If you’re an early-stage founder, you probably didn’t get into this business to become a salesperson. You had a vision for your product, you hustled to get it made, and now you’re trying to get it into more hands.
So you sell when you can. Maybe you cold-message a retailer on LinkedIn. Maybe you text a friend who knows a buyer. Maybe you fire off a pitch deck to someone you met at a show. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it goes nowhere.
That’s what I call random acts of selling.
They feel productive in the moment, but they don’t add up to real growth.
What “Random Acts of Selling” Look Like
If any of these sound familiar, you’re not alone:
Sending an email to a buyer without knowing their reset calendar.
Following up when you remember — not on a schedule.
Customizing your pitch differently every single time.
Talking to anyone who will listen, instead of a focused list of prospects.
Relying on introductions, word of mouth, or trade shows as your main “strategy.”
These aren’t bad things in themselves. The problem is they’re scattered, inconsistent, and impossible to scale.
The Hidden Cost of Random Selling
On the surface, it looks like you’re hustling. But underneath, here’s what it’s costing you:
Wasted opportunities. Buyers make decisions in windows. If you’re not in their inbox or on their radar when they’re reviewing, you’re out.
No data to improve. If every pitch is different, you don’t know what’s working. That means you’re guessing instead of learning.
Unpredictable pipeline. Some months feel busy. Some months are dead. It’s hard to forecast or plan when there’s no system behind the work.
Founder fatigue. Random selling eats up mental energy. You’re always reacting, never leading.
At some point, it stops being scrappy and starts being unsustainable.
Why Systems Win (and Random Selling Doesn’t)
Think about the brands you see winning at retail. They’re not necessarily better than you. They don’t have a magic product. What they have is consistency.
Consistency builds trust with buyers. It creates patterns you can repeat. And it lets you scale because the work isn’t living only in your head anymore.
A good sales system doesn’t mean you need to hire a giant team. It means you have a repeatable process you can run (or hand off) that makes selling part of your business, not an afterthought.
How to Replace Random Acts of Selling With a System
Here are four places to start:
1. Define Your ICP
Stop pitching everyone. Figure out which retailers, distributors, or partners are the right fit for your product. That means looking at category mix, price point, buyer behavior, and timing.
When you know your ICP, you can put your energy where it matters instead of chasing maybes.
2. Centralize Your Outreach
Your inbox is not a CRM. Neither is a stack of sticky notes. Use something simple (HubSpot, Airtable, even Google Sheets if that’s where you’re at).
The goal isn’t fancy software. The goal is that you always know:
Who’s in your pipeline
Where they are in the process
When you need to follow up
3. Build a Rhythm
Sales isn’t about big bursts of effort. It’s about consistency. Block two hours a week for outreach. Block another hour for follow-ups. Stick to it, even when you’re busy.
That rhythm compounds. In three months, you’ll have dozens of active conversations instead of a scattered handful.
4. Standardize Your Messaging
You don’t need a new pitch every time. You need a strong sell sheet, a clear deck, and a short outreach template that hits the right notes.
Then you refine over time, instead of reinventing the wheel.
What This Feels Like in Practice
Here’s the difference:
Random Acts of Selling: You send 10 emails this week, forget to follow up, and feel guilty about it next month.
Sales System: You send 5 emails a week, every week, track responses in your CRM, and by month three you’ve built a reliable pipeline.
One is chaos. The other is progress.
The Bottom Line
Random acts of selling will keep you stuck in hustle mode. If you want to grow, you need a system. Not complicated. Not corporate. Just a repeatable way to show up for buyers, track progress, and keep momentum alive.
That’s what I help brands build: sales systems that turn chaos into clarity.
If you’re tired of chasing random wins and ready to scale with intention, let’s talk.
👉 Want me to help you audit your current sales approach? Reach out here.
