Startup Sales School - Important Lessons to Close Sales and Survive in a Difficult Economic Environment

People often ask me:

"Paul, are there things I can do or techniques I can apply to sell my company's products and services more effectively?"

Selling for a startup is not easy. That's because you're not only selling a product, you have to be "selling" someone on your company at the same time. Doing all of that in the context of today's difficult economic environment only increases the pain involved.

But selling effectively is essential if you want your startup to become profitable and to survive. And the good news is that the age old lessons that worked in good times, work just as well in bad times (if not better!). Selling is not a science. It's part science, part art, and part experience. But at the end of the day, there are some key things to remember when selling for a startup:

• Connect. This is critical. You can't connect with someone as a customer, if you don't connect with them as a human being first. It is important to build relationships with your potential customers. Talk about their family, take them to lunch, take them golfing, etc... In other words, spend face-to-face time with them. You can't connect on a human level over the phone or over email. It just doesn't work. If that worked, business travel (and airlines!) would disappear tomorrow. It hasn't. Just accept that effective selling requires face time.
  
• Be Persistent. People are busy. The C-level decision makers you'll be selling to are most definitely busy. Don't be shy or afraid to remind them of what you can do for their business. Don't be shy to stay on their case. This is a fine line, but people tend to err on the side of caution. They accept the fact that they're at the bottom of someone's pile and don't want to risk becoming obnoxious. You're better off trying to stay at the top of the pile (at the risk of being slightly obnoxious), because then you at least give yourself a chance at closing a sale. It's a fine line that requires experience to walk effectively.
  
• Understand Your Audience. It should be obvious that you need to understand what your customers want or what their pain is. But too many startups make the mistake of communicating their value in terms that the customers just don't understand. Your customers are not like you. Chances are the decision makers are older, more experienced, and don't understand the Twitter/Flickr/Ning/Facebook/Digg/etc analogy you're using. Or they just don't understand the technology. It's not to say that they will never understand, but if it takes you 30 minutes to get them to that "aha!" moment, then you've lost your chance. It needs to take no more than 5 minutes. So, speak their language. Speak to business people in business terms. Don't bog them down with techie space cadet messaging.
  
• Always Be Closing. Ok. So I stole this one from Glengarry Glen Ross (see video below). But the message rings true. Effective selling is all about making your customer say the word "yes". Always create opportunities to get commitments from them, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. Once you get a customer saying "yes", it snowballs. It's no use having a potential customer who has expressed tremendous interest in your product if you can't close them. Get them saying "yes" and you'll see how much easier closing becomes.

No One Understands What You're Saying - Keep It Simple Stupid

People often ask me:

"Paul, why don't VCs or customers understand my pitch?"

I will let you in on a little secret. VCs see lots of entrepreneurs, with lots of complex ideas. The way to stand out from the crowd, is to keep things simple - simple to communicate, and simple to understand. In other words, get...to...the...point.

I can't emphasize the "keep it simple stupid" (KISS) mantra enough. Too many entrepreneurs walk through the door with good ideas, but if you can't clearly communicate the value of your product, then VCs won't bite, and customers definitely won't bite. In the same vein, it should be crystal clear to anyone listening exactly what pain you're solving and how you're solving it. It's not good enough to just list features. VCs see hundreds or thousands of deals each year, and simply don't have the time to translate cryptic, convoluted and long-winded messages.

Most books talk about refining your elevator pitch. While I think that's a critically important tool in communicating the value of your product, I strongly believe that it has to be even simpler than that. I should be able to see how you're going to solve someone's pain in 3 sentences or less:

1. The pain is _____.
   
2. My product/service does _____, thus solving the pain.
3. You should care/buy because ______. 

I challenge my readers to drastically simplify all of the messages they create around their new business. And if you're not the type who can connect with people based on a simple message, told succinctly, then hire someone who can. They are worth their weight in gold.

Get to the point. Show VCs the pain. Show them how you solve it. Show them why they should care. Keep it simple, so they can understand. If you can get it down to 3 sentences, VC money and customer money will follow.