Building a Sales Funnel: The ins and outs of successful sales

Brian's Monday ritual for years: write 100 letters by hand, stuff 100 envelopes, stick on 100 stamps, drop them at the post office. Every single week. Not emails. Not LinkedIn messages. Physical letters that landed on decision-makers' desks when everything else got filtered by assistants or spam folders. Most founders won't do this. It's tedious. It's analog. It feels outdated. But Brian's pipeline never ran dry because he did the work nobody else wanted to do.

Meanwhile Brad's watching restaurants with incredible food go under in six months because they perfected their menu but nobody knows they exist.

This is episode 45. How to build a sales pipeline when you're starting from zero. 

 

*YOU'LL DISCOVER*

• Why "selling to everybody" means selling to nobody

• Brian's 100 letters every Monday (physical mail beats digital shortcuts)

• Why restaurants with perfect food fail in six months (awareness crisis)

 • The pipeline reality: multiply your target number by 10 *WHAT ACTUALLY WORKS*

• Define your customer universe before building anything

• Hustle beats hoping (mail letters, knock doors, put flyers on cars)

• Turn customers into evangelists who sell for you

 

*WHO THESE GUYS ARE*

Brian Balduf co-founded and sold VHT Studios. Brad Balduf runs By Your Side Autism Therapy with 550 employees across 11 centers. Matt Croke keeps it honest and pulls out the chaos. They've been there, survived it, and have the scars to prove it.

 *THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH* "So everybody in the world already has one? Then go. Get out of the office." What's your excuse for not building your pipeline?

👇 SUBSCRIBE for new episodes every Friday. Real stories, real disasters, no LinkedIn energy. ————————————

*TIMESTAMPS*

0:00 - Funnel cakes vs sales funnels

1:31 - Pipeline vs funnel (same thing)

3:27 - "Everybody already has one" (then leave the office)

4:46 - Selling to everybody = selling to nobody

12:40 - Brian's 100 letters every Monday

16:22 - Restaurants dying with perfect menus

19:32 - Raising Cane's grand opening strategy

22:36 - Turn customers into evangelists 

*ABOUT CEO BROS AFTER HOURS*

CEO BROS: After Hours is raw business talk from CEO brothers Brian Balduf (VHT Studios) and Brad Balduf (By Your Side Autism Therapy) with host Matt Croke. Every Friday they share what actually happens building companies: brutal failures, scaling disasters, and the messy truth about leadership. No corporate polish. No LinkedIn energy. Just honest stories from the trenches. ————————————

🍸 *WIND DOWN WITH THE BROS: THIS WEEK'S COCKTAILS* Three drinks for three pipeline strategies. Pick the one that matches your hustle.

🍸 *THE 100 LETTERS* Brian Balduf - The storyteller who's been there and sold the company Recipe: • 2 oz Irish whiskey • 0.75 oz lemon juice • 0.5 oz honey syrup • 2 dashes orange bitters • Lemon twist • Shake with ice, strain into rocks glass The Vibe: Every Monday, Brian mailed 100 letters to decision-makers. Physical letters that landed on desks. This drink takes effort to make right, just like stamping 100 envelopes. But it works when shortcuts don't.

🍸 *THE GRAND OPENING* Brad Balduf - The operator running 550 employees across 11 centers Recipe: • 2 oz vodka • 1 oz cranberry juice • 0.5 oz lime juice • 0.5 oz triple sec • Lime wheel garnish • Shake with ice, strain into martini glass The Vibe: Raising Cane's gives 200 people free chicken for a year. Makes the newspaper. Creates lines around the block. This drink is bold, visible, impossible to ignore. A launch that demands attention.

🍸 *THE MULTIPLY BY 10* Matt Croke - The host keeping it real and pulling out the chaos Recipe: • 2 oz aged rum • 1 oz coffee liqueur • 0.5 oz vanilla syrup • 2 dashes chocolate bitters • Orange peel • Stir with ice, strain into rocks glass The Vibe: Whatever pipeline number you think you need, multiply it by 10. Most prospects won't close. This drink looks simple, tastes richer than expected. Always assume you need more in the funnel. Make all three. Figure out your move. Mailing letters until your hand cramps? Going big on your launch? Building a pipeline 10x bigger than you think? Tag us. ————————————

*JOIN THE CONVERSATION* https://x.com/CeoBrosAH https://www.instagram.com/ceobrosah/ https://www.facebook.com/CEOBrosAH https://www.linkedin.com/company/ceo-bros

 #Entrepreneurship #SalesFunnel #BusinessGrowth #StartupLife #CustomerAcquisition

Music: "Back to Black" by Rockin' For Decades (licensed through Epidemic Sound)