5 Go-to-Market Strategies for B2B SaaS, FinTech, and IaaS [Webinar Recording]SP Home Run Inc.
(Preview Webinar for Go-to-Market Strategy Reboot Camp)
For founders, marketers, and sales professionals at B2B SaaS (software as a service), FinTech (financial technology), and IaaS (infrastructure as a service) firms -- especially startups, scaleups, and small businesses
How B2B prospects and clients research and make buying decisions has changed. Quite dramatically!
Some of the biggest names in the tech industry have figured this out. And they are shouting it from the rooftops:
Gartner found that 83% of a typical B2B purchase decision -- researching, comparing options, and evaluating pricing -- happens before a potential buyer engages with a vendor.
McKinsey discovered that 70% to 80% of B2B decision-makers now prefer to make decisions digitally.
And LinkedIn, partnering with Edelman, concluded that “thought leadership remains critical to customer engagement, but breaking through the noise is harder than ever.”
However, most SaaS, FinTech, and IaaS startups, scaleups, and small businesses are largely unprepared to confront this once-in-a-generation change in purchasing behavior -- that’s approaching at jet speed whether your company is prepared or not.
And that’s why we hosted this webinar: to help you and your team upskill and stay relevant to how your prospects and clients want to buy.
When you watch the recording of 5 Go-to-Market Strategy Best Practices, you’ll learn how to:
Adapt your sales process to support your prospects’ and clients’ buying process
Build your team with the right mix of generalists and specialists, modeled after some of the most successful professional baseball teams on the planet
Connect the dots between marketing, sales, customer success, and product, so you approach go-to-market as a team sport
Get on the radar screen of the right strangers, in the right places, at the right time, and in the right context
Plan your content strategy for maximum relevance, efficiency, and effectiveness across the most popular formats
And much more!
This webinar is especially crucial for founders, marketers, sales professionals, customer success leaders, and product managers at B2B SaaS, FinTech, and IaaS firms -- especially startups, scaleups, and small businesses.
Learn About Go-to-Market Strategy Reboot Camp http://www.GTMReboot.com
Success in the Cloud requires 3 things:
1) A Compelling Value Proposition
2) Creating Competitive Separation
3) Strategy vs Execution. Making it happen requires execution
Grow and scale customer acquisition (and retention)Gary Corcoran
This presentation is for startups who understand who their customers are and have their product market fit.
We take a look at how you can scale and grow your acquisition and retention. Looking at some cool tips and techniques for both customer acquisition and retention.
Zero to 100 - Part 1: Intro + First SectionDavid Skok
Zero to 100 is a learning program from David Skok. It is a detailed instruction manual for how to take your startup from zero to $100m, with a particular focus on the area of building a go-to-market machine. So many of today’s founders come from a product or technical background, and have never been involved with sales and marketing. Right after starting their venture, they are hit with the huge problem of how to build their go-to-market organization and processes. It breaks the journey down into 9 steps, and explains why it is crucial not to skip steps in this journey in the rush to get ahead. The major emphasis of the course focuses on building a repeatable, scalable and profitable growth machine. Once you have that in place, you are ready to hit the gas and scale like crazy.
To see videos of the presentations, click here: https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/matrix-growth-academy-zero-to-100-videos/
"Nothing happens in the world time somebody sells something to someone"
This PPT covers
Sales Presentation on Introduction to Sales
Sales Pitch , Process
Importance of Pre - Approach ,
Scouting for Opportunity
Customer Communication ,Negotiation ,Guidelines on Mock ,Handling Objections , Drivers for Success in Sales
If you are an enterprise entrepreneur who is launching initially, finding Product Market Fit, seeking Go-To-Market repeatability, or introducing a new product to market, this summit is for you.
We give you a framework for creating a B2B Sales Playbook - section by section, with key info about questions to consider when writing your own Sales Playbook.
Find out more about how to create your own Sales Playbook at: https://contemsa.com/sales-playbook/
5 Go-to-Market Strategies for B2B SaaS, FinTech, and IaaS [Webinar Recording]SP Home Run Inc.
(Preview Webinar for Go-to-Market Strategy Reboot Camp)
For founders, marketers, and sales professionals at B2B SaaS (software as a service), FinTech (financial technology), and IaaS (infrastructure as a service) firms -- especially startups, scaleups, and small businesses
How B2B prospects and clients research and make buying decisions has changed. Quite dramatically!
Some of the biggest names in the tech industry have figured this out. And they are shouting it from the rooftops:
Gartner found that 83% of a typical B2B purchase decision -- researching, comparing options, and evaluating pricing -- happens before a potential buyer engages with a vendor.
McKinsey discovered that 70% to 80% of B2B decision-makers now prefer to make decisions digitally.
And LinkedIn, partnering with Edelman, concluded that “thought leadership remains critical to customer engagement, but breaking through the noise is harder than ever.”
However, most SaaS, FinTech, and IaaS startups, scaleups, and small businesses are largely unprepared to confront this once-in-a-generation change in purchasing behavior -- that’s approaching at jet speed whether your company is prepared or not.
And that’s why we hosted this webinar: to help you and your team upskill and stay relevant to how your prospects and clients want to buy.
When you watch the recording of 5 Go-to-Market Strategy Best Practices, you’ll learn how to:
Adapt your sales process to support your prospects’ and clients’ buying process
Build your team with the right mix of generalists and specialists, modeled after some of the most successful professional baseball teams on the planet
Connect the dots between marketing, sales, customer success, and product, so you approach go-to-market as a team sport
Get on the radar screen of the right strangers, in the right places, at the right time, and in the right context
Plan your content strategy for maximum relevance, efficiency, and effectiveness across the most popular formats
And much more!
This webinar is especially crucial for founders, marketers, sales professionals, customer success leaders, and product managers at B2B SaaS, FinTech, and IaaS firms -- especially startups, scaleups, and small businesses.
Learn About Go-to-Market Strategy Reboot Camp http://www.GTMReboot.com
Success in the Cloud requires 3 things:
1) A Compelling Value Proposition
2) Creating Competitive Separation
3) Strategy vs Execution. Making it happen requires execution
Grow and scale customer acquisition (and retention)Gary Corcoran
This presentation is for startups who understand who their customers are and have their product market fit.
We take a look at how you can scale and grow your acquisition and retention. Looking at some cool tips and techniques for both customer acquisition and retention.
Zero to 100 - Part 1: Intro + First SectionDavid Skok
Zero to 100 is a learning program from David Skok. It is a detailed instruction manual for how to take your startup from zero to $100m, with a particular focus on the area of building a go-to-market machine. So many of today’s founders come from a product or technical background, and have never been involved with sales and marketing. Right after starting their venture, they are hit with the huge problem of how to build their go-to-market organization and processes. It breaks the journey down into 9 steps, and explains why it is crucial not to skip steps in this journey in the rush to get ahead. The major emphasis of the course focuses on building a repeatable, scalable and profitable growth machine. Once you have that in place, you are ready to hit the gas and scale like crazy.
To see videos of the presentations, click here: https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/matrix-growth-academy-zero-to-100-videos/
"Nothing happens in the world time somebody sells something to someone"
This PPT covers
Sales Presentation on Introduction to Sales
Sales Pitch , Process
Importance of Pre - Approach ,
Scouting for Opportunity
Customer Communication ,Negotiation ,Guidelines on Mock ,Handling Objections , Drivers for Success in Sales
If you are an enterprise entrepreneur who is launching initially, finding Product Market Fit, seeking Go-To-Market repeatability, or introducing a new product to market, this summit is for you.
We give you a framework for creating a B2B Sales Playbook - section by section, with key info about questions to consider when writing your own Sales Playbook.
Find out more about how to create your own Sales Playbook at: https://contemsa.com/sales-playbook/
Sales leader Derek Draper shares the Stage Management Guide that boosted his team's performance metrics across the board. Read the rest of the story on First Round Review: http://firstround.com/review/this-sales-plan-moves-the-needle-on-every-success-metric/
The Go-To-Market framework is a related set of activities and processes that connect the company’s product strategy to the customer experience. The Go-To-Market framework is cross-functional, spanning product management, product marketing, and sales. It is a strategy and requires operational efficiency.
Sales Impact Academy Coach, Mark Walker gives a preview of this foundational course.
You will learn:
1. How to identify the real pain points in your target market.
2. Which go-to-market model is best suited to your businesses.
3. Learn about the key success metrics you need to track.
Key Points:
1. Don’t be a solution in search of a problem - Consider the demand in the market first and then build a product for that pain.
2. Frame your key competitors as villain’s - it is a great way of identifying a problem and rallying people behind your product.
3. Be a pill not a vitamin - Is your product a ‘must have’ or a ‘nice to have’?
4. Your ICP should be narrow enough that you are able to streamline your entire operation and make your capital more efficient - you will have to say no to people.
5. A genuine go-to-market model considers every stage of the funnel.
Zero to 100 - Part 2: Building a Repeatable, Scalable Growth ProcessDavid Skok
Zero to 100 is a learning program from David Skok. It is a detailed instruction manual for how to take your startup from zero to $100m, with a particular focus on the area of building a go-to-market machine. So many of today’s founders come from a product or technical background, and have never been involved with sales and marketing. Right after starting their venture, they are hit with the huge problem of how to build their go-to-market organization and processes. It breaks the journey down into 9 steps, and explains why it is crucial not to skip steps in this journey in the rush to get ahead. The major emphasis of the course focuses on building a repeatable, scalable and profitable growth machine. Once you have that in place, you are ready to hit the gas and scale like crazy.
To see videos of the presentations, click here: https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/matrix-growth-academy-zero-to-100-videos/
Developing your go to market strategy by Kris Konrath, Convergent Digital Ignition
Learn about developing your go to market strategy. We’ll take a look at the five key components to developing a go to market strategy including your target market, marketing channels, messaging, pricing & packaging and customer acquisition cost. By Kris Konrath, Marketing Director at Convergent
Through Emergence Capital Partners' work in funding some of the most successful companies in the world, including Yammer, Box, Salesforce.com and SuccessFactors, ECP has gained a unique perspective on what works—and what doesn’t—in creating a successful business development program to grow a company. Based on this experience and the in-depth knowledge of our team of experts, this paper tackles some of the most frequently asked questions in the business development arena aimed at providing insights for SaaS startups in the B2B space.
The Best Pitch Deck Format To Attract InvestorsBryce North
**Validated by real investors!**
Based on the Guy Kawaski format, this pitch deck layout has been proven over and over again and has helped many companies raise their investment round.
If you are looking to raise your seed round, impress investors, and build a high-quality investment deck, then make sure you follow this format. This is the best pitch deck template available today.
Find more great resources here --> www.dontbealittlepitch.com
Sales & Marketing Development Plan - a template for the CROFan Foundry
This playbook helps you build, measure, learn and adjust your sales and marketing leadership plan. It addresses many topics under Sales and Distribution, Customer Development, Strategic Marketing Frameworks and Integrated marketing Plans, including sample metrics for measuring progress.
Why Product-Led Growth is the most effective GTM strategyMickey Alon
Product-led growth is a strategy that relies on features and usage as primary drivers for customer acquisition, retention and expansion. Mastering growth is an iterative process that involves measurements, user engagements and experimentation.
Sales leader Derek Draper shares the Stage Management Guide that boosted his team's performance metrics across the board. Read the rest of the story on First Round Review: http://firstround.com/review/this-sales-plan-moves-the-needle-on-every-success-metric/
The Go-To-Market framework is a related set of activities and processes that connect the company’s product strategy to the customer experience. The Go-To-Market framework is cross-functional, spanning product management, product marketing, and sales. It is a strategy and requires operational efficiency.
Sales Impact Academy Coach, Mark Walker gives a preview of this foundational course.
You will learn:
1. How to identify the real pain points in your target market.
2. Which go-to-market model is best suited to your businesses.
3. Learn about the key success metrics you need to track.
Key Points:
1. Don’t be a solution in search of a problem - Consider the demand in the market first and then build a product for that pain.
2. Frame your key competitors as villain’s - it is a great way of identifying a problem and rallying people behind your product.
3. Be a pill not a vitamin - Is your product a ‘must have’ or a ‘nice to have’?
4. Your ICP should be narrow enough that you are able to streamline your entire operation and make your capital more efficient - you will have to say no to people.
5. A genuine go-to-market model considers every stage of the funnel.
Zero to 100 - Part 2: Building a Repeatable, Scalable Growth ProcessDavid Skok
Zero to 100 is a learning program from David Skok. It is a detailed instruction manual for how to take your startup from zero to $100m, with a particular focus on the area of building a go-to-market machine. So many of today’s founders come from a product or technical background, and have never been involved with sales and marketing. Right after starting their venture, they are hit with the huge problem of how to build their go-to-market organization and processes. It breaks the journey down into 9 steps, and explains why it is crucial not to skip steps in this journey in the rush to get ahead. The major emphasis of the course focuses on building a repeatable, scalable and profitable growth machine. Once you have that in place, you are ready to hit the gas and scale like crazy.
To see videos of the presentations, click here: https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/matrix-growth-academy-zero-to-100-videos/
Developing your go to market strategy by Kris Konrath, Convergent Digital Ignition
Learn about developing your go to market strategy. We’ll take a look at the five key components to developing a go to market strategy including your target market, marketing channels, messaging, pricing & packaging and customer acquisition cost. By Kris Konrath, Marketing Director at Convergent
Through Emergence Capital Partners' work in funding some of the most successful companies in the world, including Yammer, Box, Salesforce.com and SuccessFactors, ECP has gained a unique perspective on what works—and what doesn’t—in creating a successful business development program to grow a company. Based on this experience and the in-depth knowledge of our team of experts, this paper tackles some of the most frequently asked questions in the business development arena aimed at providing insights for SaaS startups in the B2B space.
The Best Pitch Deck Format To Attract InvestorsBryce North
**Validated by real investors!**
Based on the Guy Kawaski format, this pitch deck layout has been proven over and over again and has helped many companies raise their investment round.
If you are looking to raise your seed round, impress investors, and build a high-quality investment deck, then make sure you follow this format. This is the best pitch deck template available today.
Find more great resources here --> www.dontbealittlepitch.com
Sales & Marketing Development Plan - a template for the CROFan Foundry
This playbook helps you build, measure, learn and adjust your sales and marketing leadership plan. It addresses many topics under Sales and Distribution, Customer Development, Strategic Marketing Frameworks and Integrated marketing Plans, including sample metrics for measuring progress.
Why Product-Led Growth is the most effective GTM strategyMickey Alon
Product-led growth is a strategy that relies on features and usage as primary drivers for customer acquisition, retention and expansion. Mastering growth is an iterative process that involves measurements, user engagements and experimentation.
At the International New York Times "Energy for Tomorrow" conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said fast-developing nations have an important role to play in driving climate action. Here are his prepared remarks.
More: http://inytenergyfortomorrow.com
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com
Something different this time... Speaking at SalesHackers Amsterdam about how we approach our sales strategy and evangelize web performance. Food for #startups
What factors affect sales in a changing market and how you can help your team understand them and go through the roller coaster ride together as one team.
MeasureWorks - 5 insights for speed(y) experimentsMeasureWorks
My slides from Shoppingtoday 2014.. About why your users don't like to wait and the impact on user engagement... 5 insights to align content and speed to create a fast user experience... For you, as a business owner, a speed(y) way to experiment with at your own website
Presentation around several tips & trick to improve SharePoint (on premise) performance, mainly by tweaking the SQL databases.
Download the ppt for fun animations !
BOBCM: Best of Branded Content Marketing 2015 D&AD EditionJustin Kirby
BOBCM’s special 2015 D&AD edition - produced in partnership with D&AD, the global association for creative advertising and design - presents industry experts’ guest features and awards
My First 90 Days - Strategies for SuccessSuresh Kodoor
Your First 90 days in a new organization are critical in laying a strong foundation for sustained long-term success. Plan to follow a defined framework to make your transition to the new Company a success for everyone involved!
Every business uses a sales funnel.
A sales funnel is the predetermined journey people are taken through before becoming your customer. It can also be referred to as a sales tunnel or sales pipeline.
Sales is all about listening to people and prescribing a solution. In every job you'll come across sales moments, whether you're selling yourself in a job interview or selling products to customers - it's an essential skill in all career paths. This course is available now so you can start your sales career and your sales potential in just a few minutes - if you're already working in sales, or looking for a lucrative and enjoyable future career, this class is a valuable skill that you definitely need to master.
Juan Sebastian Garcia is been teaching Sales skills to different companies and sales teams for over 20 years. He's taught all over the world, as well as online, and has an entertaining and practical teaching style. This course covers everything you need to know about Sales Fundamentals: from preparing and planning, relationship building, objection handling techniques, and closing the deal at a brilliant price. This training is the first step to start developing your sales skills as a sales professional.
Sales Fundamentals overview includes:
What is Sales?
What is Marketing?
Planning your sales skills
Building a rapport and relationship
Handling objections
Understand how to organizing your sales
Simple tricks to start calling customers
Time Management in Sales
Also if you want to learn advanced selling techniques. Check out our Target Account Selling Class : https://www.udemy.com/course/target-account-selling/
Addresses issues to consider when developing an effective channel strategy & program. Lecture delivered by Craig Justice at University of San Diego to graduate students in the MSEL (Masters of Science in Executive Leadership) program, March 12, 2011.
Juliann Grant of Telesian Technology and Scott Sommer of Jacobs Engineering discuss pre and post-sales strategies that build a bridge between marketing and sales. This presentation was delivered at the 3rd Annual Marketing and Sales Summit in 2008.
Why the best B2B buyer experience wins - Louis Jonckheere CPO - ShowpadB2B Marketing Forum
Our consumer experiences and expectations are influencing our behaviour as a B2B buyer. Most sales reps however have not adapted their way of working to this shift in buyer expectations.
For simple purchases, B2B buyers increasingly prefer ecommerce with no salesperson involved. Complex sales on the other hand still requires sales intervention.
As consumers we shop online and use apps, e.g. Amazon, Netflix, and Booking.com, and we expect to find the information we need when we want it. Sales reps play no role or a minimal role in this process. As the current sales practices aren’t in line with B2B buyer expectations, many sales reps are boring their buyers.
How can you stop boring your buyers and start delivering a better buyer experience?
In this slide deck, David Skok talks through his 9 step process for B2B startups to get through product/market fit, and to then find a repeatable, scalable, and profitable growth process.
In David's experience some of the most fatal and expensive mistakes founders make is trying to skip steps. Understanding this roadmap will save you countless hours and potentially millions of wasted dollars.
Introduction and workshop to develop student team concepts into business model hypotheses. Focused on value proposition design, customer segments, and the rest of the Business Model Canvas.
9 Steps to Repeatable, Scalable, & Profitable GrowthDavid Skok
In this slide deck, David Skok talks through his 9 step process for B2B startups to get through product/market fit, and to then find a repeatable, scalable, and profitable growth process.
In David's experience some of the most fatal and expensive mistakes founders make is trying to skip steps. Understanding this roadmap will save you countless hours and potentially millions of wasted dollars.
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
How to Create Map Views in the Odoo 17 ERPCeline George
The map views are useful for providing a geographical representation of data. They allow users to visualize and analyze the data in a more intuitive manner.
Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology:
Ethnobotany in herbal drug evaluation,
Impact of Ethnobotany in traditional medicine,
New development in herbals,
Bio-prospecting tools for drug discovery,
Role of Ethnopharmacology in drug evaluation,
Reverse Pharmacology.
The Indian economy is classified into different sectors to simplify the analysis and understanding of economic activities. For Class 10, it's essential to grasp the sectors of the Indian economy, understand their characteristics, and recognize their importance. This guide will provide detailed notes on the Sectors of the Indian Economy Class 10, using specific long-tail keywords to enhance comprehension.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
Unit 8 - Information and Communication Technology (Paper I).pdfThiyagu K
This slides describes the basic concepts of ICT, basics of Email, Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives in Education. This presentations aligns with the UGC Paper I syllabus.
The Art Pastor's Guide to Sabbath | Steve ThomasonSteve Thomason
What is the purpose of the Sabbath Law in the Torah. It is interesting to compare how the context of the law shifts from Exodus to Deuteronomy. Who gets to rest, and why?
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
How to Split Bills in the Odoo 17 POS ModuleCeline George
Bills have a main role in point of sale procedure. It will help to track sales, handling payments and giving receipts to customers. Bill splitting also has an important role in POS. For example, If some friends come together for dinner and if they want to divide the bill then it is possible by POS bill splitting. This slide will show how to split bills in odoo 17 POS.
1. SALES BOOT CAMP Kent SummersMIT Venture Mentoring Service June 2010
2. Sales Bootcamp Objectives Provide MIT entrepreneurs with “block and tackle” education in sales fundamentals Basic concepts, mechanics, vocabulary, tips, tricks and traps, etc. Practical “how to” knowledge and advise you can put into practice to land your first few customers – not theory Incorporate “Sales Thinking” into your company culture Sales conversant = increased likelihood of initial customer sales Acquire customers and revenue — everything else a distant 3rd Provide a solid foundation from which MIT entrepreneurs can learn more from and interact with experienced sales people VMS Sales Boot Camp
41. Basic Sales Concepts VMS Sales Boot Camp Marketing Vs. Sales The Sales Function Hunting vs. Farming Direct vs. Channel Sales
42. Marketing vs. Sales Functions The Marketing role — pre-sales “demand generation” Tools: messaging, collateral, whitepapers, PPTs, … Events: seminars, webinars, tradeshows … Leads: lists, outbound campaigns, website (SEO and PPC) … Air cover for Sales: advertising, PR, analysts, blogs … The Sales role — acquire new customers Leverage marketing resources to: manage the pipeline + orchestrate team resources to close deals and generate revenue Continuous Marketing and Sales collaboration is key Sales knowledge of customer needs/issues MUST drive rapid changes to Marketing material (E.g. positioning, value prop, pricing, etc.) With start-ups, the same person often wears both hats VMS Sales Boot Camp
43. The Sales Function Direct Sales = a contact sport Develop customers thru a series of pre-defined actions/steps Requires knowledge, people skills, organization and integrity Requires a “stand up and dust yourself off” mentality Manage new customer engagement activities Qualify Educate Build Confidence/Trust Gain Commitment Orchestrate external and internal needs Capture, communicate and coordinate Active team participation and contribution is key to the sales process Sales activity/issues must be 100% transparent to the team Generate Revenue Directly accountable for revenue forecasting and performance VMS Sales Boot Camp
44. The Sales Function Early-stage Selling De-bug the offering + de-bug people’s objections to spending money (simultaneously and at the same time!) Bring market intelligence back to the team Key enhancements and differentiators + weaknesses and gaps that impede customer adoption Eliminate impediments to early-stage sales occurs incrementally Sales-Marketing adjustments must occur in real-time Manage internal and external expectations Internal: sales are twice as long, one-half the return (on a good day) External: offering capabilities/maturity road-map (reality + vision) Recognize (and be true to) what you don’t know/don’t have VMS Sales Boot Camp
45. The Sales Function #1 start-up goal: secure your “anchor customer” Huge difference between zero and 1 paying customer Anchor customer: good fit + recognizable to your target market Nurture/over-service first (few) customers, so they realize the value of your offering and are fully referenceable Give your stuff away if you must — for a quid pro quo Sales Economics: revenue – (cost-of-sales) = margin Align cost-of-sales with offering price point — you can generate decent revenue, and still go out of business! Does your price-point support direct sales? Indirect sales? Web sales? Direct Sales is your most expensive investment, in terms of both real and opportunity costs VMS Sales Boot Camp
46. Hunting vs. Farming Hunting: acquiring new customers Bear hunting, deer hunting, hunting for pheasant, etc. The larger the animal… the bigger the gun … the longer the sales cycle … the higher the risk/reward You can fill up the company dinner pot with enough pheasant! Equal opportunity hunting — good for cash flow Farming: selling into existing (installed) customer base Up-selling and cross-selling (next slide) All start-ups are hunters! Balancing sales focus between hunting and farming is a good problem; an opportunity that must be earned VMS Sales Boot Camp
57. Direct vs. Channel Sales Channel Sales: engaging 3rd-parties to market and sell your offering Extends your sales reach without expensive “feet on the street” Works when the proper resources and incentives are in place VMS Sales Boot Camp
58. Why Channels vs. Direct Sales? Does your price point doesn’t support a direct sales model? What do your margins look like after $200-250K in sales compensation? Adds instant credibility to your Start-up If it’s good enough for <Big Name Here>, it must be safe for me Gives your Customer a bigger neck to throttle Expand addressable market without adding to headcount If your offering can support a direct sales model, it can support a channel model too Not Channel or Direct Sales, but Channel plus Direct Sales Many important things you need to consider before pursuing a Channel sales strategy VMS Sales Boot Camp
59. Are Channel Sales Viable for a Start-up? Hotdogs and mustard — Are there 3rd-party products/services that provide a natural fit with your offering? Ideally, a partner that lends a great deal of credibility to your start-up? Pet Shop Boys: “I got the brains, you got the looks, let’s make lots of $” Does your product/service fill an important gap in a 3rd-party offering? More for partner to sell, fills a me-too or competitive differentiator, …? Are there market opportunities outside your company resources and/or expertise? Vertical markets, a different buyer profile, different geography, … VMS Sales Boot Camp
60. Channel Sales Types Start with: where are your target customers, and from whom do they already buy? The ability to leverage another company’s location, skills, complementary products, services, existing customer relationships? Distributor — move lots of products from point A to point B OEM — embed product A inside product B (royalties) VAR (Value Add Reseller) — sell vendor products + add incremental value (50% discount) SI (System Integrator) — join products A, B and C together to form a more complete solution Web — buying hubs, directories, partner zones, etc. VMS Sales Boot Camp
61. Sales Channels Rules-of-Thumb Best pursued after direct sales and the ‘recipe to revenue’ is established Viable for both product and service offerings, but service + service rarely mix Explore potential business synergies & conflicts early! Effective way to test a different business model without cannibalizing direct sales Typically developed through the “Biz Dev” role Your objective: get from Biz Dev to their marketing machine, and eventually to their Sales Reps Key: how does the sale of your product/service meet their sales quota? VMS Sales Boot Camp
62. Sales Channels Rules-of-Thumb Understand the channel partner’s strengths and weaknesses How does your product / service help them sell more of their core product (a sure recipe for you to get more sales). Channel conflict: regional, market segments, direct sales If you don’t create conflict, you’re not trying hard enough! Channels: more expensive to start up, take longer to develop, but can pay off nicely over time Revenue fly-wheel with low cost of sales VMS Sales Boot Camp
63. Sales Channels Rules-of-Thumb Limit your number of sales channel partners They will not sell on their own – they require even more training and nurturing than your in-house sales reps do Best way to develop a new channel: put a new customer in their lap Imagine that you are selling into IBM, and you request they sign the Master Services Agreement with your partner, Intuit? Huge difference between channel partners that look good for your PR and on blogs, and channels that look good in your bank account! Don’t confuse the two VMS Sales Boot Camp
64. Sales Channels Rules-of-Thumb The value of Biz Dev is over-rated 10% of the work is getting to a signed channel partner contract The real work (and where the $$ is) is gained thru channel development Channel value = getting beyond their biz dev person and getting to know actual sales reps, sales engineers and professional services staff Resist the temptation to be Stingy You did all the work, why share huge margin w/your partner? Channel sales will cost you margin, but 100% of no sale = nothing This the definition of “investment” Also the definition of “Penny wise, pound foolish” Channel partner success 80% of start-ups fail at channel development VMS Sales Boot Camp
65. Channel Sales Mechanics Often begins with aligning founder and management visions, then onto biz dev, then into marketing and sales Marketing material needs to be “repurposeable” Channel Development and Sales Training the keys to $$ Your support resources are now “Tier II” Channel partner Ts & Cs often require exclusivity — a good thing if performance metrics are clearly established Exclusivity and discounts tied to actual revenue performance Put yourself in your channel partner’s shoes… “Does this make them more money?” “Does this shore up a competitive weakness?” “Do they have the skills and knowledge to be successful?” VMS Sales Boot Camp
66. Direct Sales Mechanics VMS Sales Boot Camp The Sales Toolkit Customer Profiling The Sales Funnel
67. The Sales Toolkit Marketing Collateral Brochures, whitepapers, competitive matrix, ROI calculator, … Laptop, demo/prototype, cell phone and breath mints CRM application (the pipeline) Salesforce, Act!, Goldmine, SugarCRM, Excel spreadsheet! GoToMeeting account Internet resources Google, LinkedIn, Zoominfo, Jigsaw, Facebook, Yahoo Financials, … VMS Sales Boot Camp
68. The Sales Toolkit Sales communication templates = consistency + efficiency Emails: introductory, meetings, demos, etc. Objection handlers: standard responses to common concerns Agreement templates: boilerplate + customer-specific Keep communication brief and to the point Leads: Lists Event attendees, professional org members, etc. Leads: Website SEO and PPC The nature of Inbound vs. Outbound leads VMS Sales Boot Camp
69. Target Customer Profiling All new companies need to start somewhere Knowing what “somewhere” is matters a great deal Avoid boil the ocean strategies Establish your “customer profile” — a narrowly-defined vertical market + geography + company type E.g. Research labs, with 50+ staff, at Universities with significant R&D budgets, within 25 miles of Boston Establish your target “buyer profile” — a job title + responsibilities + needs/concerns E.g. Professor or Principal Investigator, with a need to collaborate with other labs, and/or has been burned (or has a concern) with turnover and knowledge retention VMS Sales Boot Camp
70. Target Customer Profiling “Fail Fast” is most effective for start-ups “Aim, Fire, Correct” works better than “Ready, Aim, Fire” Trust your Instincts, but Verify with Results Persistence vs. a change of course always a tough call Key sales responsibility: challenge the offering based upon feedback from the marketplace Whiteboards can’t talk You will learn far more from people’s feedback and reactions than you will from strategy sessions Don’t muddy the waters Start with small targets, or existing trusted relationships if available Save the best targets until after you have de-bugged your pitch VMS Sales Boot Camp
71. The Sales Funnel aka “The Pipeline” Develop & Close Engage Qualify Sales Cycle Leads Suspects Prospects Opportunities Customers Triage / Attrition VMS Sales Boot Camp
72. Working the Pipeline Discrete, sequential, named steps of your sales process VMS Sales Boot Camp Suspects Prospects Opportunities Customers Leads Pure Contacts Company + Title, Email & Phone Filtered Leads that fit your target customer profile e.g. geog., marketsegment, companysize, etc. Qualified SuspectsInitial contactconfirms need Does the basichigh-level buyercriteria exist? Prospects who areactively engagedin your salesprocess Opportunities thathave signed on thedotted line What is your criteriathat separates realopportunities vs.a confirmed needthat is likely to gonowhere? What is yourtarget profile?
73. Working the Pipeline Define gating criteria for each step in the sales process Terms matter (name it and frame it!) — your company lingua franca Is company-specific and “fine tuned” over time A tool for sales time and priority management Move ‘em along, or move ‘em out! Determine where best to spend your time Help make best use of everyone else’s time Communicate pipeline to the rest of the team Sales is “need to know” … everyone on your team needs to know! All hands pipeline meeting at least once/week Weighted pipeline: the basis for revenue forecasting VMS Sales Boot Camp
74. Weighted Pipeline: A Revenue Forecasting Tool The difference between potential value and current value Weight distribution varies, depending upon the product or service being sold, the customer … other factors Think thru the stages, arrive at a model that is practical and useful to you, and validate! VMS Sales Boot Camp
76. Qualifying Prospective Customers Are the buying signals present? Need (vs. Want), immediacy, budget, management buy-in Most every sale replaces something or someone! Green field sales are uncommon What are your prospect’s alternatives? Understand them — and get them on the table early The best option: are they convincing you, or are you convincing them? Always pre-empt customer’s alternatives, lest they revisit you! Qualifying: a process of developing a mutual plan for success What’s in it for your customer… what’s in it for you? VMS Sales Boot Camp
77. Qualifying Prospective Customers Qualifying new customers never stops… Theprocess of determining if there is a “good fit” occurs incrementally… throughout each step of the sale process (ABQ!) What is the prospective customer’s criteria for “Yes”? You don’t know unless you ask Is the Prospect qualified to buy?… Use proxies… they are less threatening Option 1: “Hey, do you have the authority to make a decision and spend your company’s money, or are you wasting my time?” Option 2: “What is your decision process, and how are you involved?” VMS Sales Boot Camp
78. Working the Pipeline Establish sales activity metrics, and track # of phone calls, meetings, proposals, etc. Balance sales activity throughout each stage of the funnel Unbalanced activity results in choppy deal flow (roller coaster) Choppy deal flow results in choppy cash flow Use pipeline to focus and throttle your sales activity Opportunity storage: the countertop, refrigerator, or freezer? Balance and pace your sales focus / efforts appropriately Establish your own Sales discipline, rhythm and tempo Positive value will accumulate over time, for harvesting VMS Sales Boot Camp
86. Pipeline Decision Making: the Dead Squirrel You are driving down the highway and see a squirrel squished on the side of the road Is your decision: “The squirrel is dead” Or, “Should we pull over and investigate further?” VMS Sales Boot Camp
87. Pipeline Decision Making: the Dead Squirrel In sales, you must always make decisions with an incomplete set of information Especially in a Start-Up environment Understand what is important and act Too much analysis will cause paralyses Keep moving sales opportunities through the funnel Don’t belabor incomplete knowledge; trust your instincts and move on The deal you’ve been working hard on is dead? Don’t belabor dead deals… RIP, amen, move on VMS Sales Boot Camp
104. Why People Buy People tend to buy when the following are established: Recognition of an unsolved problem or unmet need ROI value of a solution is understood (vs. alternatives) Confidence in your team experience + company viability Offering direction/road-map Trust is established with the Sales rep Budget availability + company priority are aligned Appeal to basic human instincts FUD: what are the bad things that can/will occur if “Do Nothing” is the answer (what is the cost of indecision?) Fear or greed: what is the primary motivator? VMS Sales Boot Camp Short-cuts arerarely helpful — each is an important component of the sale !
105. How People Buy Gather “how they buy” intelligence… and develop a synergy Capital vs. Expense spending policy? FY budget planning, allocation and replenishment cycles? Coordinate your selling cycle with their buying cycle What is considered a discretionary expense? Requires no formal approval process Niche vendor check-marks… Minority-owned, transgender, HUB Zone, … Can you “finance” the deal? Accrued and deferred payment? Ski lift tickets or cheese? VMS Sales Boot Camp
106. Personalities You Will Run Into When Selling Calvin the Cowboy Jumps at the opportunity to tell you how big they are… shoots milk in his coffee every morning from his hip… works in a small cube Peter the Planner All bark no bite… will research new technology until the cows come home… never made a decision in his life Amy the Admin Following orders… is completely clueless what is driving the deal… primary job is to collect information, not understand it Barry the Baiter Give me a good deal… we have lots more work for you in the future… will grind you down, then disappear VMS Sales Boot Camp
107. Personalities You Will Run Into When Selling Otto the Autocrat Runs the place or thinks he does… You work for him… Will buy from you but won't attend your funeral. Paul the Politician What’s in it for me? Talks Power, careers, and results… Known to stretch the truth. Scratch that...he's a born liar. Norman the Nay-Sayer Compensates his lack of knowledge with an overly pessimistic attitude… his life sucks… his mission is to make yours suck too Christina the Collaborator Win/Win mentality... professional, polished, respected internally. Knows the game, plays it well… Prepared and dangerous to your margins. VMS Sales Boot Camp
108. Closing Tips, Traps and Techniques Know who you are talking to! Research the company/person, prior to engaging (Google, website, Linked In, Facebook, Jigsaw, etc.) Perceptions often developed in the first 30 seconds! Be wary of setting price expectations too early The first number that comes out of your mouth tends to stick (very difficult to un-ring this bell!) If “the number” is unknown, then the cost of getting to a reliable price/fee is the first thing you are selling! VMS Sales Boot Camp
109. People have 25 different ways of saying “No” 24 of which are ambiguous: learn to interpret proxies for “No” “No” is always your second best answer (“No… But” is better) Sometimes, “No” is the best answer… beware of the “Slow No” Closing Tips, Traps and Techniques VMS Sales Boot Camp And my lack of visibilityinto what mgmt reallythinks continues toastound me. “Management hasdecided to reassessour priorities...” “Please send meyour Literature...” I remain somewherebetween confusedand unconvinced. … my garbagecan needs a meal. “I really like whatyou have to say, but(take your pick)...”
110. Closing Tips, Traps and Techniques Put a price tag on everything of value Common mistake is to overlook the value of ancillary services E.g. consulting, set-up, legacy conversion, training, etc. You can always waive or discount service fees if necessary There is no perceived value in anything you give away And if there is… you are setting a poor precedent! Sales “price discretion” Ability to deviate from expected pricing is a necessity Especially in a start-up! VMS Sales Boot Camp
111. Closing Tips, Traps and Techniques Any legitimate concern your prospect has that goes unaddressed A potential landmine waiting to explode Ferret out concerns, lest they revisit you later! Any legitimate concern you may have that goes unaddressed A potential landmine waiting to explode Be candid with your concerns — candor builds trust Don’t be afraid to probe and challenge Get comfortable with “we don’t do that” (yet) A little credibility goes a long way Appropriate use of email vs. phone vs. face-to-face Knowing the buyer’s preference can make the difference VMS Sales Boot Camp
112. Closing Tips, Traps and Techniques Appear bigger and more professional than you are! Use “we” every time, not “I” — and make sure everyone on your team does too! Professional website: they rarely close deals, but they are great at stopping deals from happening Professional correspondence: emails, PPTs, letterhead Don’t spill all of your candy in the lobby Trust and confidence is established through a continuous back-and forth exchange of information — not by unloading all your information in the first meeting or two Always define the “next reason” you have to talk VMS Sales Boot Camp
113. Closing Tips, Traps and Techniques If “increased efficiency” is part of your value prop, try to avoid selling to the person whom you are displacing! “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.” -- Upton Sinclair Sell at the right level in the organization Establish contact with all stakeholders early in the engagement Be wary of hidden agendas Prevalent in highly regulated / bureaucratic markets E.g. Stalking Horse RFPs, NIH Syndrome, 3 bids, more… Post-mortems: share and study lost deals with your team! If people were dropping dead on your front lawn, you’d probably want to know what was killing them, right? VMS Sales Boot Camp
114. Closing Tips, Traps and Techniques Stick to your knitting … More than anything else, your company will be defined by the customers you have, the problems you solve, the needs you fulfill A bad fit is painful to both parties — be careful what you ask for Selling works both ways: establish your own criteria for “Yes” Turning away a prospective customer for the right reasons is good business — and it feels good! When you catch yourself “selling” you probably already lost Most people buy in spite of a hard sell, not because of it VMS Sales Boot Camp
115. Closing the Deal Strategic vs. Tactical priorities A personal need, departmental need, or company imperative? Any initiative that is below the top 2 priorities rarely happens Start small!! (How do you eat an elephant?) What is your low-risk “Proof-of-concept”? What is your “Loss Leader”? Ask: What can I uniquely do today for this customer that …. Solves a real problem Doesn’t involve much risk Doesn’t require management budget approval, and Provides a logical starting point for doing more things for this customer in the future? VMS Sales Boot Camp
116. Closing the Deal Agreements/contracts Keep them short & simple (they reflect what it’s like working with you) Negotiable vs. non-negotiable items: know the difference, and resolve non-negotiable items up-front Include “OK to market” clause in your agreement An agreement/contract is a perishable item Degrades in value every day a decision is not made Leverage customer references Your silver bullets: use to confirm a decision, not make one! Know thyself Positive mojo days — make those important calls! There will be those days you should not be talking with anyone VMS Sales Boot Camp
117. Closing the Deal The “ROI calculator” People usually tend to place more value on revenue generating and competitive advantage capabilities, more so than cost-saving capabilities What is your better-faster-cheaper value proposition? Isaac Newton’s 2nd Law: how powerful is your force for changing the status quo (incremental vs. obvious)? Objections over Price? Congratulations, you’re getting close Do not undermine offering value, you can always discount If you see a deal slipping away… Probe and challenge! Throw the blocker under the bus VMS Sales Boot Camp
118. Closing the Deal: Negotiations “No, but” is buying behavior… “Yes, but” is selling behavior Don’t mix the two Making decisions with limited information is a reality of selling, not Negotiating Understand your customers “BATNA” Best Alternative To No Agreement Create a formal concession plan: “W3” Where you want to end up + What you are willing to give up, defines… Where you need to start Search for the “Elegant Negotiable” Items that are important to one party but not as important to the other party = Value VMS Sales Boot Camp
119. Deal Closed! What’s Next? Signed agreement in-hand, what is next? Facilitate new customer ‘on boarding’ process Get back to your funnel, after you have …. Transitioned all customer knowledge to your team (“on-boarding”) Educated the customer in anything they need to know about your people, process, support, etc. Identified and introduced a new POC (if possible) Keep atop customer satisfaction Check in from time-to-time, especially for no particular reason Let the farming begin! VMS Sales Boot Camp
121. Hire Sales Athletes Sales DNA Competitiveness + Confidence + Discipline + Teamwork Need and Drive more important than knowledge Sales Athletes … Know the value of training, the value of teamwork, and how to prepare Have cut their teeth on losing Know how to be coached, and WANT to be coached Discipline is a daily nutritional requirement for sales success Pipeline development, Deals in progress, Product updates, Account education, territory planning All equal – “Where do I spend my time?” Whether incredibly busy, or hearing an echo – sales must knowhow to focus VMS Sales Boot Camp
122. Sales Profiles: Performance vs. Values VMS Sales Boot Camp High Performance but Low Values High Performanceand High Values We wish all our sales people were in this space Spend the most time with these people, they need you This is the most damaging quadrant for your team Performance Low Performanceand Low Values Low Performance but High Values Easy, get rid of them Do not spend time with these people These people need help, training or reassignment to a job they can handle Values
123. Building A Sales Culture Sales can’t sell what they don’t believe in Sales people are the easiest buyers – they want to believe, they need to believe, they don’t want to BS customers Passion cannot come across without knowledge Show sales the landmines in your offering They will steer around them Continuous and committed education of the sales team Stoke their passions and inherent personality traits thatmake them good at what they do Burning trust with Sales has a ripple effect You lose their trust + they lose the trust of the buyer… Waters down sales passion and enthusiasm VMS Sales Boot Camp
124. Sales Cultures Have the Following Traits Sales and Development regularly communicate Management fosters a tight relationship and ‘success interdependency’ between the efforts/rewards of the engineers and those of sales Engineers work “on the edge” of the business as opposed to “cloistered and protected” Engineers learn from sales and vice versa — and share in the success of all wins and losses Engineers build more relevant product with a greater sense of urgency — build for the needs of the Customer and the Market majority VMS Sales Boot Camp
125. Sales Cultures Have the Following Traits Engineers know (and feel) customer requirements Business success tied to team coordination and execution Customer needs and sales execution not a mystery Sales and engineers learn from one another — able to develop critical business skills outside their core competency 80% of a sales person’s success is attributable to his/her relationship with engineering, not management VMS Sales Boot Camp
126. VMS Sales Bootcamp Every start-up — a hunt for the first customer Prepare, Iterate, and Persist! Establish the tools and discipline to work the pipeline Sales is a team sport Don’t get fancy… get focused, and establish a sales routine Know your target profile + why and how they buy Always know who you are talking to Always start small, sell small Individual customer deals do not scale, a Sales Culture does!! Sales… it’s not Rocket Science! (MIT caveat: unless of course it is) VMS Sales Boot Camp
127. Questions, Comments, Concerns? VMS Sales Boot Camp SALES BOOT CAMP Copy of the Slide Deck: contact Roberta McCarthy vms@MIT.EDU