embracing the sales mindset...embracing the sales mindset marketing position, networking and...

Embracing the Sales MindsetMarketing position, networking and storytelling for non-sales people

5/13/2019 Forum Solutions 2

• Diverse client base: startups to Fortune 500

• We help businesses grow sustainably

• Services:• Operational and market analysis

• Pitch and story improvement

• Use of funds

Why are We Here?

• Demystify sales experience for founders

• Incorporate discipline in the sales process

• Build and refine startup sales messaging

35/13/2019 Forum Solutions

Before We Get Going…

• There is no “right answer”

• Iterative nature of entrepreneurship – managing variables

• Need to put a stake in the ground to make a pivot productive


Common Sales Mistakes

• Selling features before benefits

• Avoiding rejection vs. learning from it

• Unrealistic time expectations

• Attention is scattered

• Ignoring the audience

• Belief that there are “sales” and “non-sales” people


Why Do We Need to Talk About Sales?

Typically 4% of startups that

receive seed funding survive to

series A*

*Ron Ashkenas & Patrick Finn, HBR JUNE 10, 2016, The Go-to-Market Approach

Startups Need to Adopt



Where Do You Begin?

Pricing strategy?

Sales team structure?

How technical is our

sales team?

What is the right

product mix?

The Sales Starting Line

• Value Proposition

• Buyer Journey

Forum Solutions 5/13/2019 8

Value Proposition Dynamics


• What issues affect your target market?

• How does your product/solution make a buyer’s life better?

• Benefits ≠ Features

• What makes your product/solution unique?

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Building a Value Proposition


Hypothesis

Buyer mindset

Networking

Develop sales process

Quantify customer results

Iterate

Establish initial value proposition –why did you start the company?

Understand the issues facing buyers and how they come to decisions

Presales outreach to the market to fine-tune messaging

Bring buyers on the path to make a decision

Confirm benefits

The Buyer Journey


Awareness Educate Engage Decision Retain/Re-engageBuyer is unaware company exists

Buyer learns about the value proposition

Buyer knows how the solution impacts their job

Buyer actsBuyer implements

decision

Awareness: Establish Goals for Each Buyer Segment

• Not every sales opportunity is just about revenue

• Determine what you want to achieve before engaging

• Stay disciplined to that goal, judge outcomes related to that goal


Educate: Consultative Sales Models

• Engage with the buyer by asking probing questions

• Learn about the buyer and their operations

• Test buyer’s assumptions

• Why do we do this?

• Demonstrate expertise

• Model the future for your buyer

• Iterate on the buyer personas


Engage: The Art of the Follow Up

5/13/2019

Forum Solutions 14

• Demonstrates you are reliable and attentive to buyer’s needs

• Restate the meeting:

• Context setting

• Buyer’s needs

• Next steps

• Other considerations

• Articulate assumptions – get everyone on the same page

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Engage: Focus Your Energy

• Founders are typically in a constant state of flux

• Prioritize your pipeline by use case fit and close probability

• Be strategic in the pipeline assessment:

A. Strategic targets

B. Qualified interests

C. All others


Decision: The Pitch

• Focus on the benefits for the buyer

• Play to the emotional core of the story

• Who is best to deliver the pitch?


Decision: Getting to “No”

• An important part of all sales interactions

• Do not shy away from a decision

• Allows you to focus your energy


Retain/Re-engage: Buyer Feedback

• Quantify results from the buyer

• Useful in maintaining relationship – commitment to value proposition

• Iterate messaging based on results

• Vital for additional sales and fundraising


Further reading

• Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff

• The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon

• Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

• Becoming a Category of One by Joe Calloway

• “Never Split the Difference” Ted Talk by Chris Voss


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjhDkNmtjy0

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Questions?Erik Winters: [email protected]

Stephanie Fiano: [email protected]


embracing the sales mindset...embracing the sales mindset marketing position, networking and...

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