Work from ICP to metrics: without a clear ICP, everything that follows is guesswork. The Sales Canvas reads from top left to bottom right.
01
Ideal Customer Profile
The ICP is the sharply defined organisation or person that buys most often, decides fastest and stays longest. Not an 'audience' (too broad) and not a persona (too individual), but a concrete profile: industry, size, role, trigger moment, technological context. A good ICP excludes as firmly as it includes. Sales time is expensive; do not sell to people who would never buy.
Questions that help
- ·Which 3 to 5 characteristics do our best customers share?
- ·Which trigger moment makes someone an ICP: just grown to X employees, just started a new role, just been given a budget?
- ·Which customers are the worst fit: whom do we explicitly not want?
Example
ICP: Dutch SME construction firms with 30 to 150 FTE and 2 or more job planners, who have just brought in a new operations director. Not ICP: fewer than 20 FTE (too small) and more than 300 FTE (too bureaucratic).
Common mistake
Keeping the ICP so broad that it excludes nobody. 'B2B companies in the Netherlands' is not an ICP; it is a phone book.
02
Value Proposition
The value proposition says, in the buyer's language, which pain you solve, which gain you deliver and why you rather than the competition. Good sales propositions lead with pain (problems the buyer feels today) and are heavy on proof (references, numbers, case studies). Avoid internal language ('scalable platform'); use the words the buyer would choose.
Questions that help
- ·Which pain does the ICP feel today, in their own words?
- ·Which measurable gain have we proven we can deliver?
- ·Why us: what can a competitor not say?
Example
'Job planners at construction firms lose 4 to 8 hours a week to planning rework caused by miscommunication. Across 14 customers our tool has proven it can halve that loss within 60 days, and we are the only tool that works in the language of Dutch construction specifications.'
Common mistake
Reeling off a list of features ('we have drag-and-drop, integrations, a mobile app'). That is activity, not value.
03
Outreach Channels
Outreach is how you reach the ICP. Outbound (cold calls, LinkedIn DMs, email), inbound (SEO, content, demo requests), events (trade fairs, your own events), partners (resellers, integration partners) and referrals (customers who bring in new ones). The best mix depends on segment, deal size and cycle time. High ACV means more outbound and ABM; low ACV means more self-service and inbound.
Questions that help
- ·Which 2 or 3 channels currently bring in the most qualified opportunities?
- ·Which channels fit our deal size and cycle time?
- ·Which partner channels could we open up?
Example
Mix: 40% LinkedIn outbound (our own SDR), 30% inbound (SEO and demo requests), 20% partner referrals (3 construction software integrations), 10% trade fairs.
Common mistake
Doing a bit of every channel at once. Running two channels seriously gets results more often than five done superficially.
04
Qualification
Qualification filters out who is worth investing time in. Frameworks: BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline), MEDDIC (Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria/Process, Identify Pain, Champion), or your own scoring framework. Good qualification has clear criteria and an agreement on what 'disqualified' means (no wasted time, a polite close, coming back in X months).
Questions that help
- ·Which framework do we use: BANT, MEDDIC, or our own?
- ·What minimum level must an opportunity reach before we push on?
- ·What do we do with opportunities that do not qualify: filter them out, reroute them, nurture them?
Example
MEDDIC-light: we require a Metric (the problem expressed in a number), the Economic Buyer identified, the Decision Process explored, the Pain made explicit and an internal Champion. 3 out of 5 means carry on, 2 out of 5 means the nurture track, 0 or 1 means a polite no.
Common mistake
Declaring everyone 'qualified' because sales has a quota. Short-term pressure, long-term pipeline pollution.
05
Sales Process
The sales process is the structured sequence of steps from first contact to closed-won (and its variant to closed-lost). Typical steps for B2B SaaS: lead → discovery call → demo → proposal → negotiation → contract. For each step: a goal, an expected duration, exit criteria for moving to the next step, and what that means in the CRM. A clear process makes forecasting realistic and coaching possible.
Questions that help
- ·Which steps does our process have, and what is the goal of each step?
- ·Which exit criteria must be met to move on?
- ·How long does each step take on average, and where are the bottlenecks?
Example
Lead → Discovery (30 min, pain confirmed) → Demo (45 min, personalised) → Proposal (within 5 working days) → Negotiation (at most 2 rounds) → Contract. Average cycle time: 42 days.
Common mistake
Writing down a process 'for show' that nobody follows in practice. Better a simple process everyone runs than a complex one that gets bypassed.
06
Objections
Objections are the top 5 reasons prospects say no, plus the agreed way of answering each one. Including the most important 'objection' of all: no-decision (choosing nothing is also a choice). A good objections block is updated continuously based on win/loss interviews. Top performers carry these answers in their heads; juniors learn them faster when they are written down.
Questions that help
- ·Which 5 objections do we hear most often, and at which stage?
- ·What is our strongest answer to each objection (proof, reframing, comparison)?
- ·What do we do about no-decision?
Example
Top 5: (1) 'Too expensive' → ROI calculator plus a case study, (2) 'We do it ourselves in Excel' → show the time measurement, (3) 'No time for implementation' → a 14-day onboarding track, (4) 'Waiting for the new director' → delay means the problem continues, (5) 'Competitor X' → a direct comparison sheet.
Common mistake
Brushing objections aside with 'yes, but we are better'. That is poor selling. Acknowledge, reframe, prove.
07
Pricing & Closing
Pricing and closing cover the pricing model, discount policy, contract length, terms and how you get to the signature. A clear pricing policy stops every deal from being fought over again. Closing tactics (assumptive close, alternative close, urgency through deadlines) should be written down too; they should rarely need improvising.
Questions that help
- ·Which pricing model do we use (per user, per usage, flat fee)?
- ·Which discount policy: what can salespeople decide themselves, and what needs sign-off?
- ·Which contract length and which payment terms?
Example
€89 per user per month, an annual contract required for the business tier, 10% off for paying up front. Sales can give up to 15% discount on their own, 15 to 25% with approval from the sales lead, more than 25% needs the leadership team. Default close: 'Shall we schedule the implementation for [three weeks from now]?'
Common mistake
No discount policy: every salesperson improvises and your average deal size slips.
08
Metrics
Metrics measure whether the system works. Pipeline size (3 to 5 times target), conversion per stage, win rate, average deal size (ACV), sales cycle (days), CAC, payback time. For each metric: the current level, the target, how often it is measured and who owns it. Good sales metrics are discussed in a weekly review, not monthly in a spreadsheet.
Questions that help
- ·Which 5 to 7 metrics measure the health of our sales?
- ·What is the current level, and what is the target?
- ·Who owns them, and how often do we review?
Example
Pipeline: €2.1M (target 4x: €1.8M ✓). Win rate: 27% (target 30%). ACV: €11,400 (growing). Cycle time: 42 days (stable). CAC: €3,200 (payback 3.8 months). Weekly review on Monday morning with the sales team.
Common mistake
Measuring only revenue and judging the health of sales by it. Revenue is lagging; pipeline, win rate and cycle time tell you earlier what is happening.
