7. Sales, Marketing, and Operational Tune-Ups
A story about tuning the engine, showcasing the shine, and building confidence in the machine.
James stood at the whiteboard in the breakroom, staring at the sales funnel diagram he’d half-sketched during a conversation with his marketing coordinator, Tania.
It had started as a casual review. Sarah had suggested he take a closer look at what she called revenue resilience. “Buyers don’t just look at what you made last year,” she’d said. “They look at how well-oiled your sales engine is and whether it still runs when the founder isn’t driving it.”
That line hit hard.
So James had opened the lid. What he saw wasn’t chaos, but it also wasn’t clarity. Deals were being made, but mostly through relationships he’d nurtured personally. Marketing? Tania had talent, but the brand lacked consistency. Operations? Reliable, but undocumented.
It wasn’t broken. But it wasn’t buyer-proof either. “I think we need to get this business into better shape,” he’d said to Tania. She didn’t flinch. “I’ve been waiting for you to say that,” she smiled.
The Psychological Perspective
By this point in the exit journey, many owners have reached a subtle emotional tipping point: they’re willing to let go, but they’re not yet sure the business is ready to stand alone.
This is where the temptation to coast kicks in.
The thinking goes, I’m leaving anyway, why invest now? But that mindset, while understandable, erodes value. More importantly, it erodes confidence - yours, your team’s and the buyer’s.
Think of it like selling a house - fresh paint, mowed lawns and working lights don’t just make it look good. They signal care. They tell the buyer, “This is a place that runs well and will keep running when it’s yours.”
This isn’t vanity work. It’s value work.
HR Best Practice
In many SMEs, sales and marketing rely on individuals rather than systems. That’s a risk to buyers—and an opportunity for improvement.
HR-aligned operational tune-ups focus on -
Clarifying sales processes: Are there playbooks? Templates? Handover steps?
Aligning marketing with brand strategy: Is messaging consistent? Are campaigns tracked?
Cross-training staff: Is there more than one person who knows how to use the CRM or close a deal?
Integrating performance metrics into roles: Do staff know what success looks like and how it’s measured?
When James started asking these questions, his team stepped up. Tania mapped out customer journeys. The ops team created SOPs for fulfilment. The sales lead built a reporting dashboard.
It wasn’t about fixing everything. It was about making things explainable, repeatable, and delegatable.
Red Flags To Be Mitigated Against
Here’s what buyers are wary of -
Sales that rely solely on the owner’s relationships
Marketing that’s sporadic, unclear, or underfunded
No evidence of lead generation strategy or ROI
Operations that run on “tribal knowledge” instead of documented processes
No clear handoff or onboarding process for new clients
If a buyer can’t see how customers are acquired, served, and retained without the owner involved, they’ll see risk, not value.
Ideal Owner Mindset
This is where the mindset shifts from founder to finisher.
Owners who tune up their business before sale -
See branding, systems, and documentation as assets
Are willing to shine a light on gaps, without shame
Embrace a short burst of strategic work for a long-term payoff
Focus on building not for themselves, but for the next owner
James didn’t need to become a marketing expert or rewrite every manual. He just needed to build a machine the buyer could see running - even after he was gone.
Key Takeaway - Buyers don’t just want to see revenue—they want to see repeatability. A business that sells and runs without you is a business that sells well.