How To Sell When Nobody Knows You #517

How To Sell When Nobody Knows You #517


What do you do when your business is the best-kept secret in town? How do you get people to know about you? How do you create awareness and most importantly, how can you get buyers to trust in you, your company, and its products?  This is a situation for all startups. It’s also the case for established businesses creating new products or entering new markets. If this is your case, you’re in for a treat. In today’s episode, we discuss how to sell by sharing t
he idea that water, though soft and gentle, can overcome resistance and erode even the hardest of substances through its persistent and patient action. The same is true when it comes to a skeptical marketplace. In time, a persistent yet patient Master Seller can bring a new product or service to market. 

Today’s Chapter: Making the Unknown Known

At the start, all new products are a secret
filled with opportunity and possibility.
a mystery to be unveiled
from the dark to the light,
and the unknown to the known.

Like glacial streams that wear away rock,
persistent marketing campaigns bring awareness
using tenacity, patience, and grit.

Therefore time is your ally,
nurturing trust from nothing to something,
converting prospects to clients,
one by one
until the secret is no more
and the mystery revealed.

TTC #64

Today’s Story

Chris’s company recently launched a new product. It was a new market for the company and no one had heard of them.  While working on a cold calling campaign, Chris was unsure how to get the attention of buyers. 

“I keep calling but nobody answers.”  shared Chris. “The few people I’ve talked to have never heard of us and don’t trust we know what we’re doing”. 

“I guess I don’t blame them,” said Pat. “Trust has to be earned, and that’s only going to come with time”.

“Exactly,” responded Chris.”So what am I going to do since we’re the new kid on the block?”  

“When it comes to new ventures, you have to play the long game,” said Pat.
We need to follow up on leads multiple times: first an email, then a call, then a voicemail then a social media message. Then it’s a case of rinse and repeat with each time sharing a little bit more about us, It’s going to take awhile but remember, water is soft but given enough time it carved the Grand Canyon.” 

Take Action Quote

Lao Tzu said, “Under heaven, nothing is more soft and yielding than water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it. The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid. Everyone knows this is true, but few can put it into practice.”

Too often competitors rush the launch with dire results. This is a recipe for disaster Master sellers know that it takes time and patience to overcome a skeptical prospect. With gentle persistence, even the hardest of prospects can be persuaded if the product or service provides value. It’s no trivial matter bringing nothing into something. But with tenacity, patience, and grit, success can be achieved.

Watch here on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gCfuhXTTyU

How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble

Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com

You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about helping others with their challenges and aspirations. I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discussed all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketing, lead generation, copywriting, and most importantly the right selling mindset. Stop fearing sales and embrace it. Learn the selling secrets for non-sellers and start making a difference today. Here is the entire back catalog of episodes in the sales podcast.  Look here https://www.salesbabble.com/sales-podcast-free-advice/

This is a production of Habanero Media https://habaneromedia.net

Got a Question?

Something about today’s episode got you thinking. Do you have a question or a comment you’d like to share?

If so “babble me” an email here, or if you can’t wait chat Pat now.

Maybe you’d like to share your musings on the podcast? Leave a voice message here. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Don’t worry about babbling, we prefer it.

 

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How To Compete from Behind #516

How To Compete from Behind #516

Does it irritate you when you’re talking to a new prospect and the first thing they mention is that their vendor is your archrival? Does it seem like that competitor is superior to you; faster, cheaper, better and there is nothing you can do to overcome that clear advantage? Or maybe you can’t fathom why people buy from them other than they’ve been around for a long time. It can be frustrating and begs the question, what can you do to compete from behind? Today we discuss a competitive strategy on how business is a game,  not a war, and businesses with compassion eventually end up on the winning side. If you’re a startup in an industry with longtime competitors, this is the episode for you.

Today’s Chapter

Never bad mouth the competition.
Give them their due,
accepting where they excel
yet discern their weaknesses.

This is called competing without competing.
innovating, without showing your cards.
selling without trash-talking.
showing value without belittling the competition.

There is no greater disaster than underestimating the competition.
By underestimating the competition, you devalue your business.

TTC #69

Today’s Story

In the hallway, Chris pulled Pat aside, “Pat! I’m so frustrated. I keep losing deals to the competition. Again and again, the prospects keep choosing them over us and I know why. They have a proven product. What am I going to do?”

Pat nodded. “We have tough competitors. We’re new and they’ve been in business for a long time. Customers see them as the safe choice. Be we have something they don’t, We have a new product that in time can provide deep and lasting value. We are the next generation. But, we still have gaps in our offerings.”

“So what am I supposed to do?” asked Chris. “How can I speed this up?”

Pat smiled, “Each time you meet with someone who has this competitor, ask them what they like about them. Listen without judging. Discover where they’re strong. Understand where they’re weak and with this knowledge, we can innovate a better product and in time overcome them in the marketplace. Today they are on top. But change is inevitable. Every dog has their day. It’s time for a new dog.”

Take Action Quote

Never think of your competition as your enemy. It’s dangerous to see another business as evil. Instead think of them as your opponent, battling in a game of little consequence.  When you defend yourself without a show of force, you give your opponent nothing to fight.

Lao Tzu said, “When evenly matched armies meet, the side that is compassionate shall win.”

Compassion is the key to success. When you treat your prospects with love and compassion, they’ll see the value of your offering, and the competition will be relegated to an afterthought.  This is the way to win from behind.

Watch this episode on YouTube.

How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble

Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com

You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about helping others with their challenges and aspirations. I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discussed all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketing, lead generation, copywriting, and most importantly the right selling mindset. Stop fearing sales and embrace it. Learn the selling secrets for non-sellers and start making a difference today. Here is the entire back catalog of episodes in the sales podcast.  Look here https://www.salesbabble.com/sales-podcast-free-advice/

This is a production of Habanero Media https://habaneromedia.net

Got a Question?

Something about today’s episode got you thinking. Do you have a question or a comment you’d like to share?

If so “babble me” an email here, or if you can’t wait chat Pat now.

Maybe you’d like to share your musings on the podcast? Leave a voice message here. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Don’t worry about babbling, we prefer it.

 

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How To Learn the Buyers Secret Language #443

How To Learn the Buyers Secret Language  #443

 

Each industry has a secret language. There is a vernacular, nomenclature and acronyms everyone in the industry uses. To be a successful seller, you need to know that language too. How to learn the language of the buyer, that’s the topic for today.  How to learn the buyers secret language. That’s the topic for today. 

Today’s Chapter:  Speak the Buyers Secret Language

First listen
to learn their language.
Then question
to understand their lives.
Next seek
to know, what they know.
Then frame how best to express solutions.

The Master Seller
Walks in their shoes,
Listening without judging
Building credibility and trust
Marketing the buyer with relevance
Spoken in the Words of the buyer.

Today’s Story

Chris pivoted to selling a new product line in an industry new to Chris. Excited to get started Chris jumped in and started calling and emailing but each outreach hit a thud. Time and again, prospects showed no interest and Chris was getting frustrated. It seems that what used to work in one industry, didn’t in this new industry.  Pat could sense a rising level of discouragement and stepped in to help. 

“Chris”  said Pat, “This is a very different industry than what you’re used to. I know it’s a big challenge.  If you don’t know what the 280E or the 8300 form, people don’t trust that you fully understand their challenges. It’s a hurdle. 

Every industry has a secret language. And in an industry as new and changing as this one, there is no book you can read to learn it all in one place. But once you learn that language you become a member of the tribe.” 

“So what should I do?” asked Chris.

Pat answered “None of us know exactly how this is going to work. I wish I could tell you more about this industry but I’m new to it too. But I’m certain you’re the right person for this challenge. 

Find a buyer who is patient and willing to teach you a term here or a definition there.

Be patient, it’s going to take time. I believe in you. “

Take Action Quote

Mary Torrans Lathrap authored a poem titled “Judge Softly” in 1895, and has later come to be known by its most famous and quoted line — “Walk a Mile in His Moccasins.”

“Judge Softly”

“Pray, don’t find fault with the man that limps,

Or stumbles along the road.

Unless you have worn the moccasins he wears,

Or stumbled beneath the same load.

it goes quite long but ends…

We will be known forever by the tracks we leave

In other people’s lives, our kindnesses and generosity.

Take the time to walk a mile in his moccasins.

This is true too for us sellers. We must wade into their world, understand the lingua franca of their business and speak to their concerns, challenges and aspirations. It’s your responsibility to learn their language, not vice versa. The best way to learn is to ask their advice, accept there are no dumb questions, and most likely you will lose the first few deals when you get started. But this is what you must do.

First crawl, then walk and then run. You can’t skip steps when learning the buyers secret language. . 

Habanero Media Network

Listen to our other podcasts at Habanero Media

This is the Cannabis Advocate Podcast 

How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble

Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com

You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about helping others with their challenges and aspirations. I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketing, lead generation, copywriting, and most important the right selling mindset. Stop fearing sales and embrace it. Learn the selling secrets for non-sellers and start making a difference today. Here is the entire back catalog of episodes in the sales podcast.  Look here https://www.salesbabble.com/sales-podcast-free-advice/

This is a production of Habanero Media https://habaneromedia.net

Got a Question?

Something about today’s episode got you thinking? Do you have a question or a comment you’d like share?

If so “babble me” an email here, or if you can’t wait chat Pat now.

Maybe you’d like to share your musings on the podcast? Leave a voice message here. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Don’t worry about babbling, we prefer it.

 

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How To Make an Elevator Pitch #432

How To Make an Elevator Pitch #432


In a building with 2-9 floors, an elevator should take between 10 & 20 seconds to clear the entire distance at full speed. In a building with 10-29 floors, it should take between 12 & 20 seconds to clear the entire distance at full speed unless, you live in New York City where the average elevator ride is 118 seconds. This creates a challenge for the seller who is tasked with delivering a pitch to a prospective buyer, held hostage, ever so briefly, in that elevator!.  What can you do to get the prospects to pause and agree to learn more in 118 seconds? That’s our topic for today, how to make an elevator pitch.

Today’s Chapter: Elevator Pitch

Brief in words
Yet long in substance
Tuned for the ear of the listener
The Master Seller makes their pitch.

Both concise and precise
Asking questions that elicit response
in search of a gap
to be filled
a Story that touches the heart

Sharing, asking, listening
All in the wink of a brief ride

Today’s Story

On the tradeshow floor Pat stepped into the aisle and handed attendees cards that caused them to pause and listen. Throughout the day, the pitch was tuned with some words drawing blank stairs and others glints of interest. By early afternoon, the pitch was polished and Pat and Chris used it successfully for the rest of the event to collect qualified leads. 

At the end of the first day Chris asked “How did you know this pitch was going to work? I was surprised how it changed hour by hour” “Well” said Pat “We know our solution, but it’s in understanding the problem where most sellers falter. I just kept asking people, do you have this problem, and kept switching up problems until we found the one that resonates with most. Then we started to tune if it was an urgent problem and if so, we told a quick tale on the benefits of our solution.”

“The pitch is so fast” responded Chris. “It doesn’t even talk about our features”. “Yes” said Pat “that’s the secret sauce, to speak to problems and benefits. If there is no interest, it’s no use sharing details”.

Take Action Quote

Albert Einstein once said “if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t know it well enough”. We all  know this to be true. Reflect back on your own life, where somebody came up to you and started pitching a product or an idea that had nothing to do with you AND they wouldn’t stop talking. It’s painful. 

When somebody graces you with their time, honor their gift and speak quickly getting to the point. Succinctly share your value proposition that says “I help these types of people, with this set of problems, by providing a solution that has this  set of benefits. Is that you?” Bam bebam bebam.

When you can repeat this pitch with no effort, a pitch that flows like water from the mountains, then you are prepared to enter the elevator and make your case.

Sales Babble Research Study

I just commissioned a research study to better understand the interests of listeners and the challenges they face. It will only take two minutes. Thank you for your help!

How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble

Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com

You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about helping others with their challenges and aspirations. I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketing, lead generation, copywriting, and most important the right selling mindset. Stop fearing sales and embrace it. Learn the selling secrets for non-sellers and start making a difference today. Here is the entire back catalog of episodes in the sales podcast.  Look here https://www.salesbabble.com/sales-podcast-free-advice/

This is a production of Habanero Media https://habaneromedia.net

Got a Question?

Something about today’s episode got you thinking? Do you have a question or a comment you’d like share?

If so “babble me” an email here, or if you can’t wait chat Pat now.

Maybe you’d like to share your musings on the podcast? Leave a voice message here. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Don’t worry about babbling, we prefer it.

 

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How To Sell When Nobody Knows You #431

How To Sell When Nobody Knows You #431


What do you do when your business is the best kept secret in town? How do you get people to know about you? How do you create awareness and most importantly, how can you get buyers to trust in you, your company and it’s products?
How to sell when nobody knows your brand?  In this episode we discuss lessons we can learn from the Grand Canyon and how building a brand is not a quick fix.

Today’s Chapter: Making the Unknown Known

At first a secret
a new product’s value is questioned
The market unaware
Remains wary and skeptical.

Like rushing water
Wearing away granite
Persistent campaigns bring awareness
Messaging that speaks to the buyer

That this can help
This can make a difference.

Knowing the audience
The Master Seller makes the unknown known

Today’s Story

The company was launching a new product to a new market. Nobody had heard of them and the offering had no credibility. While working on a cold calling campaign, Chris  was unsure how to get the attention of buyers saying “I keep calling but no one is answering. The few people I’ve talked to have never heard of us and don’t trust we know what we’re doing”. 

Pat nodded and said  “I guess that’s .  understandable” said Pat. “Trust has to be earned and that only comes after the passage of time”. “Exactly” said Chris nodding. ”So what can we do since we’re the new kid on the block?”  

Pat responded “Slow but steady wins the race.  We need to follow up our outreach multiple times: first an email, then a call, then a voicemail then a social media message and then rinse and repeat and each time sharing a little bit more about us, This will take awhile but remember, water is soft but given enough time it carved the Grand Canyon.” 

Take Action Quote

Trust is the foundation of all sales. It’s what Stephen Covey calls the glue of life and the most essential ingredient in effective communication. In my experience trust takes time to build and it takes persistence and tenacity and believing in the process. 

It’s a case of what the Taoist call Wu-Wei or Non action-action or non-doing doing  If you just keep at it, never expecting that it will be this call or this email that arouses interest. Nope you just keep at it. And it, will happen.  When? Where? How? Nobody knows. But it will happen, in time.

Sales Babble Research Study

I just commissioned a research study to better understand the interests of listeners and the challenges they face. It will only take two minutes. Thank you for your help!

How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble

Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com

You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about helping others with their challenges and aspirations. I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketing, lead generation, copywriting, and most important the right selling mindset. Stop fearing sales and embrace it. Learn the selling secrets for non-sellers and start making a difference today. Here is the entire back catalog of episodes in the sales podcast.  Look here https://www.salesbabble.com/sales-podcast-free-advice/

This is a production of Habanero Media https://habaneromedia.net

Got a Question?

Something about today’s episode got you thinking? Do you have a question or a comment you’d like share?

If so “babble me” an email here, or if you can’t wait chat Pat now.

Maybe you’d like to share your musings on the podcast? Leave a voice message here. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Don’t worry about babbling, we prefer it.

 

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When Selling with a Wingman Your Never Alone with Shruti Kapoor #425

Shruti Kapoor Sales Babble

When Selling with a Wingman Your Never Alone with CEO Shruti Kapoor #425

Shruti Kapoor Sales BabbleShruti Kapoor is the CEO & Co-Founder of Wingman, an actionable conversation intelligence platform that unlocks insights from every sales interaction. As the co-founder of Wingman, Shruti was also their first salesperson who sold their first million dollars in revenue, single handedly. Despite being an outsider to the SaaS ecosystem and to the US, Shruti has successfully scaled the business, and was selected to the prestigious Y Combinator program, raised funding and staffing a team.  In this episode Shruti and Pat discuss the challenges sellers face and what technology can do to raise their productivity and success when selling.

Challenges and Consequences Sellers Face

I started by asking Shruti how when working with her clients, what are the fundamental challenges they face and the consequences of not overcoming those challenges.  Sellers are lonely, they are unsure if they’re approaching selling properly and they’re unsure where to go for help. Secondly, they feel their organizations and sales processes are disorganized. They yearn for order and the comfort of following a proven formula for success.

Actionable revenue intelligence. It’s one thing to collect sales data, but not a lot of help on how to use it. Most CRMS focus on the boss. Instead of focusing the data for the sales managers, how about focusing on data that helps the sales professional. How about focusing on coaching reps.

Y Combinator provided a structure for growth, partners for advice and hearing personal stories from highly successful entrepreneurs. She has been able to integrate those experiences into Wingman.  Voice to Text services are the foundation of Wingman.

how to get early customers to trust you when you don’t have a brand the product has limited functionality. How to find beta customers. Nor did they have a rolodex in the sales industry.

Sales Success at Wingman

Shruti believes there are two reasons Wingman has been a successful startup:

    1. When things are not working, they go back to customers and listen how they bought and what they like about the product.
    2. They focus on building a brand that highlights the companies strengths and illuminates the differentiators from other competitors.

How To Connect with Shruti Kapoor

– Website- trywingman.com
– Twitter- https://twitter.com/me_nder
– LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/shrutikapoor

Thank Our Sponsor Wingman

I’m excited to share that Sales Babble has a new sponsor, Wingman. Wingman is an actionable conversation intelligence platform that unlocks insights from every sales interaction. You can use Wingman to record your calls, review deals, scale coaching and build a repeatable sales machine. Wingman uses best-in-class Automatic Speech. Recognition (ASR) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms specifically for sales.

Go to trywingman.com/salesbabble and get a free trial today. Wingman, your source for actionable sales intelligence. 

How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble

Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com

You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about helping others with their challenges and aspirations. I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketing, lead generation, copywriting, and most important the right selling mindset. Stop fearing sales and embrace it. Learn the selling secrets for non-sellers and start making a difference today. Here is the entire back catalog of episodes in the sales podcast.  Look here https://www.salesbabble.com/sales-podcast-free-advice/

This is a production of Habanero Media https://habaneromedia.net

Got a Question?

Something about today’s episode got you thinking? Do you have a question or a comment you’d like share?

If so “babble me” an email here, or if you can’t wait chat Pat now.

Maybe you’d like to share your musings on the podcast? Leave a voice message here. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Don’t worry about babbling, we prefer it.

 

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The Elevator Pitch of Que PASA with Rajiv Nathan #356

Rajiv-Nathan-Sales-Babble

The Elevator Pitch of Que PASA with Rajiv Nathan #356Rajiv-Nathan-Sales-Babble

In this episode we meet Rajiv Nathan, founder of Start-up Hypeman. Rajiv helps technology based SaaS start-ups  scale to success. He does this by leveraging Stories that define brand identity and convert buyers into clients.   According to Rajiv, the startup environment is  designed for failure.   9 out of 10 ventures fold and never become growing concerns. So how can luck be tipped in their favor?  Rajiv believes that story can shift this statistic.  He likes to start with the Elevator Pitch. 

Common  Startup Failures with the Elevator Pitch

Too often startup founders focus on building product as opposed to understanding the market. Startups zero in on features, guiding buyers to consider only the lowest price or perfect fit vendors.  When it comes to lost sales, founders often think “Buyers don’t get the vision”. But is that true? Maybe the founders failed articulating the vision.  This is where Story comes to the rescue . The first pace to define your story is the  Elevator Pitch: who you serve, the problem you address, the solution you provide and the benefits the buyers will experience.

Que PASA Pitch Method

The Que PASA pitch tells people what’s up and what’s happening to the business. It is designed around the elevator pitch: the bedrock of business communication.   The demo presentation, pitch deck, sales deck and marketing approach are all designed around the elevator pitch.

Value propositions are more wordy in his opinion.  A good example of a elevator pitch is FanFood.   The PASA is an acronym for

    1. Problem – lead the audience why you exist  with empathy
    2. Approach – share a path of addressing the problem
    3. Solution – explain specifically the way the problem will be solved
    4. Action – create a call to action that moves the customer to buy

Three Types of Customers

When selling Rajiv sees prospective customer in three types:

    1. Buyers who know what they want
    2. Buyers who know what they want BUT have been burned
    3. Buyers who want to be guided

First two groups are price locked. You are playing defense when selling to them.  The last group is open to possibility. A good story (in a sales deck) can provide guidance on how to go beyond the status quo. The third group will buy from you because they believe  you understand (1) them and (2) the market better than anyone else.

Take Action

During the next sales call delay showing the product as long as possible. Instead focus on the problems, issues, hopes and dreams long before you open up the home screen for the demo. By doing this, you exercise  the  Law of Influence: defined in Bob Burgs book the Go Giver..  Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.

How To Find Rajiv Nathan

Thank Our Sponsor Habanero Media

We help busy B2B companies  attract new customers and clients through the magic of podcasting! Start your B2B podcast today and grow your brand, authority, influence and trust.

Download Why Your Business Needs a B2B Podcast here.

Past Episodes on Pitching and Startups

Sales Consulting To Grow Your Business

Pat helps technology startups and businesses discover the true value they bring to market, find customers who deeply appreciate that value then scale that process to extraordinary profits. We do this with modern 2020 sales and marketing techniques. 

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Pushy sales doesn’t work! The key is to build trust over time. What  tools do we use?  LinkedIn, Email and the power of the Voice Mail.

We believe and teach the value of a helping mindset. Your prospective customers have challenges, hopes and aspirations. They need your help. All you need to do is build their trust, and faith, in your organization. Learn  how we help here. Once it’s clear you can help, you will have loyal clients for life. When you bring value you make sales. Or if you’re a startup, learn sales for engineers and skills to promote your new venture.

Got a Question?

Something about today’s episode got you thinking? Do you have a question or a comment you’d like share?

If so “babble me” an email here, or if you can’t wait chat Pat now.

Maybe you’d like to share your musings on the podcast? Leave a voice message here. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Don’t worry about babbling, we prefer it.

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How To Earn Your First Startup Sales and Scale with Ravi Abuvala

Ravi Abuvala Sales Babble Scaling with Systems

How To Earn Your First Startup Sales and Scale with Ravi Abuvala

Ravi Abuvala Sales Babble Scaling with SystemsOur guest Ravi Abuvala is the Chief Scaling Officer at Scaling with Systems, a sales process and systems consulting company. In this episode Ravi and I discuss the steps startups take to earn their first 10 clients, and next the process for scaling to the first 100 customers. We talk process, automation and virtual assistants for accelerating rapid  startup sales growth, to the next level.

How To Earn Your First 10 Customer Startup Sales

According to Ravi, the business development process at the beginning of a startup is the most enjoyable. He recommends:

    • Reach out to existing networks for market research
    • Ask network if they,or anyone they know, would find value in the product/service
    • Search for the ideal client for perfect product/market fit
    • Your entire marketing campaign will then be built on this market research
    • Learn about client industry, learn their language

 Startup Sales For the Next 100 Customer

    • Go back to first 10 customers and leverage that success for  deeply understanding the perfect ideal client.
    • Ask for five solid testimonials and case studies. These will be used to prove your product is the real deal.
    • Share stories and testimonials in social media and generate inbound calls.
    • Send direct messages with case studies and then a follow up call.

Frugality Forces Focus

With limited funding it’s imperative to run an efficient organization, recommends Ravi. When startups raise money, they tend to spend recklessly. Lean organizations spend wisely on startup sales . This forces focus in the revenue generating direction.

The key is to automate. Take what’s working and cherry pick repeatable tasks. Move those tasks into a machine or a virtual assistant.

How To Find Ravi Abuvala

Ravi can be discovered throughout the internet!

Thank Our Sponsor Sharetivity

Sharetivity on Sales Babble Sharetivity helps salespeople increase prospect engagement by providing an easy and fast way to personalizing their outreach on LinkedIn. Sales starts with getting your prospects attention, given all the noise you have to be different, you have to personalize your outreach. Unfortunately, that is time consuming to go to Google, Linkedin, Twitter, YouTube etc to find an icebreaker. One click personalization.

Thank Our Sponsor Habanero Media

We help busy B2B companies  attract new customers and clients through the magic of podcasting! Start your B2B podcast today and grow your brand, authority, influence and trust.

Download Why Your Business Needs a B2B Podcast here.

Sales Consulting To Grow Your Business

Pat helps technology startups and businesses discover the true value they bring to market, find customers who deeply appreciate that value then scale that process to extraordinary profits. We do this with modern 2020 sales and marketing techniques. 

Image result for linkedinImage result for emailImage result for telephone icon

Pushy sales doesn’t work! The key is to build trust over time. What  tools do we use?  LinkedIn, Email and the power of the Voice Mail.

We believe and teach the value of a helping mindset. Your prospective customers have challenges, hopes and aspirations. They need your help. All you need to do is build their trust, and faith, in your organization. Learn  how we help here. Once it’s clear you can help, you will have loyal clients for life. When you bring value you make sales. Or if you’re a startup, learn sales for engineers and skills to promote your new venture.

Got a Question?

Something about today’s episode got you thinking? Do you have a question or a comment you’d like share?

If so “babble me” an email here, or if you can’t wait chat Pat now.

Maybe you’d like to share your musings on the podcast? Leave a voice message here. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Don’t worry about babbling, we prefer it.

Listening Options

You can find us on:

 

Technology Sales for Non-Sellers with Sanjit Singh  #330

Technology Sales for Non-Sellers with Sanjit Singh  #330

According to guest Sanjit Singh, sales isn’t natural for tech founders. Having worked in the startup world for years, he’s found that focusing on an iterative process that fine tunes sales, marketing and product design is the key to startup success. We chat about how sellers make great entrepreneurs and the opportunities the current pandemic creates for both new and existing companies.  A lively chat on technology sales for  non-sellers.

Technology Sales  Value Proposition

When starting, new companies are often unclear who exactly they sell to, what market segment they’re in, the benefits of their products, and what differentiates their product from the competition.   All of these questions are answered by having a solid value proposition.

Before building a selling and marketing infrastructure with a CRM, digital marketing and social media mechanisms, it’s critical that founders first define their product, it’s market and the feature and benefits  that motivate buyers to buy. That’s the value proposition.

Product  Marketing and Technology Sales Iteration

When entering a new market, it’s important to fully understand how a new product fits. It’s best to take an iterative approach to selling and slowly tune the process over time. You may find that a few changes in the product make selling far simpler.  As sales becomes well understood you will find ways of mechanizing outreach and start building a marketing process. All of this is iterative and they all feed into one another

.The COVID19 pandemic has been hard on the world. But in your business, it might create opportunity. Spend time with the market and research the impact to prospective clients. With good questions and better listening, you may discover a new product that could be a runaway success.

How To Find Sanjit Singh

This is boltt.io  Fractional Sales that  accelerate and build out your startup sales team.  They focus on technology sales, marketing and product fit.

This is Sanjit on Linkedin  to connect.

Thank Our Sponsor Sharetivity

Sharetivity on Sales Babble Sharetivity helps salespeople increase prospect engagement by providing an easy and fast way to personalizing their outreach. Sales starts with getting your prospects attention, given all the noise you have to be different, you have to personalize your outreach. Unfortunately, that is time consuming to go to Google, Linkedin, Twitter, YouTube etc to find an icebreaker.

Thank Our Sponsor Habanero Media

We help busy B2B companies  attract new customers and clients through the magic of podcasting! Start your B2B podcast today and grow your brand, authority, influence and trust.

Download Why Your Business Needs a B2B Podcast here.

Past Episodes on Startups

Sales Consulting To Grow Your Business

Pat helps technology startups and businesses discover the true value they bring to market, find customers who deeply appreciate that value then scale that process to extraordinary profits. We do this with modern 2020 sales and marketing techniques. 

Image result for linkedinImage result for emailImage result for telephone icon

Pushy sales doesn’t work! The key is to build trust over time. What  tools do we use?  LinkedIn, Email and the power of the Voice Mail.

We believe and teach the value of a helping mindset. Your prospective customers have challenges, hopes and aspirations. They need your help. All you need to do is build their trust, and faith, in your organization. Learn  how we help here. Once it’s clear you can help, you will have loyal clients for life. When you bring value you make sales. Or if you’re a startup, learn sales for engineers and skills to promote your new venture.

Got a Question?

Something about today’s episode got you thinking? Do you have a question or a comment you’d like share?

If so “babble me” an email here, or if you can’t wait chat Pat now.

Maybe you’d like to share your musings on the podcast? Leave a voice message here. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Don’t worry about babbling, we prefer it.

Listening Options

You can find us on:

 

Business and Marketing Strategies That Work with Jason Van Orden #290

Jason Van Orden Sales Babble

Business and Marketing Strategies That Work with Jason Van Orden #290

Jason Van Orden Sales BabbleIn this episode we meet digital marketing expert Jason Van Orden. Jason is the  author and former host of the Internet Business Mastery podcast. Jason’s podcast and marketing course shaped Sales Babble in its early years.  Jason and I babble  about business and marketing strategies. Next we discuss  the sales process and how to find the perfect audience for your products and services. Lastly, we discuss how marketing has changed in the last six years and what you can do to stand out from the crowd.

Top 3 Strategy Questions

Ask yourself the following questions regarding your market:

    1. Who are you serving ? Who do you want to benefit from your expertise? If you’re unclear about that, you’re marketing and sales campaign will fall flat.
    2. What is the outcome your customers want? What are the results that matter to them?  You should focus on the needs, outcomes and aspirations. Don’t get overly fixated on the solution. This is a common mistake. Instead define messaging in terms of outcomes. When speaking about outcomes, the solution will naturally come up during conversation.
    3. What is the the conversation they’re are already having in their mind? Speak in this context since they are already open for a solution.

Marketing is harder due to the fact the noise level has gone up. Listen don’t talk. Don’t make any assumptions.  Have true conversations everywhere you go: conferences, network meetings, zoom calls and coffee meetups. Interview  about challenges and ask about stories and experience.

Not Leading the Witness

Don’t do this and say “I have this idea and I want to know what you think….”    People will tell you what you want to hear.  Instead search for an unmet need and then see i you’re a fit. Use their own words and language to market and sell to them.

When you use their words they will say “Wow it’s like you’re reading my mind!”   Instead of telling,  have empathy and walk in their shoes. Jason mentioned the book the Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick, How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you.

How To Find Jason Van Orden

You can find Jason here at https://jasonvanorden.com and you can find him on social media:

Selling With Confidence Online Sales Class

Learn How To Start Selling With Confidence

Sales and Marketing Alignment

Here are other episodes that delve into business and marketing strategies from the past. Listen now!