Attio just yet, but the future looks bright for Attio. Consider checking them out. (I'm not sponsored).
2. Lead Generation:
For Tier 1 Prospecting: Sales Navigator is a must-have despite being a bit pricey. It saves decision-makers, gathers insights, and sends personalised messages.
Tier 2: You have many options here, but my favourite trio is Apollo, Lemlist, and Clay. While these tools can be expensive, they're crucial for scaling your outbound efforts. Automation is critical to managing workflows and messages efficiently; these tools do the job well.
3. Discovery Call and Qualification:
I recommend setting up a Notion workspace for this stage to store your sales playbook. Keeping it updated and accessible helps your team stay aligned and on track.
4. Proposal Creation:
When it comes time to create proposals, tools like Pandadoc are a game-changer. They allow you to quickly generate beautiful, personalised proposals using data from your CRM. Salespeople often spend too much time crafting proposals in Google Slides or PowerPoint. Still, with the right tool, they can focus on selling instead.
5. Call Recording and Coaching:
Integrate a Fathom account with Zoom or Google Meet calls to record meetings automatically. This will provide a valuable resource for your team and prospects and material for coaching sessions with your manager.
6. Contract Signing:
Once you've got the green light, send contracts using Pandadoc, DocuSign, or another e-signature provider. Avoid sending PDFs - these tools make it easy for decision-makers to sign quickly, speeding up the process.
7. AI:
Finally, add a ChatGPT Pro account to your stack. Chatgpt can help your team save time with all the manual work and, most importantly, train themselves with live role-play about their ICP and prompt the AI with questions to learn more about their prospects.
Summary
All these tools combined will cost you less than €1,000/month.
Clay (€350/month) and Sales Navigator (€80/month) are the most significant expenses. The rest are free or have affordable starter plans under €50/month.
But the benefits of having a well-defined, robust, and vetted tech stack are immense. You'll boost productivity, increase your chances of closing deals, and create a happier team with less wasted time. That's a big win in my book.
Thanks for sticking with me till the end. See you all next week!
