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Embracing the Sales MindsetMarketing position, networking and storytelling for non-sales people
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• Diverse client base: startups to Fortune 500
• We help businesses grow sustainably
• Services:• Operational and market analysis
• Pitch and story improvement
• Use of funds
Why are We Here?
• Demystify sales experience for founders
• Incorporate discipline in the sales process
• Build and refine startup sales messaging
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Before We Get Going…
• There is no “right answer”
• Iterative nature of entrepreneurship – managing variables
• Need to put a stake in the ground to make a pivot productive
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Common Sales Mistakes
• Selling features before benefits
• Avoiding rejection vs. learning from it
• Unrealistic time expectations
• Attention is scattered
• Ignoring the audience
• Belief that there are “sales” and “non-sales” people
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Why Do We Need to Talk About Sales?
Typically 4% of startups that
receive seed funding survive to
series A*
*Ron Ashkenas & Patrick Finn, HBR JUNE 10, 2016, The Go-to-Market Approach
Startups Need to Adopt
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Where Do You Begin?
Pricing strategy?
Sales team structure?
How technical is our
sales team?
What is the right
product mix?
The Sales Starting Line
• Value Proposition
• Buyer Journey
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Value Proposition Dynamics
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• What issues affect your target market?
• How does your product/solution make a buyer’s life better?
• Benefits ≠ Features
• What makes your product/solution unique?
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Building a Value Proposition
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Hypothesis
Buyer mindset
Networking
Develop sales process
Quantify customer results
Iterate
Establish initial value proposition –why did you start the company?
Understand the issues facing buyers and how they come to decisions
Presales outreach to the market to fine-tune messaging
Bring buyers on the path to make a decision
Confirm benefits
The Buyer Journey
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Awareness Educate Engage Decision Retain/Re-engageBuyer is unaware company exists
Buyer learns about the value proposition
Buyer knows how the solution impacts their job
Buyer actsBuyer implements
decision
Awareness: Establish Goals for Each Buyer Segment
• Not every sales opportunity is just about revenue
• Determine what you want to achieve before engaging
• Stay disciplined to that goal, judge outcomes related to that goal
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Educate: Consultative Sales Models
• Engage with the buyer by asking probing questions
• Learn about the buyer and their operations
• Test buyer’s assumptions
• Why do we do this?
• Demonstrate expertise
• Model the future for your buyer
• Iterate on the buyer personas
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Engage: The Art of the Follow Up
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• Demonstrates you are reliable and attentive to buyer’s needs
• Restate the meeting:
• Context setting
• Buyer’s needs
• Next steps
• Other considerations
• Articulate assumptions – get everyone on the same page
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Engage: Focus Your Energy
• Founders are typically in a constant state of flux
• Prioritize your pipeline by use case fit and close probability
• Be strategic in the pipeline assessment:
A. Strategic targets
B. Qualified interests
C. All others
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Decision: The Pitch
• Focus on the benefits for the buyer
• Play to the emotional core of the story
• Who is best to deliver the pitch?
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Decision: Getting to “No”
• An important part of all sales interactions
• Do not shy away from a decision
• Allows you to focus your energy
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Retain/Re-engage: Buyer Feedback
• Quantify results from the buyer
• Useful in maintaining relationship – commitment to value proposition
• Iterate messaging based on results
• Vital for additional sales and fundraising
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Further reading
• Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff
• The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon
• Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
• Becoming a Category of One by Joe Calloway
• “Never Split the Difference” Ted Talk by Chris Voss
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Questions?Erik Winters: [email protected]
Stephanie Fiano: [email protected]
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