In this episode, Chris Sugden, Managing Partner at Edison Partners, is joined by Jim Dicso, Founder and Managing Partner at Shoreline SAAS Advisory, and Patrick O’Keefe, Founder at Moher Advisory, to share their wisdom on transforming sales into a structured and scalable process. Together, they share their wisdom on how founders and early sales teams can build scalable go-to-market strategies without losing sight of relationships and creativity.

Jim and Patrick have a similar thread in their journeys: they have turned their businesses from a founder-driven model to an engineered machine. They agree there are three foundational boxes a leader should check when trying to scale their organization:

• Strong sales culture

• Effective process development

• Tools like playbooks and frameworks such as MEDIC (to create predictability and efficiency in go-to-market strategies)

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why early-stage sales teams often mirror the founder’s personality, and how to evolve this dynamic for scale

• How to balance the art of relationship-building with the science of process-driven sales

• How mapping the customer journey impacts growth and retention

• Practical ways to align pipeline hygiene with company goals and avoid misallocating resources

• Why a focus on relationship-building and active listening is more vital than ever in the era of technology-first communication

Jump into the conversation:

(00:00) Intro (02:00) Unexpected career paths into sales leadership (06:00) Evolving from a founder-led sales model (13:00) The role of CRM and stage-gating in pipeline management (24:00) Building scalable playbooks for consistent wins (36:00) The importance of prioritizing customer success