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sales How to Sell a Startup (Startup School 2018
#15, Tyler Bosmeny) https://review.foundx.jp/entry/how-to-sell -
Paul Graham”Spend every moment of every day doing two things: building products or talking to users.”
- Most of what we talk to users about is sales
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Advantages of the founder being a salesperson
- passion
- expertise
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Sales is a funnel
- potential customer
- conversation
- closing
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potential customer - chasm theory
- Only 2.5% of companies would consider buying a product from a startup
- You have to talk to a lot of people.
- Three methods of acquisition
- My Network
- Industry conferences: know who’s coming and make an appointment
- cold mail
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conversation
- Sales is about listening.
- Understand their problems and build rapport
- First understand what their needs are.
- Then consider if you can help them with your solution.
- Examples of questions
- Can you tell us about the problem you are having?”
- How are you resolving this now?”
- Why did you pick up my phone?”
- If you had an ideal solution, what would it look like?”
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follow-up
- Need a lot
- It’s not over until they say no.
- We should assume the best case that they are simply too busy to think about anything else.
- No reply → 5~7 days later, poke around, not rude or pushy.
- Be thoughtful and personal
- Simultaneous emails, no one likes them.
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closing
- I just need one more feature.”
- Contract ahead of time
- Delay until other customers request it.
- I want a free trial.”
- Sign an annual contract first
- Create a cancellation period
- I just need one more feature.”
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When you get a no in early sales conversations, is it because you are not an early adopter or because you don’t have Market Fit?
- No means no.
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Which to attack first, small or large companies?
- Go to the people who need the product the most and act quickly
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Price
- Patrick McKenzie says most startup founders set their prices too low and need to charge more
- One strategy for pricing: if you can close the deal, double it.
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Products of $50
- I can’t high five you.
- The only page that existed was one that described the product. That was enough.
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