You didn’t mean for it to happen. You hired the best people. You did your level best to train them. You articulated the vision. Yes, somehow, every time a real sales conversation needs to happen, it still comes back to you. What you have is not a team problem. It’s a systems problem. Let me tell you what’s actually going on: everything that closes a sale is still living in your head. The way you read the room. The exact words you use when someone says, “I need to think about it.” The instinct that tells you when to push a little further and when to be quiet. You’ve been doing this so long that you don’t even know you’re doing it anymore. It’s just you, being you. Your team can’t replicate what they can’t see, hear, or understand. Because of this, they hesitate. They overthink. They constantly come back to you for approval on things that should already be decided. Since you sincerely care about the result, you step back in. Every. Single. Time. You are subconsciously perpetuating a cycle that keeps you small. Not because your team isn’t capable, but because you haven’t given them what they actually need to succeed without you. How to actually trust and release some control I’m not talking about a training call or a recorded Loom. Your team needs real, documented, accessible operating procedures for every part of your sales process. Ask yourself: What do you say on a first call? Write it down. What’s the exact sequence of follow-up after someone goes quiet? Document it. What are the three things your company will never do, even if it costs you the sale? Your team should be able to answer that in their sleep (or at least know where to find an answer if you aren’t available.) When these things are written down, and everyone’s working from the same foundation, something shifts. Your team stops winging it. They stop waiting on you. They start sounding like your company instead of sounding incompetent, insecure, or someone brand new, trying to figure out your company. And yes, they’re still going to have their own personality. Good. You want that. A documented process doesn’t erase someone’s individuality; it gives them a container to be confident inside of. They know the framework. They know the values. They know the non-negotiables. Everything else is their own flair. That’s when sales actually scale. The trust issue nobody wants to say out loud Many founders, especially women who’ve built something from nothing and poured themselves into every corner of it, struggle to believe their team is ready. I get it. Because you built this. You know what it took. You know how much is riding on every single conversation. Consider this: if your team isn’t ready, whose job is it to make them ready? You can’t hold the standard in your head and then be frustrated that nobody’s meeting it. You’ve got to take what’s in your head and put it somewhere everyone can use it. That’s true leadership. That’s what it actually looks like to build a business instead of a fancy, high-stress job. The founders who hit a ceiling almost always hit it at the same place. Right where they’re standing right now. In the middle of the sales process, doing it themselves, convinced it won’t get done right if they don’t. And they’re right, for now. Because they haven’t built the system yet. Build the system. Trust the team you choose. Get out of the way. That’s how you scale. TISH TIMES, CEO of Tish Times Sales Agency, is a sales strategist helping high-achieving women build companies that scale beyond them. Learn more at www.tishtimes.com. EOP Member Legacy Spotlight Tish Times You’re the bottleneck It’s time we talk about this. You’re the bottleneck. And you know it. You are subconsciously perpetuating a cycle that keeps you small. Not because your team isn’t capable, but because you haven’t given them what they actually need to succeed without you. enterprising Women 69
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