Sales for StartupsAustrian Startups Stammtisch——————————————————-

www.thrive.email

www.thrive.email

——————————————————————————-What do I know about sales?

• 10+ years of sales and startups • Type of sales: gaming hardware, telesales center,

f inancial services, recruitment services, price comparison, discount coupons, marketing reporting, sales software

• Closed deal sizes: from a few Euro to double digit millions • Countries: 30 countries on all continents except Antartica • Currently: Founder of Thrive for Email - your digital sales assistant • Also: Mentor at Startupbootcamp Amsterdam and INiTS

www.thrive.email

——————————————————————————-Contents

• Basic principles • Your hit list • Point of entrance • Follow up endlessly • When to start

www.thrive.email

——————————————————————————-A typical example

Product Development

• 6 don’t answer • 3 not interested • 1 willing to talk

Startup contacts 10 potential customers

Startup concludes the product is not

ready

Back into the comfort zone

>— > —

>— >—(

:Feeling rejected

We’re ready! And now we wait…..

www.thrive.email

——————————————————————————-Basic principles

• Focus on early-adopters>85% of your target group will probably not buy when you start.

• Don’t talk - Listen! Make sure you understand the problem your customer has.

• Get your name out there Build brand awareness so the next timeyou are not the new kid on the block.

www.thrive.email

——————————————————————————-Your hit list

• Test specif ic target groups (Industry, Geo, Size, etc)>10 companies per group and at least 100 total.

• An early-adopter….. …..has the problem,…..knows he has the problem…..and is trying to solve it!

www.thrive.email

——————————————————————————-Point of entrance

• Your customer is ALWAYS a person, not a companyIdentify relevant roles. Who uses it? Who pays? Who else benef its?

• Experiment which entry point works best (per group!)In the beginning, content experts can be better than decision makers.

• A point of entrance….. …..has a role and name,…..and has a personal interest in talking with you.

www.thrive.email

——————————————————————————-Follow up endlessly

• Following up consistently is the key to successful salesFollowing up ≠ spam. It means never EVER let go.

• If you get “No”, ask why and contact after x months80% of all sales happen after 5 times “No”

• A good follow-up….. …..is not spam, but a polite personal message,…..is short (max 3 sentences),…..asks a concrete question.

www.thrive.email

——————————————————————————-When to start

• The simple answer: NOWConvince yourself that what you have is enough to go out there.

• Use One-Pagers to assess market potentialTry to sell your product before you build it.

• Sales can be the best form of customer developmentKnowing if someone wants to buy and why (not) is extremely valuable.

• NB. Doing sales doesn’t mean stop product dev!

www.thrive.email

——————————————————————————-Start now and keep going

Product Development

• 40 don’t answer • 30 not now • 30 willing to talk

Startup contacts 100 early-adopters at right point of

entrance

Connect further and try to sell / learn

>— > —

>— >—

Engage with those who answered

We’re ready! Consistent follow up process

REVENUE

Share learnings

> —— —

— — —— — —

—— ——

Success

www.thrive.email

——————————————————————————-Now its your turn…..

Monthly Meetup Viennahttp://bit.ly/s4s-vienna

Sales for Startups FB Group http://bit.ly/s4s-facebook

Vincent Jong - vincent@thrive.email

Go out and

be

AWESOME!