SalesTech is an emerging vertical already worth $3.5B and expected to grow to $10B by 2030. It is experiencing unprecedented levels of innovation and an incredible influx of entrepreneurial energy. Jointflows is at the forefront of this innovation wave; it is the first SaaS platform to stitch together the Sales and Buying Processes of every deal, convert this to actionable data, and visualize it. With this unique insight, sales reps close more deals, forecasts become more accurate, and—for perhaps the first time—sales leaders can see the actual steps required to win a deal, unlocking extensive optimization and coaching opportunities.

Stuart Barker, a SaaS industry veteran with 25 years of experience leading sales and commercial teams, immediately saw Jointflows' potential when Mick Gosset and Hitesh Kapadia pitched the idea. These two young entrepreneurs had taken the initial steps to build the platform that is now Jointflows. “When they asked me to get involved, I didn’t hesitate and joined the team immediately—at first as an advisor but increasing my commitment over the following weeks and months to be a full-time member of the leadership team,” Stuart shared. His excitement stemmed from the founders' clear vision and the importance of the problem Jointflows addresses.

The sales landscape, like many fields, has been profoundly transformed by technology. The democratization of information allows buyers to research and understand their problems and potential solutions with ease, learning from others' experiences. Buyers can now develop a clear view of the criteria and success requirements they need from a potential service or technology provider. They are much less reliant on the salesperson to build this framework of ‘what good looks like.’

Furthermore, business understanding and the relationship with technology have matured. There is a greater understanding of the opportunities and risks related to technology investments. Buying teams are better at buying, creating incredible opportunities for sales organizations that can align the buying process with their own sales process. If the things that are important to the potential customer can be used to inform and govern the way a sales organization behaves, deals will happen.

While this sounds simple, achieving it in reality is difficult. One principal barrier is the systems that sales organizations use to manage and support reps in these sales processes—the CRM. Customer Relationship Management has remained largely unchanged over the last 20 years, despite significant surrounding innovation. CRM systems are not set up to support different processes and view every deal through the lens of ‘stages’—broad terms like ‘Discovery’ or ‘Demonstration.’

There are two significant problems with this approach. Firstly, no two deals are the same, so forcing them into preset stages reduces precision in describing each process. Secondly, deals don’t move linearly. It would be ideal if prospects 'held your hand' through a series of motions from ‘Initial Call’ to ‘Closed Won,’ but this rarely happens. New stakeholders emerge, competitors’ actions require responses, and sales motions often need to be repeated.

The consequences are felt in three ways: Reps end up holding significant detail on individual prospect requirements in their heads, in Excel, in email, or Slack—locked away from management, thus beyond coaching support, and entirely reliant on the rep’s execution.

Forecasts break—if you don’t know the specific requirements a prospect needs to sign off on a deal or what evidence they need, how can you forecast when they might be ready to decide? Leadership is blind to the reality of their customers’ actual requirements; anecdotes and conversations over coffee are no substitutes for data.

“This is why the opportunity with Jointflows is so exciting—we’re addressing a problem fundamental to successful B2B sales that has been hiding in plain sight. As a sales leader with 25 years of experience, I know how much of a difference having Jointflows in my tech stack could have made,” Stuart concluded.