Selling for Techies(An Intro for Start-Ups)

Mark GoodsonCourtesy of Pitch & Mix

Monday January 31st 2011

Mark Goodson... who he?

28 years selling technology

Started several businesses including a VC funded ($4m) start-up

Spent several years as independent sales agent

Managed international sales teams

Now coaching and consulting on sales issues

Made all of the mistakes... invented a few

An inveterate geek

Tonight's session

Some basic principles... Some basic selling skills... Let's get organised Q&A

Some basic principles....

Preconceptions

“Gift of the gab”. Talk a lot. A smooth talker.

It's not what you know, it's who you know

Dishonest? Untrustworthy?

Pushy. Make you feel uncomfortable.

“Rep” in 1.6 Mondeo, jacket swinging in the back

Reality

“Everybody lives by selling something.” Robert Louis Stevenson

Bill Gates sold IBM on using MS-DOS (originally Quick & Dirty OS)... the rest is history

Steve Jobs has done a pretty good job of selling us on design/lifestyle

If you aren't selling a product you are selling yourself, your ideas, your company

If you're an employee you are selling your services

What... me? In a start-up who else is going to do the selling but you?

Even in a larger company you may have to attend trade shows, conferences, exhibitions, networking events... You may have to go on joint sales visits Timid salespeople have skinny kids - Zig Ziglar

What matters to the customer? Features.

Objective facts.

The display is 9.7”, backlit, has multi-touch with IPS and is 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi).

Advantages

What the feature does, the service it performs.

You can see a lot of stuff, move things around easily and the display is really clear.

Benefits <----

What's the pay-off for me?

You're more productive.

Keep asking “so what?”, or “which means...?” until you get there!

Where marketing ends and sales begins

Marketing deals in defining the product, features and advantages

Marketing defines who you sell the product to

Don't really know what the benefits are until you talk to the customer

Marketing = the caddy, sales = the golfer

Marketing mindset = Build it and they will come. Just need to perfect “the pitch”

Some basic selling skills...

Smooth talking?

"I can sell ice to the Eskimos," claimed Melissa, prior to shifting zero (0) units

“If you don't listen to what the customer says, all you end up doing is winding them up” - Karren Brady (youngest CEO of a UK PLC, 27)

You have one mouth and two ears and should use them in that ratio

Telling isn't selling

Building credibility

Must earn the right to ask questions Intro

I'll show you mine, if you show me yours Tell them about you, your company,

your mission Tell them about how you helped someone

similar We like people like ourselves

Questions

Ask them. Ask plenty of them. Show a genuine interest. If you can remember ask OPEN questions Very powerful... ask IMPLICATION

questions Summarise regularly Be sensitive... it's not the Spanish

Inquisition!

Pitching your product

At some point you will need to show them what you've got

Fit the presentation to what you’ve discovered from your good questioning and listening

Try and make it interactive.

If the prospect asks you a question, as one back!

Think about using a whiteboard... chalk & talk Try and build value. Focus on benefits and what

it means to them... not to you

Competition – I hear you knocking

Bad mouth a competitor and the customer relates the words to you

Prospect may have relationship with your competitor

The prospect may know more about their product than you do

Shows who you worry about at night

If you must compare focus on your positives

If you must knock, make it generic

Proposals and quotations

Our goal - they are a confirmation of what we've already agreed in principle

Refer to benefits and value, before talking about costs

Try to personally present and close

Avoid “quote and hope” negotiations and concessions before you are

selected

Closing

According to some sales gurus there are 24 ways to close a sale.

In reality... simple. Just ask. And wait.

Transactional analysis. Adult–Adult. Not Parent-Child.

Business ↔ business. That's what it's all about.

If you can't get the order, go for an advancement of some sort.

If the prospect has no need or problem... go!

Follow up Meeting “decompression” Do... and promptly.

Make a good impression. Buyer remorse

Best time is before you leave Get your version in first! Put it in your system... more on that Hunter vs. farmer

Let's get organised...

SAM – Who he?

You can't do everything

Serviceable available market

Marketing... decide on segment Based on need (who has it?) Value (who can pay for it?) Sales cycle (how fast can they move?) Competition. (where are they, where aren't they!?)

Horizontal vs. Vertical

Geographical

Prospecting

From your SAM you need to generate a “hit list” Existing contacts Networks Ask your industry contacts Social networking, particularly LinkedIn Prioritise it. Likely value, low hanging fruit, geography.

Elevator pitch. You need one... with benefits. Who to aim for?

Depends on your product or service In general, better to aim high and get referred down Avoid procurement like the plague

More Prospecting Cold calling.

If you have the nerve for it You have enough prospects Have a simple script

Better to be warm calling Find a link or hook email. Lead with your link, then benefits, then say that you will call Follow-up call.

Networking events. Attend them, but in a targeted way.

You are aiming to a) qualify the prospect and b) get a face-to-face meeting. Don't try and sell

now... Set goals. (e.g. one afternoon per week prospecting or 10 cold calls)

Get organised

Have a system to track leads, suspects, prospects and customers

Your sales funnel

It could be as simple as a spreadsheet on Google Docs or DropBox.

Use it organise your activities and follow-up. “Project on hold, call again in 3 months time”.

There are many good, low-cost CRM systems available

Some suggestions...

Batchbox HighRise TactileCRM ZohoCRM SugarCRM ACT! Salesforce.com

Feet on the street

Direct sales force Rep/agent VAR Distributor Partnership

Wrap your product in someone else's Let them sell it for you e.g. CSR & modules

What next?

Set a sales goal now... and do it tomorrow!

Follow-up master classes?

Take a business card. One hour's free sales consulting or coaching

Questions and chat...

Mark Goodson 07774 168643

markgoodson@gmail.com @mg_associates

www.reallifeselling.com Skype: mark_goodson