enterprise sales for startups

1

Enterprise Sales for Startups

October 2, 2013

by Josh Lowry


2

Why do most companies fail? • Not undercapitalization. • Do not sell products in quantities great enough and at prices high enough to sustain themselves.

What is Selling? • Act of influencing and persuading others to accept or do something. • Difference between persuasion and manipulation is intent. • The more effective you are at selling and closing, the more successful you will be.

Why is Selling Important for Founders? • Best Customers. • Best Employees. • Best Investors. • Best Partners. • Best Revenue.

SELLING FOR SUCCESS


3

NOTHING IS MANUFACTURED, SHIPPED OR COUNTED WITHOUT SALES! • A business without sales is on borrowed time. • Companies can survive without marketing, but not without sales. • Revenue solves all problems.

YOUR REALITY


4

What is A Startup? • A temporary organizations designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.

What is the Customer Development Process? Searching for a business model . . . • Discovery – Does your product solve a business problem that customers will pay for? • Validation – Can a repeatable, scalable sales process be developed? Executing the business model . . . • Creation – Are customers buying the product? Are you moving from several to many customers? • Building – Do the skills on the current team match your searching and executing needs?

CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT


5

Ideal Customer Profile • Customers and prospects are not equal; smaller number of ideal customers than all customers. • Define your ideal customer, including industry, size, etc. (narrow the universe). • Focus on ideal customers; get good at saying “no.”

Target Buyer Profile • Who is your ideal buyer or buyers within your ideal customer? • Who you deliver the message to is as important as the message itself (do they have “juice”?). • Customize your message for each role; e.g., message to CFO different than message to VP Sales.

Your Valuation Proposition • Value is real or perceived belief that your product is worth more than the money spent for it. • Value-add is real or perceived benefit that differentiates you and gives buyer logical reason to buy. • What problem does your product solve? Is it a nice to have or must have for customers?

FOCUS


6

YOUR BIGGEST PROBLEM IS OBSCURITY: NO ONE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE! • If you sound like everyone (sales), you will be ignored. • If you look like everyone (marketing), you will be invisible. • Differentiation and being unique are critical to not being filtered out as noise.

STANDING OUT


7

Differentiated Selling • Differentiation involves being different and unique from the competition. • If you lead with product and features or use same language as competition, you will be invisible. • Think purple cow. A purple cow stands out in a field full of black and white cows.

Education-Based Marketing • Connect with more customers by teaching something of value than by selling something. • Customers want to make good decisions; help educate them while setting criteria in your favor. • Teaching shifts power from customer to seller; seller becomes a consultant/expert.

Why Do Customers Buy? • Solve problems: Lower costs, increase revenue or create impact; and/or • Feel good: satisfy emotions and human needs. • Does your marketing message and value proposition address one or both of these issues?

BE DIFFERENT


8

Basics • Consultative selling is partnering with customers to improve profits and competitive advantage. • Improved profits mean increased revenue or reduced costs by solving critical business issues. • Improving competitive advantage means strengthening customer’s overall position in the market. • Performance of customer is competition, not other vendors. • Performance measured in dollars; value is future versus current performance (> current/industry). • What is the opportunity cost of the customer not doing anything (waiting)?

Positioning • Is your target buyer a decision maker within a cost center or profit center? • Decision making criteria: value (what), payback period (when) and certainty (risk). • Change the term “price” to “investment”; costs take money while investments make money.

CONSULTATIVE SELLING


9

Closing Deals • Closing represents 20% of the buying process, but 100% of the company’s revenue. • No value created until exchange between buyer and seller; until then you have been of service. • You must drill, practice and rehearse customer rebuttals and stalls to consistently close deals.

10X Rule • Whatever you want to achieve, increase your current thinking and activity-level by ten times.

Example: If $1M in revenue is your goal, operate like it is $10M. • Most people underestimate what it will take to achieve their goals.

Result: End up lowering their goals when faced with resistance causing dissatisfaction. • Do not lower your goals; increase your activity-level.

Question: What goal would you rather fall short on: $10M or $1M?

GETTING PAID


10

Revenue Rules 1. Always agree with the customer. 2. Always ask for the business. 3. Always maintain equal business stature with customers; power buys from power. 4. Always play to win – different from playing not to lose. 5. Ask every customer for referrals. Who else is in the same position? Who else might benefit? 6. Customer meetings are game time. No “practicing” in front of the customer. 7. Do not peacefully co-exist with the competition – dominate the market, not compete in it. 8. If you lose a deal, get over it fast and come back smarter and stronger. Do not repeat. 9. Never confuse effort with results; you are only judged and rewarded by your results. 10. Overcome resistance with (creative) persistent – stay in the game! 11. Second money is easier than first money: add-ons and existing customers. 12. Sell every day with the same intensity as month-end, quarter-end and year-end. 13. Treat every buyer like a millionaire (millionaires like billionaires) – experience and service counts! 14. Waiting for customers to come to you is for victims. Go to the money; get out of the office. 15. Your pipeline is never big enough.

REVENUE RULES


11

Moving Up-Market As you move up-market, from SMB to mid-market to enterprise, consider the following: • Can be harder to do business (MSA, terms, etc.). • More decision-makers are involved. • Process moves slower; understand how buying and procurement works. • Relationship breath is critical (many-to-many versus one-to-one). • Role of champions and influencers becomes more important. • Understanding political climate is key; different views on direction, power, etc. • Your size becomes a risk; e.g., if you go under, what happens?

SEGMENTS


12

When to Hire Your First VP Sales • Founder must make first series of sales or will be captive to outsider who may not get business. • Founders who sell are more respected by front-line (e.g., sales), including VP Sales. • It involves hearing direct customer feedback, including criticism and rejection. • Keeps you from executing a vision that is not resonating well with customers. • The founder must identify a repeatable sales process or the start of one before bringing in help. • When: Assuming the above, consider hiring your first VP Sales. • Who: Someone willing to closely examine wins/losses to determine what going right and wrong.

VP SALES


13

• One of the best artists who ever lived; produced some of the greatest art in the last 2,000 years. • Sold one painting during lifetime. Because of inability to sell, brilliance not financially rewarded. • No matter how exceptional your product or service, you will fail if it does not sell.

SELL EVERY DAY LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT BECAUSE IT DOES!

VINCENT VAN GOGH


http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=sCzdOMF2_eBQgM&tbnid=3DwfIK8EXzIyKM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://saywhattoday.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/vincent-van-gogh-2/&ei=T8lFUqXQHqXxigKpsYGQAQ&bvm=bv.53217764,d.cGE&psig=AFQjCNFyawTv-SGQ7NP9ymMLMNKkoGuM5g&ust=1380391627576148

14

Thank YOU!

Josh Lowry | http://joshlowryblog.com | [email protected] | 425-830-8516
