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Selling for Techies (An Intro for Start-Ups) Mark Goodson Courtesy of Pitch & Mix Monday January 31 st 2011
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
[email protected] @mg_associates
www.reallifeselling.com Skype: mark_goodson
