Focus on Sales

The first VC ever in Chicago was Bob Geras.  Over lunch we were chatting and he told me the best way to get bottom line revenue is increase top line revenue.  We laughed.  Of course it is-and of course startup companies sometimes avoid paying attention to their selling process because it’s hard.

They would rather do creative things with marketing and branding, or work on the technical back end or UX thinking that will bring them customers.  That stuff is fun and enjoyable.  Everyone gets to be a creative!

Those things are certainly important.  Having a tremendous brand can create a halo effect around your salesperson before they enter a company.  I am seeing that with Riskalyze right now.  Over the course of the companies life, they have been able to create brand awareness among their target market.  It’s complimentary to their sales process.

Tim Kopp of Hyde Park Venture Partners had a nice blog post about what he did to jumpstart sales at Exact Target.  His first point is very relevant to early stage startups.  Laser focus.  He says, “By focusing on a specific vertical and set of use cases, these companies gained momentum that helped to fuel their growth and allowed them to expand their offering as they reached critical mass.  Companies that start with too broad of a vision often lose focus and aren’t able to differentiate enough to attract a strong customer base. It’s true investors like large addressable markets, but starting with a narrow slice of this audience provides deeper focus resulting in higher velocity.”

You hear this point over and over and over and over again when it comes to startups.  Focus on a small market to create a big one.  At the other end of the spectrum,  when you see major corporations hiccup, they tend to refocus on one big market with high margin, get traction, then expand.

One of the problems with early stage startups is that pitches sometimes sound like a television infomercial.  “Is there anything is can’t do?”  But, focus is akin to scarcity.  Scarcity creates energy around a specific goal.  Startups need focus to create energy.  That energy builds the brand which creates the halo effect which helps sales.  It’s a virtuous circle.

At the earliest stages, nothing beats getting out from behind your computer and pressing the flesh with potential customers.

It’s totally scary and it sucks to get told “no” all the time.  That’s a part of the process.  If you are using a good selling process, take the “No” as a compliment.  It saves you time and helps you better target.

In an earlier blogpost I talked about how sales is everything.  Before you go out to meet and greet your potential customers, rehearse a sales call.  Practice a few times.  If there is no one to practice with, do it in front of a mirror.

It’s going to feel weird.  But, instead of rehearsing inside your brain, make your mouth verbalize the words audibly.  You will hear yourself-and you will learn faster.

During the sales call, don’t puke on your customer.  Instead, focus on their body language.  Make eye contact.  Are they leaning forward?  Are they nodding their head?  Are they passively sitting back in their chair?  Are they busy doing something else?

To get control of the sales call, you have to give up some control by asking a question.  It shouldn’t be a yes or no question but sort of open ended that helps guide you to overcoming objections.  “Does that sound all right to you?” is a great question to get the customer talking.  They unconsciously say their objections and you can overcome them.

Remember, you are a startup.  Doing business with you is always risky.  De-risk it by asking them to try it out.  Have a way to measure the success or failure and give the customer immediate feedback.

No matter how bad the call goes, always ask for the order.  You’d be surprised at how many times you will get