CONQUERING
THE
ENTERPRISE
BEST PRACTICES FOR EARLY STAGE
STARTUP SELLING TO LARGE COMPANIES
RULES
interactive working session
some content, lots of real-time discussion
this is your session, tell me what you want…
2Just Say “No!”
ME
cofounder & CEO of Drumbi
• 500Startups portfolio company, focused on business-
consumer communications
former Accenture Partner
did a startup and sold it
management consultant at heart
wife, two kids, dog… live in San Clemente, So-Cal
food, cooking and music
3Just Say “No!”
YOU
tell me about yourself, and your company
what are you selling? to whom?
what do you think when i use the words…
selling
salesperson
4Just Say “No!”
SELLING AS A FORM
OF TESTING
will anyone care about your product
who cares (what segment)
how much will they pay
what is the right sales model (distribution)
what is the right sales process
what is your customer acquisition cost
5
STAGE SPECIFIC
APPROACH
R1.0 Scale
Learn Revenue
Learn
Revenue
Learn
Revenue
MVP
6Just Say “No!”
KNOW YOUR
SEGMENT
VSB
1 or 2 people
Lifestyle, home-office
millions of them
SMB
some process
Quickbooks
lots of pain
Emerging Enterprise
$50-500M Revenue
Owner still influencing decisions
Complexity of F5000, but no human capital
F5000
Formal procurement
process
Lots of vendors and consultants
Departmental budgets
7Just Say “No!”
KNOW YOUR BUYER
VSB
I need it…
SMB
We need it…
Emerging Enterprise
We are forced to do
it…
I’m going to change the
game…
F5000
I was told to buy this…
We can’t build it
ourselves…
Faster time-to-market
8Just Say “No!”
EMERGING
ENTERPRISE
executives often have large unmet business potential, and
see opportunities in your offering
innovation in their segment may be scarce
margin pressure across the sector
small improvements may lead to significant upside
impacts them as much as the business
they can relate to a startup better…and you as well
low tolerance for bullshit
9Just Say “No!”
TERMINOLOGY
procurement/sourcing = purchasing, but with process and
guidelines
women and minority owned businesses
GSA contracts
mandatory rebid process
RFI = Request for Information
RFP = Request for Proposal
SLA = Service Level Agreements
MSA = Master Services Agreement
SOW = Statement of Work
10
Just Say “No!”
COMMON MISTAKES
hiring sales people too soon
focusing on channel relationships too early
selling, and not listening
not selling (“this shit sells itself!”)
not closing (“it’s a done deal!”)
not mentioning money
not saying no!
overcommitting and under-delivering
marketing
11
Just Say “No!”
THE ONLY THING YOU
NEED
the first reference customer (paying, the other type don’t
count)
a business-case or other proof of results
someone who will take a call, and validate your claims
rinse
repeat
12
Just Say “No!”
HOW TO DO IT
use Data.com, LinkedIn, FB, your neighbor, alumni network or whatever tool you have
find your ideal early-adopter
focus on two goals: getting to a “no” quickly, and finding your champion
early adopters will not buy without a champion, no matter what the benefit
exhaust your network, then go to 2nd degree
let early adopters self-select
issue a press-release
fake sign-up page, with some blog directed traffic
ask for help…beg borrow and steal your way into referrals
13
Just Say “No!”
14
Friends,
I am targeting a select group of companies for the second stage of Drumbi rollout, in 2012. Here is a list of target prospects. Please
respond to me if you have a VP or C-level contact at any of these businesses, that you would feel comfortable making an introduction to.
We simply want to see if our solutions are a good fit, and identify early adopters for the second half of the year. No hard selling, just trying
to identify great opportunities to help companies reduce op-ex, increase customer satisfaction, and improve lead conversion rates.
Many thanks.
Shervin
United Panam Financial Corp.
Roth Staffing Companies, L.P.
Metagenics, Inc.
Nikken International, Inc.
Consumer Portfolio Services, Inc.
Smith Micro Software, Inc.
Fletcher Jones Motor Cars Inc
Crescent Healthcare, Inc.
Tuttle-Click, Inc.
Community Dental Services, Inc
Prudential California Reality
Wonderware Corporation
Biolabs Inc
Roger Cleveland Golf Company, Inc.
Hireright, Inc.
Sir Speedy , Inc.
Orange Coast Title Company
Kelley Blue Book Co., Inc.
Berry Knott's Farm
California Title Company of Northern California
Accupath Diagnostic Laboratories, Inc.
Mp Biomedicals, LLC
Harte-Hanks Shoppers, Inc.
Zee Medical, Inc.
St Joseph Home Care Network
Anaheim Arena Management, LLC
Remedytemp, Inc.
AGR Group, Inc.
First American Professional Real Estate
Services, Inc.
Veterinary Pet Insurance Services, Inc.
Just Say “No!”
TEMPLATE
Dear ZZZZZ.
I am reaching out to let you know that a friend of mine, Shervin Talieh, founder and CEO of Drumbi, has developed
some very special technology to improve customer communications. Their solution is live at several companies and they
are ready to expand reach. I am looking for business contacts that would be interested in:
* Improving their CSI and CSAT numbers,
* Reducing their OpEx, to the tune of $50 per day, for EACH customer service representative they have
* Increasing web-to-phone conversion rates
Ideally, the company has more than 10 customer service or contact center agents, and is hungry for innovation.
Specifically, they are focused on mobile + social customer service.
Here is a link to their website, which has a short video demonstration on the homepage. www.drurumbi.com
Thanks.
15
Just Say “No!”
THE SHOT-CLOCK
your deal will start to be at risk the moment you find a fit
there are more reasons to say “no” than “yes”
you will optimize for the wrong objection
price
implementation time
drive the process, or it will drive you
if there is no customer skin in the game, there is no deal
there are multiple people conspiring against you as we speak
16
Just Say “No!”
RESPONDING TO
TRAPS
Incumbent
• RFI
• RFP
Internal IT
• Strategic
• New Standards
Do Nothing
• New priorities
Other startup
• New story
17
Just Say “No!”
YOU’RE BEING
PLAYED
one more meeting…
one more quote/proposal…
one more buyer…
no set deadline…
no defined process…
who is the buyer?
how will you make the decision?
what is your budget?
18
Just Say “No!”
TACTICS INCUMBENTS
WILL USE AGAINST YOU
“we do it all, including professional services”
“part of the master license agreement…its free!”
“we can help you define the requirements”
“lets visit our reference customers”
“we are HIPPA and SAS70 compliant”
“our VP of products is hosting an event…come!”
man-to-man offense
19
Just Say “No!”
SETTING TRAPS
SpeedSingular
focusDefine the category
Non-conformity
20
Just Say “No!”
HAPPY EARS
founders and inexperienced sales people will hear “yes”
when the prospect is saying “maybe”
pride themselves in “flipping” or “converting” a lead
the inner monologue is quite different (reality distortion field)
your enemy is the clock…
the goal is to qualify out, not in
21
Just Say “No!”
Paid in full.
22
THANK YOU.