Even great prospects will never get back to you

Many startup founders, particularly the technical ones get furious when a perfectly qualified sales opportunity return their calls.

How annoying!

The reality is that most of the selling process is in the follow-up:

• Did you receive my message about "X"?
• Can we organise a meeting?
• Did you have any question about the proposal I sent? 
• As discussed can you set that appointment with the CEO please?
• Are you ready to finalise the agreement? 
• Can we organise the implementation meeting next Tuesday? 

It is your responsibility to breathe energy into the sales process!

You need to make all the calls, suggest the next steps and help them through these steps. Generally your prospects will not “get around” to doing what they said they will do. You will need to coach them through every step. When they tell you they will call you back, they generally don’t!

Try to apply this thinking when you are running sales for your start-up. It should save some frustration and help you be more successful.

Competition

Do you know who your competitors are?

How do you feel about them?

Traditionally we view our competitors from a defensive position as they are often chasing the same deals as you. 

However at the very least you should learn from them. If you don’t know them, try to introduce yourself. Be brave. Learn what makes them tick and what their challenges are. 

At times I have collaborated with my competitors. For example a couple of years ago I worked with one competitor to help clean up the industry of mercenary contractors that were bringing our industry down. 

In the future you might seek to acquire these competitor or visa versa. So it helps to know them beforehand! 

Keep an open mind and you may find more benefits of collaboration than competing!

Be the better man or woman!

As a sales leader within your startup you should take responsibility for the failures and share the credit for your wins. 

Why?

When you are not successful, you, as a startup founder are best placed to make corrective changes.

You should have the best understanding of your startup. Employees are not as well positioned to know what changes need to occur.

Even if the person hired has failed, you should also take responsibility as you hired them, and/or neglected to train them properly.  

In management 101, you should always assume that most employee problems are a result of the environment they work under. Take responsibility for when things don’t go to plan.

On the flip side giving credit to all involved when you achieve a win is a unifying activity. I once worked for a CEO founder who tried to claim credit for the sales he had helped me with. This was a poor move for him and his company. 

Be the better man or woman! 

Demonstrating results when you have nothing to show

About 10 years ago I was working for a US-owned company that was seeking to expand the number of customers for its niche logistics software product. 

Typical with complex enterprise products, the sales cycle was slow..  

About 5 months into the assignment, my sales manager became agitated, because his boss (and probably a few others) were keen to see what progress the global sales team was making. Sales had been slower than predicted. 

You might find yourself in a similar situation with your investors. 

I responded by outlining my process for prospecting and building up opportunities. I also shared a copy of the hundreds of letters and phone calls I had been making.

Everything was there for them to see what I had been doing.  

After reviewing my activities and opportunities, my manager was satisfied that I was on the right track.   

In summary: 

• Draft up your sales approach. Outline how you will get your sales targets.  
• Keep a track of all your activities that are designed to lead to sales. 

Remember that the right activities lead to sales. It’s as simple as cause and effect! 

Dial up your confidence!

Everyone has a weakness or two. 

This may sound ironic to some who know me, but on occasions I struggle with self confidence!

We can all turn weaknesses into strengths. 

Many people who use artificial means to mask their insecurities, such as anger which is really just fear underneath.

This is what I do to boost my confidence:

• Understand in a rational way what is causing my lack of confidence. What can I do to addresss those concerns? Keep the mind boyant. In an unemotional way unpick the mental images that is attacking me.  
• Then follow the advice from Daniel Pink (To Sell is Human), ask the same question that Bob the Builder asks, “Can we fix it?” Have I completed all my preparation for this task? Does this mean that I am ready? If the answers are yes, then reflect on this preparation to help build a new personal narrative. 

If you find confidence or similar issues to be a challenge, be like Bob the Builder and fix It!

Make time your ally

On several occasions I made the error of stopping the communication with a prospect that seemed to have no hope of being my customer.

The reality is that all organisations are in a state of constant flux.

Find a way to ‘touch base’ with these organisations at least once a quarter. It could be as simple as a 5min phone call or a coffee catch-up.

By doing this you are not only getting good information, but you are building up relationships that can be relied on in the future. 

For example one contact that I had a good relationship with changed jobs. Although he could not purchase from me in the first organisation, the second organisation was much easier! 

Time marches on.

Opportunities will change.

Make time your ally. 

“A Fool with a Tool is still a Fool”

When it comes to Sales and Marketing tools, Grady Booch’s quote: “A Fool with a Tool is still a Fool” says it all.

For many years, I have experienced the famous SAAS CRM products with no or minimal customisation. Or worse still, I had to use the (configured) CRM of the parent company that I worked for - which had completely different sales processes.

No matter how smart your sales and marketing tools are, they are just tools. 

All vendors will sell the dream of an easy implementation. Do not fall for it! 

“You must not be a passenger in the sales process.”

Before you spend your company’s hard earned money , first work out what your business process is. Get in a consultant to map out your sales process, and then go shopping for the tool that best suits your requirements.

I see this problem with startup founders all the time. They fall for the glitzy image of a great enterprise product.

Until you have 30+ active opportunities you should be able to manage everything on a spreadsheet. And if you use Google Sheets it should be 100% free.  

Do not scale a generic sales process for your business. Make sure it works on a small scale before launching it.   

Once you are confident you are going in the right direction, by all means use the tools to accelerate!

Good luck! 😀

On not meeting Richard Branson

I recently completed reading Richard Branson’s latest book, Finding my Virginity (2017). 

I remember seeing Richard Branson at a small, temporary Sydney baggage terminal in 2000 when he launched Virgin Blue (now Virgin Australia). He looked calm and exuded great confidence!

I was in my early 20’s and had a strong desire to introduce myself.

To my regret I backed down and continued on with my transit without speaking to him. Who was I to approach a billionaire?

This opportunity I suppose may have opened the door to a fantastic career with Virgin.

In reading Branson’s biography of that time, it’s clear his fledgling company Virgin Blue was under a lot of pressure. It’s future was not yet certain. 

Three lessons I have taken from that time: 

• Always be positive and optimistic. The job of an entrepreneur is to help everyone catch your vision.  
• Pressure is a normal part of an entrepreneur’s life. Expect to have it, but don’t let it control you. 
• If you see an opportunity, take it! Don’t check yourself. Forget about your fears or any lack of confidence. 

How do we define Sales?

Daniel Pink’s Book,  To Sell is Human   explained that sales can be defined as ‘moving’ someone from one position to another in order to help them realise a benefit. 

With this definition, it’s not just 10% of the workforce that are in sales, but the remaining 90% are in sales and they don’t know it yet!

For a startup this definition can help you realise that success can be measured by more than just dollars coming into the business.

Although company revenue is the ultimate sign of business success, it often needs to be broken down into smaller wins. 

Booking a first meeting with a senior executive is an example of moving somebody or selling successfully. 

In large, strategic sales, you need to do a lot of ‘moving’ before the ink hits the paper.  

What is today’s definition of “Success”?

Selling can be a lonely job. On many occasions you are alone with your thoughts 🤔  

Large size deals do not drop every day. So how can you keep long term activities from dragging you down?

For me, writing a list of 4-6 important tasks in the morning helps me to be productive and feel successful. 

Naturally your tasks will be linked to your overall success as a startup founder.  

As you stay focussed on what you define as success today, it will help you feel both positive and productive!