Why Founders Doing Founder-Led Sales in Tech Start-Ups Get Ghosted - ALOT
In the world of tech startups, you often find yourself wearing multiple hats. One of the most challenging roles you might have to adopt is that of a salesperson. While you might be an expert in your domain, having a deep understanding of the problem space and potential solutions, the intricacies of strategic sales can be daunting. This article delves into why founder-led sales is hard for you, especially when you lack sales experience, and what can be done to bridge this gap and stop getting ghosted.
The Founder Advantage
You have a distinct advantage when it comes to selling your product. You are:
1. Problem Expert: You understand the problem you're trying to solve better than anyone else.
2. Market Expert: You have a deep understanding of the market dynamics and the gaps that exist.
3. Passionate Advocate: Your passion for your product can be infectious, making it easier to convince potential customers of its value.
The Challenge of Strategic Sales
However, the complexity and demands of strategic sales, especially when it takes 5 to 7 years to become proficient at selling. You often have limited runway and are under pressure to meet targets set by angel and pre-seed investors and when those warm referrals dry up, and you need to build from nothing for anyone not acquainted with the discipline, it can be daunting to say the least. It's genuinely a case of you don't know what you don't know, so you need to find out. The core competencies you need to be successful in strategic sales are:
1. General Selling Skills: From qualification, consultative selling, discovery to storytelling and objection handling.
2. Deal Management Skills: This involves everything from securing executive sponsorship gaining access to executive-level buyers, to managing trials or POCs.
3. Process Execution Skills: This includes consistently executing the sales process using qualification methodologies to ensure deals don't stall and are worth spending valuable time on.
4. Call Management Skills: From creating pre-call plans to effectively summarising sales calls.
Even for seasoned tech sales professionals, mastering these skills is a tall order. For you, the challenge is even more pronounced.
Bridging the Gap: The Solution
So, how can you shortcut the steep learning curve? Here's a potential roadmap:
1. Cut-Through Sales Training: You need focused training on the latest strategic sales methods across the entire sales cycle.
2. Live Deal Coaching: This helps validate your sales pipeline, ensuring it's robust and not just filled with fluff.
3. Guided Selling Framework: A structured approach ensures you know what to do, show, and say at each stage, increasing the likelihood of progressing deals.
4. Tools and Frameworks: Equip yourself with conversational guides tailored to your proposition and Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
In Today's Hyper Competitive Tech Sales Market
In a market where there's an APP or SaaS point solution that addresses most pains, you need to level up. Engage sales experts who can cut through the noise and confusion to distil and embed key sales competencies. This will significantly improve your sales execution, enabling you to sell like the best in the business.
Are You Up To It? You can take our Founder-Led Sales capability assessment to understand where you're great and where you need a hand.