The Tuesday Roundup
In my AMA, I got asked about whether you should use a script for sales conversations. I recommend using a framework to guide your conversations, but it should be question-driven, not paragraphs upon paragraphs. You should know the narrative of your product and the problem you solve, but let the conversation flow with what you learn from the customer. This excerpt from Peter Kazanjy’s Founding Sales pairs well with my SixRs Sales Framework to prep for your sales conversation. If you want to know how to use SixRs, send my team an email.
Structure does not mean that your narrative should be set in stone. As you talk to more people and get customer feedback, you'll learn a tremendous amount about your market, your own strengths and what resonates with people. So keep it agile, and make sure you establish a healthy feedback loop between product and sales so that they can evolve side-by-side. That said, here's what I would recommend.
Another question I received was about the length of the buying process. Some industries just take longer to buy. However, you should make the buying process as simple and quick as possible. This article from SaaStr will give you some ideas to make your buying process easier.
If it’s hard to buy, that sends a clear signal: it will be even harder to deploy and use. In today’s environment, why bother then?
If it takes 2 weeks of negotiating to close a $30k deal, why will I possibly believe I can get up and running any faster? We can all smell good vs. bad software. A bad sales process says bad-to-mediocre software, even if it’s not the case.
On sales team size at launch – your early sales team should be you, and likely just you alone. You need to learn how to sell your product yourself before you bring people on to do it for you. David Cummings has great insights into how scaling your sales team too quickly will hurt more than just your bottom line.
With a sales team and no product/market fit, when prospects ask for features, the tendency is to add whatever feature request is made to win the deal, but that can create bad habits and a Frankenstein of a product. The key is to be opinionated about the product functionality even when there’s a chance to close an early customer.
For resources and answers tailored to the needs of your business, join the Hypergrowth Flywheel. You can also sign up for a single coaching session with me.
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