Sales for Startups (Thinkspace Tech Tuesday)

Tech Tuesday: Sales for Startups

Matt Heinz

President, Heinz Marketing Inc

[email protected]

@heinzmarketing

Agenda

• Five sales mistakes most startups make

• Sales pipeline discipline & approach

• Customer profiling & messaging

• Social media for sales

• Common mistakes & best practices

• Your questions & challenges

Five common startup sales mistakes

1. Hiring a VP of Sales first

2. Spending money on marketing too early

3. Building a sales process that doesn’t map to how your customers buy

4. Selling beyond the early adopters

5. Building a sales team too fast, too early

Prospect Engagement Funnel

Active Sales CycleChannels: CRM, 1:1

Goal: Sell

New Customer

Drip MarketingChannels: Email Newsletters, CRM System

Goal: Drive Active Prospects

Network / Open CommunityChannels: Twitter, Facebook, Blog, LinkedIn

Goal: Drive Registration

Network-exclusive access to contentValue-added special offersDiscovery eventsWhite papers, top ten tips, etc.

Testimonials, Success StoriesProfile-Specific MessagesNew product/service offers

Referral & Tell-a-Friend OffersNetwork / Community Invites

New Opportunity Alerts1:1 with Existing CustomerIn-Market Events

Next Step Accelerator Ideas

Customer Targets (based on persona profiles)

Calculating what you need

AssumptionsProduct A ASP $ 15,000 Product B ASP $ 50,000 Opp/Close % 33.0%Lead/Opp % 10.0%Product A CPL $ 15 Product B CPL $ 35

Q1 2010 Q2 2010 Q3 2010 Q4 2010 TOTALSProduct A Sales # 50 56 63 69 238Product B Sales # 8 9 10 11 38Total Sales # 58 65 73 80 276

Product A Sales $ $ 742,500 $ 841,500 $ 940,500 $1,039,500 $ 3,564,000 Product B Sales $ $ 412,500 $ 453,750 $ 495,000 $ 536,250 $ 1,897,500 Total Sales $ $1,155,000 $1,295,250 $1,435,500 $1,575,750 $ 5,461,500

Product A Pipeline # 150 170 190 210Product B Pipeline # 25 28 30 33Total Pipeline # 175 198 220 243

Product A Pipeline $ $2,250,000 $2,550,000 $2,850,000 $3,150,000 Product B Pipeline $ $1,250,000 $1,375,000 $1,500,000 $1,625,000 Total Pipeline $ $3,500,000 $3,925,000 $4,350,000 $4,775,000

Product A Leads 1500 1700 1900 2100Product B Leads 250 275 300 325Total Leads 1750 1975 2200 2425 8350

Product A Lead Budget $ 22,500 $ 25,500 $ 28,500 $ 31,500 Product B Lead Budget $ 8,750 $ 9,625 $ 10,500 $ 11,375 Total Lead Budget $ 31,250 $ 35,125 $ 39,000 $ 42,875 $ 148,250

Leads & Opportunities

Customer targets

• Direct and indirect users

• Influencers

• Address entire buyer ecosystem

• Map the full purchase path– Personas & scenarios for training– Translate to SPIN selling questions

Custom messages by role

The buying progression

SolutionProblem/Pain

Objective/Outcome

Messaging development

• Pain and outcomes vs. features/benefits

• Segment by industry

• Segment by title/role/level

• Focus on pain & pain killers

Social media for sales

• Target individuals and keywords

• Watch for early-stage buying signals

• Participate as a peer

• Teach sales & customer service reps to interact directly

• Use tools to manage, assign, etc.

Six reasons why your sales (might) suck

1. Are you selling to the right buyer?

2. Are you selling benefits or features?

3. Do you sound desperate?

4. Do your sales & marketing teams agree?

5. Do your customers want what you’re selling?

6. What are they saying behind your back?

9 alternatives to cold calling

1. Referrals (who, when, how)

2. Check back with past customers

3. Watch the social Web for buying signals

4. Participate in customer communities

5. Work with referral partners

6. Upsell current customers

7. Hire an appointment setter

8. Answer questions

9. Join the comment conversations on blogs

When prospects go dark…

1. Try a different channel

2. Try a different contact

3. Share something unrelated

4. Try a different angle

5. Engage their influencers

6. Move on

Questions?