Founder Sales
The Founder Follow-Up System Before You Hire Sales Ops
Until you hire a sales ops person, Gmail is your CRM. Make it work.
Most founders close their first 20-50 deals from Gmail. No CRM. No sales ops. Just an inbox, a spreadsheet, and a memory that gets worse as the business grows.
Founder follow-up systemBefore sales ops, the follow-up system is: track who replied, who went quiet, and which deals need a nudge. Sidekick Log automates the radar.
The three-pipeline view
- Active deals: threads where replies are flowing, demos are scheduled, or pricing was discussed.
- Quiet prospects: threads that went silent after 2-3 exchanges. Needs one re-engagement before moving to nurture.
- Promises: intros to make, follow-ups promised, documents to send.
Weekly follow-up rhythm
- Monday: review active deals and identify who needs a nudge this week.
- Tuesday-Thursday: let Sidekick Log surface threads that changed state or went quiet.
- Friday: run a pipeline review. Catch any thread that crossed the cooling threshold.
When to upgrade
Add a CRM when you hire a sales ops person. Until then, a Gmail-native follow-up system with Sidekick Log covers: deal tracking, follow-up timing, pipeline visibility, and relationship momentum.
Read the founder-led sales guide →