Not cracking under pressure

No matter how good you are at selling, at some stage you are going to come under massive pressure to increase revenues. 

The problem with stress is that it’s difficult to  hide from the people we sell to. And who wants to buy from a stressed individual?

We all like to buy from someone that is relaxed and in tune with our needs  

So the challenge is being able to manage that pressure to increase your selling intensity, while minimising the symptoms of stress.  

Stress can cause problems in the following ways: 

1. When under stress, the intellectual side of your brain can shut down, causing you to rely more on your reptile or “croc” brain. This part of our brain is good at keeping us alive when we are in physical danger, but performs poorly in the work environment! A symptom of this is not being able to remember details or poor analysis skills. 
2. When under stress you naturally focus more on your targets and less on the people around you (customers and co-workers). This makes you less empathetic, which can reduce your selling ability.  

Ways is to better manage your stress:

1. Most stress comes from short term worries, so write down your plan for getting out of your sales hole. It will help you and your backers (investors or bosses) to see what you are doing and offer feedback. 
2. When your own fears and worries do manifest themselves, ask yourself what you are doing to manage that. Then run through your plan in your head all the things you are doing and what your future plan is. Daniel Pink (author) has taught this approach is proven to help build genuine confidence- not the fake kind when we try to psyche ourselves up... 
3. Time-box your work and personal life. Make sure your job is getting everything it needs done. However at the same time make sure you allow time for your family and personal relationships. Allow yourself to forget about your work worries for at least one day over the weekend. The break will make you better at you job! 
4. Don’t cut back on exercise. In fact when there is increased stress you should increase it. Your mind and body will thank you for it! 

There is no silver bullet to stop the impact of stress on your effectiveness. But you can better manage it, and lessen its impact so that you can be as effective as possible. 

Success with large key account customers

With larger key accounts you should aim to become their trusted advisor.

How do you do that?

Time.

Nothing will help you be more successful than spending time with them and provide meaningful value.

For example: 

• Look for ways to be of help. Sometimes this might be non-monetary value such as a workshop or briefing. 
• Learn and adapt to the organisation’s culture and terminology. They will be much more comfortable around you when they know you ‘get’ them!

As you do this you will gradually become the default choice among your competitors.  

Over time you become their trusted advisor. 

Keeping your mind Fresh

Selling is an emotionally draining activity.

Working continuously without a proper break will limit your sales success. 

There is nothing worse than working in a mental haze!  

The opposite is also true. There is nothing so effective as selling when your mind is sharp and rested! 

One of the habits of Stephen R. Covey’s seminal book, Seven Habits of Highly is to Sharpen the Saw  illustrates this point well.   

Take time out. Especially when you are under pressure you need to find ways to  rest, recharge and relearn .

• Rest: Get plenty of sleep. Make sure you unplug during the weekend. Turn off mobile devices one hour before bed. Trust me you will be far more effective when your mind has been given a rest!
•  Recharge : Get the optimum level of exercise for your age and health. Increase your exercise when you are under stress. Eat healthy. I personally like to cycle, run or study Krav Maga. 
• Relearn: Keep your mind fresh by learning new things. Develop a passion to study a subject (outside of your current role) that you find interesting. I have found listening to historical podcasts and audio books to be fascinating! They give me a break from the repetitiveness that occurs in sales.

Trust me on this one! Your brain will love you for it! 

Make it easy for your prospects to say "No"

I have actively been working in B2B sales since 1998.

In all that time, the most frustrating memory was following up on those few prospects for a LONG TIME. I was living the hope that one day they would say "Yes". 

But my hope was not based in reality.

Maybe they were just stringing me along?

It was more likely I did not give them an easy opening to say "No". 

Nowdays when I feel things are slipping, I try the following approaches and watch their reaction: 

1. Withdraw the offer (bold but risky)
2. Your proposal will expire within a short time period
3. Tell the customer that you or your product may not be right for them. Wait for them to interrupt to say you are wrong. If they don't interrupt then you are right!

When you keep it real, you will be free to sell more successfully. I would rather have 5 real opportunities than over 100 maybes!

Understanding our binary mindset of Rejection and Acceptance

Many startup founders struggle with sales because of rejection. 

This manifests in frustrations in not getting meetings, or ultimately rejection of proposals.  

Most of us seem to have the following binary views: 

Acceptance = They like me

Rejection = They dislike me

Lets try to put this into context because as humans we rarely act in a binary manner.  

I was surprised to recently find one former customer not respond to my requests to meet. This was despite the fact we had a very good working relationship in the past and I knew from other sources that she saw me in a positive light.  

I can’t help feeling down when I am not successful in progressing opportunities. But perhaps we can try to see acceptance and rejection differently.

Rejection could also mean:

• they are too busy
• they feel they would be wasting our time
• they can’t meet because of a third party restriction 

If we see rejection from a less binary perspective it will help us to keep persisting, cover a wider audience and ultimately make more sales! 

What have you sold today?

Early in my career I had a colleague who was the sales manager of a sister company where I worked. Although he was never my manager, Geoff loved to ask me, “what have you sold today?”

This always got under my skin becasue my sales cycles took between 1-6 months to close.

Although the question was made in jest, he made made a great point. 

It forced me to analyse whether my selling was focussed enough to get the results.

What have you sold today does not care about the success you did yesterday or the deal you hope to close next week. It asks you to be completely honest about what you can sell right now! 

Thanks Geoff!  

Startup founders must spend 1 hour/day on sales if they are serious

I get it that sales is hard. I have been doing sales full time for the past 18 years and there are still days that I don’t enjoy it. 

As a startup founder you need to accept the success of your current and future ventures is largely based on your willingness to get out and have a go at selling your product that you have built. 

You will probably make lots of mistakes but this is far more preferable than sitting in your cave pondering on how to develop the perfect pitch and finding someone else to do it. 

If you cannot commit to sales until your startup is at least $1M in revenue then you should get a job at Google or join a consulting company.  

Selling is non-negotiable when it comes to startup founders.  

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!