sales strategies for start-ups
DESCRIPTION
Choosing the right go-to-market sales strategy for your Start -Up can be a make or break decision. What do you do when you are just starting a business and need to build a customer base? This is the situation thousands of new entrepreneurs find themselves in.TRANSCRIPT
Kishore is co-founder and CEO of PK4 Software. He has over 25 years of experience building technology product and service companies. As CEO of PK4 , he is deeply involved in strategy , sales and technology direction for Impel CRM our flagship product. He’s a regular speaker in the areas of Cloud Computing, SaaS, CRM and Emerging Businesses at various forums like NASSCOM and TiE.
@nmandyam
Sales Strategies for Start-ups
Sales Strategies for Start-Ups
Narasimhan (Kishore) Mandyam, 23 Feb. 2011
Agenda
• Assumptions!• Start-ups vs. Later-stage – what’s
different?• Defining your sales model• Focusing your Sales Efforts• Building a Sales Team• Building Partnerships
I assume…
• I’m talking to a “lean” start-up– Lots of passion, very little money
• We’re talking India market – largely– Some techniques may work elsewhere, but…
• You (think you) know what you’re good at– And what you’re not!
• You want a scalable sales model– Referrals work well, but only to a point
Start-ups vs. Later-stage
• Market-space somewhat clear
• Sales techniques unclear
• Very small team – 5 to 25 people
• Multi-skilled people• Founders sell, few
others do
• Market-space very clear
• Sales model clear and established
• Team has some specialization
• Focused teams• Founders market,
others sell
The sales model
• Product or service – differentiators– What are you good at? What not?
• Customer demographics– Who’s your ideal prospect? Who would never
buy?• Positioning
– What words work best to describe benefits?• Lead generation
– Where will you get your Leads from?• Pricing
– What’s the basis for your pricing?
Some sales techniques
• Build Lead-flow– Market online, advertise, whatever
• Target decision-makers– But talking to the CEO may NOT help!
• Build a series of interactions– Call, email, SMS – all BEFORE you meet!
• Sell a Story, not a Reference– References work well for bigger companies
Focus your sales efforts
• Analyze– Figure out what went right or wrong in each
Lead• Role-play
– Develop reasoning to handle customer objections
• Replicate– Prospects in areas you’ve sold in – will that
work?• Iterate
– Refine demo slides, pitch, product descriptions…
Grow your sales
• Research prospects before you target them
• Use non-evangelical market positions• Pitch your product but sell a solution• Talk the prospect’s language, not yours• Leverage your first Customers
unabashedly• Track Leads all the way to closure or
rejection• Tweak pricing, but only to a degree• Look around for Partners
Build a Sales Team
• Hire when sales are predictable or stable– Today’s funnel should predict next month’s
sales• Build effective – but simple – comp model
– Be generous, be flexible• Strengthen Lead generation
– Don’t look at Lead generation as a Sales function
• Hire for adaptability, not for brand– Lots of experience may not be a good thing!
Build Partnerships
• Think about who can bring you sales– Partners bring sales, not resources
• Write up a clear Partnership model– Domains, areas, percentages…
• Toot your horn– Success brings Partner queries
• Deliver Leads to Partners– Partners love success – their own!
• Track Partners like you do your salespeople– Make them part of your CRM model
Contact Info
PK4 Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Website: www.impelcrm.inEmail: [email protected]: +91-80-3008-0000Twitter: @impelcrm
All the best!