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What Founders Should Know about the Sales Process
founders-journey.org
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Drawing on three decades of experience, Shipley notes a fundamental difference in the mindsets of sales-oriented people and most founders—and staff in other functions. Focused on solving the problem, most technical founders “don’t think there could be a brain type out there that is simply motivated by just monetary reward.” But Shipley underscores, trying to understand how a salesperson thinks and “what would motivate them is important.” “Often a founder will bring in a salesperson with a great track record from a more established company with a predictable product.” For a founder, trying to understand how that salesperson thinks and what would motivate them is important.
Drawing on three decades of experience, Shipley notes a fundamental difference in the mindsets of sales-oriented people and most founders—and staff in other functions. Focused on solving the problem, most technical founders “don’t think there could be a brain type out there that is simply motivated by just monetary reward.” But Shipley underscores, trying to understand how a salesperson thinks and “what would motivate them is important.” ““not be able to deal with the fact that the product is really not ready for prime time or there’s no repeatability to the process.”” For a founder, trying to understand how that salesperson thinks and what would motivate them is important.
Understand and Anticipate the Sales Learning Curve “They hire a sales team prematurely, ahead of the real demand.” Made popular in 2006 by Mark Leslie and Charles A. Holloway, the sales learning curve identifies three primary times during which a learning process must occur before you can accurately forecast sales for your product. These three primary times are: when a startup1) introduces a new product, 2) changes route to market—from direct to indirect or indirect or direct or 3) launches into new territory.
Lou Shipley “follow-up with open-ended questions such as, “Oh, that’s interesting. Can you share more about how that impacts your business?”” Additionally, you can ask them to talk about other solutions they’ve tried. Then inquire about the pros and cons of those methods. That way, Shipley recaps, “you start to learn more about how they’re already dealing with the problem. You’re understanding all the dimensions of it before you say, ‘I have something for you.'”
For instance, for a B2B customer, the length of time required to get a product to market may be a pain point. After hearing that, follow-up with open-ended questions such as, “Oh, that’s interesting. Can you share more about how that impacts your business?” After listening to that answer, ask additional follow-up questions like, “Can you tell me a little bit more about that? Or was there a time when anyone else in the organization had the same issue?” “you start to learn more about how they’re already dealing with the problem. You’re understanding all the dimensions of it before you say, ‘I have something for you.'” Understand the Sales Learning Curve—Prepare for Productivity Dips