Switching Hats

As a startup entrepreneur you will have to balance more than one hat or responsibility. For example you need to perform in the following roles:

• finance hat: managing the cash flow of your startup. 
  
• product hat: lead the development of your product’s features 
• management hat: managing the people that work for the startup, cofounders and all suppliers. 

 Sales Hat

As a startup entrepreneur you should be dedicating at least 1-2 hours each day on outbound sales activities. 

This daily effort will compound the growth of your startup when you complete the following: 

• setting up meetings with people you know (often via LinkedIn) who might be customers, or can introduce you to their network. 
• outbound emails and calls people you don’t know to setup meetings with new prospective customers.
• meetings with potential customers.
• sending short follow up emails after a meeting to summarise the commitments made.
• ongoing contact with your network to keep them engaged. This might include inviting to a Meetup, update on a new product features or announcements when new customers that have joined.  

If you commit yourself to these tasks every day you will be building the growth of your new startup.  

Many entrepreneurs I work with are very disciplined in blocking out 8.00am - 10.00am each day for outbound sales activities.

Happy prospecting! 

First Meeting: the most important question you need to ask!

You find yourself  in an introductory meeting with a potential customer.

It appears to be going very well!

It is often tempting on these occasions to keep the happy feelings going, and not go into "tactical mode" with very direct questions. 

There is one question however that cannot be left out: “How does your organisation make decisions?” 

This question can be rephrased in many different ways: 

• If you were to proceed with this [INSERT YOUR PRODUCT] who else would need to be involved? 
• What is your decision process? 
• How does [COMPANY] make decisions like this type of thing? 

When you ask this upfront in the first meeting, it might raise a few eyebrows but most will respond positively.  

However not asking the question will lead to frustration and confusion when your contact does not return your calls or emails. There is no way of finding out what is happening (which can be frustrating).  

If you are able to have a discussion about the customer's decision process, you will be free to follow up at future times to verify or receive an update on how their decision process is going. 

An added bonus to this tactic, is that it helps your contact to start thinking practically on how they will buy from you!

Trust me on this!  

When to hire your first sales person

When you first launch your product it is very tempting to start looking your first sales person. 

Fortunately (or unfortunately) for the foreseeable future, your first sales hire needs to be you!

Why the founder is the first and best salesperson

As a startup founder you are the most qualified to be the sales person for your business because:

1. Your vision brought your startup product into existence. Your vision and passion for what you are selling will be very persuasive with potential customers.
2. As the one that built the product, you know more about the problem and the solution than every one else. Your insight will also help in sales. 
3. As your product is maturing, it will benefit from you speaking with as many sales prospects as possible. 

Common Misconceptions about founders selling

• I don't have time to sell! Product sales is the one thing that will make or break your business. Make the focus on relying on sales revenue (not external investment) fund your business.
• I am a tech person! I am most valuable to the business building features, not selling to customers Anyone can afford to do 2 hours / day of outbound sales and meetings. 
• No your don't get it... I am really not a sales person! Then you should not be in a startup! Sales is about helping customers make progress in their lives via a commercial transaction. Read the book, To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink

Common reasons why hiring sales too early will fail

• Your product offering and positioning is not mature enough. Your new sales person has an uphill battle to get traction and is unsuccessful
• You cannot afford a highly skilled sales person. When your startup is small, you will be tempted to hire someone on sales commission (no base salary). Getting sales for your startup may take several months (or more) to get traction. Can you convince someone to work without pay for months? Even if you offer them equity it may still not be enough. A highly skilled sales person can easily get a more high paying job with a high base and commissions on top! Most startups who hire sales people with a combination of commission (and equity) usually fails. 
• Fewer Customers makes it difficult for your sales person to be successful. Good sales people are excellent at identifying what sales tactics works within a company and copying it. You are creating a massive obstacle in front of your customers when they don't have examples to follow.

When is the right time to hire your first sales person?

The amount varies for each startup.

In my humble opinion (IMHO) your goal should be to reach $1M in sales, before contemplating hiring sales people. By that time you will be much more successful in hiring sales people.  

You cannot outsource the sales responsibility to anyone else! 

Startup Sales Coach is designed to help all startup founder to be more successful in sales!

Building Trust with Our Customers

Every business relies on repeat transactions from the same customers to stay afloat. Repeat transactions only occur when there is mutual trust.

You are never going to be successful in your B2B sales without fostering strong trust with your customers. 

By saying, "Trust me!" is guaranteed to cause the opposite effect :) 

Instead focus on empathy for your customer's challenges, and reflect that back to them. This will then position you to help them make progress. 

When the customer feels you are completely open, they will work more collaboratively and let you solve their problems.