B2B Sales at a startup
Image courtesy Unsplash
Going through my notes from last year, I realize that a lot of conversations I’ve had with startups in the Caribbean have revolved around either working with the founder to tweak their sales process. So I thought that writing my tips would be a good idea.
How complex is your product/service? Understanding this from the perspective of your customer is critical in how you move forward. Is your product targeting a few users within a large company at a relatively small price point? Is it medium priced (relative to the customer’s technology spend) but requires some integration effort? Is it an Enterprise level deployment where a phased rollout is required over many months? The answer to this question determines the length of the sale cycle, and how much internal resources you’re going to have to throw at it in order to close.
Do you understand how the purchase process works at your customer in detail? I think this is one of the biggest problems I see which lead to misaligned expectations. By their very nature, startups are counting the days by in hours or minutes as every precious dollar of burn rate disappears. While a month can pass by in a large company and no one in purchasing, accounting or treasury even notices. While you’re in the client’s office or on a call with them, you need to ask probing questions about their purchase process - “So for something like this, at $5,000, what is your typical process? Would you need to go through the purchase order, invoice method or is there a level at which this can just go on a corporate credit card?”
In that vein, is the person who will be using your software, the same person who approves the purchase? Many times those roles in larger companies are deliberately separate. Or maybe there needs to be a security review by the internal technology lead before the purchase decision is approved. Or have you targeted someone so senior, that they have the internal ability to fast-track a purchase (usually the CEO or a Senior VP depending on the company).
Cultivate an internal champion. The larger the company that you are trying to sell to, the more you will need to identify and cultivate an internal champion. I’ve seen way too many rosy sales forecasts, hinging on a major sale to a large company - only to find out that there isn’t an internal champion pushing the sale through on the startup’s behalf. The deal sits in the CRM for 3 months, and then dies a slow death as calls and emails aren’t returned because the prospect isn’t willing to risk internal reputational capital on the product.
Don’t leave anything to chance, especially during the demo. Recently I had to do a software evaluation engagement for a large (enterprise-large) client. As a result I ended up sitting through about 30 demos all within the same software category in a 3 week period. What struck me was how much the demo mattered in the final decision. In short, you should know your product blindfolded, and there shouldn’t be anything up on the screen that you aren’t comfortable to dive into immediately. Prospects can see when you are avoiding a certain functionality or avoiding answering their direct question. Be direct and honest in your response - you’re more likely to gain respect from an early adopter client if you say “Our support isn’t 24x7 yet, given our company stage. We have it in the pipeline for Q3 of this year” and then work to address their specific concern - versus lying about it.
Where do your customers hang out? Virtually/Physically? You need to know exactly where your target persona spends their time. Are they so specialized that they go to certain trade conferences? Are they in specific industry-related LinkedIn groups? You need to be there - period. You need to speak their language and understand their pain points at a deep level. The insight you gain here is invaluable for your marketing efforts and your positioning when in front of the client.
Always know what the next steps are, and don’t forget to actually ask for the business. This is related to understanding their process (up above). I also see too many founders “forget” to actually ask for the business. I get it, it can be intimidating. But the answer will either surprise you, or will give you insight into what’s wrong with your pitch, or the product.
