Customer buying signals

According to this reference, “Buying signals are behavioral cues that indicate the intentions of prospective or existing customers in terms of their readiness to buy. They can help make the sales process more efficient and higher-yielding”.

However with B2B sales it is never that simple, because there is usually more than one person who influences the purchase decision.

Even if you meet with an authoritative CEO, it’s likely they will seek feedback from their direct reports before proceeding.  

The buying signal that has helped me is when the customer interrupts you with a question on price while you are in the middle of discussing the benefits. It is an immediate cue that their brain is trying to calculate whether the benefits will outweigh the cost.  

However when the decision will involve multiple parties, the following situations might indicate a positive buying signal: 

• There is a clear understanding of the decision process for the organisation.  
• Your main contact is coaching you on how to direct your pitch. 
• You have evidence to suggest the organisation is taking your proposal seriously and it’s progressing forward.  

Buying signals should not be considered a crystal ball, as unforeseen things can always happen.

However as you learn to pay attention to your customers’ buying signals, it will help you understand when to switch from “selling” to “closing”.  

Smelling blood in the water

Can sharks smell blood from a mile away?

Not quite.

According to research, sharks can detect blood in the size of a swimming pool- which is fairly close. 

When sharks are hungry and can smell blood, can you guess how they will react?  

What has this got to do with selling? 

When you work in sales you need to operate at two different speeds:

1. During the early phase of a customer's purchase, you need to be helpful and available, but never too much in their face. Nothing annoys a customer more than a sales person bothering them when they are not ready to make a purchase decision.
2. The tempo can suddenly change when a customer signals a decision is imminent. When this happens you need to start playing a lot more attention and energy to that one customer. Just like a shark you need to be focused and ready to move!

Be aware that your behaviour needs to match the intensity and level of your customer and their decision process. If you misapply your approach the customer will get frustrated and annoyed. 

If you don’t understand where your customer is at in their decision process, then you need to ask them!  

Why Startup founders must not hire a sales person pre-$1M in revenue

Most startup founders have very little if any experience with selling products. 

They view themselves as the originators of the idea that sparks an amazing product and business. 

So it would be very logical to think that once the product is mature enough with a few paying customers there is enough justification to hire a sales person.  

As a startup mentor I have seen this dozens of times in early stage startups. Each an every time I have seen this approach FAIL . 

Why? 

1. As a startup you have not yet identified how to scale the distribution of your product. Distribution is just as important as software development. It is the same as hiring a team of developers in a different country, and expecting them to know how build what you want! This approach is doomed to failure!  
2. Your sales hire is not likely to understand the problem you are trying to solve as well as you do. They will be at a disadvantage because there is no established process and they don’t understand the problem well enough to know how to effectively position the product. 
3. And finally you probably can’t afford to hire a highly skilled sales person. Successful sales people by nature will be working somewhere else and making a lot of money. Can you afford to pay them enough to take a big risk with your startup? No. You will only be able to attract sales people with fewer skills and who are less likely to make your startup a success. Even if you offer them a good base salary, commission and founders equity, this will not be enough to dissuade someone that is already earning $200k - $300k to take a chance with your passionate project! 

So how do early stage startups get started in sales?  

I have observed the best way is for founders is to learn the sales skills themselves. You cannot outsource this skill until you have found a template and process that works before you scale.

Sales people hired after you have reached approximately $1M in revenue will have greater confidence they are in the right place to be successful.  

You might be thinking, “but I hate sales!”. If you cannot get around the idea of selling then I suggest you go back to working for a tech company or consultancy firm.  

Depending on your personal situation you could try one of the following to build your sales experience: 

1. Take 6-12 months off and work in a structured sales environment. It could be for a growing technology company or you could join a recruitment firm.  
2. Get a sales coach that can tailor an approach designed to help you succeed.  
3. Search for various communities and services that will enable you to learn alongside other startup founders. For example some coworking hubs have great mentors that can give you the guidance you need. 

Sales is not easy. Don’t expect your learning and growth to be a walk in the path.  

If you do focus on building your own skills you are more likely to give your startup the very best chance of success!

Pipeline Thinking

A common mistake for new founders and business owners is to assume that your proposals and sales opportunities, pitched well will sell themselves.

We mistakenly think the same level of enthusiasm that a customer felt during our presentation will continue throughout the sales process. 

Your sales pipeline should be reviewed at least daily.

You need to coldly and clinically assess where your customers are; and drop the ones that are no longer progressing. 

Asking the following questions of the ones you continue to work with:

• what is the customer’s decision process? Has it changed? 
• what is the next step that the customer needs to make? How do you help them achieve that? 
• are there any obstacles that need to be addressed? How will you remove them?

It is up to you to help the customer work through their decision process. If you don’t help them the sale just won’t happen. 

Customer Journeys

I recently published an article on LinkedIn about my customer journey on the Milford Track in New Zealand.  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-customer-journey-milford-track-new-zealand-paul-davies

It was a great experience. 

As a startup your sales success will improve with a strong understanding of your customers’ journey: 

• How did they find you? 
• Why did they commit to buy? 
• What will keep them coming back? 
• Where is your product or business giving the customer unnecessary friction?  

In conclusion don’t be afraid to ask your customers direct questions like: “why did you choose us?”  

Its amazing what they can tell you! 

At the McKinnon Pass

One of the many beautiful views of the Milford Track 

Grit

I attended an event this week and was inspired to hear the determination of a startup founder to achieve success. At 50 and with 4 children at ages ranging from 12-20, she told her husband she would be quitting her well paid job to build her startup. 

Her grit I believe came from a strong sense of WHY she set out to build her product. She knew from her own experience how valuable her software would help reduce risks within large infrastructure projects.   

I still remember her statement, “I know this startup is going to be successful and I will make it happen!”. 

Her impressive grit and determination has overcome multiple obstacles and taken her to within striking distance of great success. It has inspired me to have a strong WHY so that I can develop similar grit!

Playing the long game

B2B sales can only succeed when you take a long term view of things. In many instances you will be lucky to break even in the first 6 months when taking into account all the pre-sales efforts required. 

When disagreements between vendor and customer arise, you always need to play a ‘straight bat’ and consider what’s fair for both your company and your customer’ interests. Bending over over to give too many concessions is not right, neither is being too dogmatic in your views. Finding the best win-win solution won’t work every time. But it is the only long-term play that’s possible. 

Disagreements can be hard for most sales people because we work so hard to build relationships, that taking action that risks these relationships feels unnatural. If this is the case with you, try to bring a cofounder that can help facilitate. The team approach usually works better than going solo...  

Working hard all day but being ineffective 🤯

In sales you are being measured on results that you don’t have direct control over.  

Compare sales to a software developer, project manager and software architect. In these roles you are empowered by the organisation to build, organise or design. You have the ability to escalate matters if you don’t receive help from those required to support you...

However with sales you could work very hard doing good activities (phone calls, meetings and proposals) and still completely fail! 

To make real progress you need to be successful with all the following:

1. understand who your ideal ( or awesome) customer is. 
2. connect with a large pool of these prospective customers. 
3. develop the ability to communicate your value proposition and build a relationship of trust.  
4. the insights (or empathy) for what each customer is seeking to achieve and use this knowledge to position your product effectively - otherwise known as closing. 

Your Circadian Rhythm

I would like to expand on my earlier post of “eating your frog” by starting sales early in the day before other tasks. 

By doing the hard part of the day first, your mind is sharper than later when you have been buffeted by your startup challenges.  

You can also schedule other sales activities during the day to help grow your business.

 The following is what works for my daily schedule:

 Early Morning

• Complete at least 1-2 hour of outbound emails and phone calls. 

Mid Morning 

• Coffee meetings with prospects and customers.

Lunch 

• Catch up on work or have lunch with a friend or colleague. You have to eat anyway and you can use that time to do some good. 

Mid Afternoon 

• Ideal time for another coffee meeting with customers and prospects.  

Late Afternoon

• Make the “easier” follow up phone calls and setting up meetings. Do not aim for complicated activities that will result in poor work. 
• Reflection of current sales status, revenue prediction and planning for the next day.  

By understanding your own energy and concentration cycles, you will plan and execute more efficiently. 

How to request a meeting with email with 3 simple sentences

1. First sentence needs to highlight a connection between you and the prospect. Otherwise they will filter you out.

• This sentence is most important. You will get filtered out if you cannot display some connection with a new prospect.
• Ideally is using a 3rd party introduction. Depending on the strength of that relationship, will help you get their attention.
• A weaker example that you may need to use, is that you went to the same School/University, common LinkedIn contacts or demonstrate your knowledge of their organisation.

2. Second sentence needs to state what you want to do - such has have a meeting.

• You need a specific agenda on what to discuss.
• This is not a social chit-chat.
• The prospect will respond positively when the topic is highly relevant to their areas of concern or interest.

3. Third sentence needs to propose a specific time to meet.

• Give a specific time between 10-15 days into the future when calendars are usually open.
• This also signals you are not a desperate salesperson but one who plans well into the future.
• Coffee meetings are often good because it gives the person a break and provides a neutral meeting place.