Here is my One Thought about the Holy Grail: Turning "Warm Intro Calls" to "Customer Deals" - in Europe
Shira Kaplan
Cyber-Security Entrepreneur & Investor | Board Advisor to Selected Cyber-Security Startups | WEF Young Global Leader (2017) | Bilanz 100 Digital Shapers "Hall of Fame"
For many years, we have sold startup technology - in cyber-security - to multinational enterprises in Europe.
Small vendors – sometimes with 20 or 30 people – have sold, with our support, to European corporations consisting of thousands or tens of thousands of employees, winning significant business.
We have generated tens of millions of USD in revenues for our startups over the years, and continue to win and renew existing business.
How we do this is an art, not a science.
There are many things that need to be done right – but I will skip them, because, if you are very good at what you do, you know them already, and this is not a post for beginners.
There is only one thing I will mention, which I think is not obvious even to the very very good ones, and this is what I want you to take away from this article, especially if we work together.
Some of it might sound trite and obvious to you, but please try to sleep over it, and improve, if you need this improvement:
Customers need cultivation: the cultivation of the relationship.
Cultivation requires a lot of time and energy. More than you originally plan. It requires your full attention and care, over a period of time.
The customer can feel it, if you care about it, or you don't care about it. Customers are sensitive.
Cultivation cannot be done by the CEO of the startup alone. It's simply not possible for the CEO to be focused on the customers all the time. There is so much the CEO needs to think about.
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Our best performers in terms of sales, are the startups who had a person dedicated to the customer relationships.
That person was always polite, gentle, soft-spoken, highly intelligent, highly technical, and focused.
This person cared about the customer as a person, and cared about the relationship with the customer.
This person did not always have to be an incredibly expensive sales person. Many times, it was a superstar sales engineer.
But they were always PROFESSIONAL in sales.
Sales is an art, not a science.
Yours, Shira
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Head of Customer Success & Solutions Engineering | 5+ years of management experience | Driving $M+ Revenue | Cybersecurity | B2B | SaaS | IoT | OT | Ex-CyberX (Microsoft) & IBM
1 个月Thank you Shira for this article! Exactly my thoughts and what I have been preaching all along to my team - superstar sales engineers are always PROFESSIONAL in sales!
B2B Marketing Project Manager | IT Innovations driven | On AI discovery journey | MIT Professional Education Alumni | Women In Digital Switzerland Supporter
1 个月Sometimes I think that many tech companies need a '5-star hospitality' approach for customers to create an extra-mile experience. And it's not just about mentioning the customer's name five times during the conversation - it's more than that. Shira Kaplan, I fully support your thesis and approach; relationships are sometimes stronger than corporate agreements.
Investment Fund Sales & Distribution | UBS | Digital Client Acquisition & Relationship Management | LinkedIn Top Voice | Thematic Investment Conversation Starters | Connecting People & Opportunities | Community Activator
1 个月I love the fact that you never called that person a sales person! I think that is what makes the difference! Thanks Shira!
thebroker.ch - Das Nr. 1 Online-Magazin für Broker und Versicherer.
1 个月Well said Shira Kaplan. This is what makes you stand out.