I listen to startup podcasts so you don’t have to.
\"We, you know, we did start to hire sellers... you need to start thinking about how do we scale that... that's where you start to blend from founder-led sales into bringing on a sales leader.\"
• Recognize when sales volume surpasses founder capacity. • Hire sales professionals to continue growth. • Shift founder focus to other strategic areas as sales team grows.\"I didn't drive any business from it... that post was really good for my ego... whereas a week before, I did a post that only 4000 people saw, and I set up 3 sales calls.\"
• Prioritize content that resonates with potential customers. • Measure success by engagement from qualified leads. • Avoid chasing vanity metrics like impressions.\"I had a post... which I now call my watering hole posts... prospects... started commenting on my posts, and more or less sticking their hand up and saying, I exist.\"
• Craft posts that encourage engagement from target customers. • Use topics that invite discussion and participation. • Identify engaged prospects and follow up for potential sales.\"Every week you are sending a connection request to 25 to 50 potential prospects... you're posting every day... once someone has been connected with you for a few weeks, you are sending a DM.\"
• Regularly connect with potential customers. • Share valuable content to build familiarity. • Reach out with personalized messages after warming them up.\"You have to have a price ready to go because... you're getting on the phone, saying the price, and someone's either saying 'No, that's it'... you're going to pretty soon start to understand what pricing people will go for.\"
• Present your initial pricing to gauge reactions. • Adjust pricing based on feedback and willingness to pay. • Use conversations to find the balance between value and cost.\"I'm not pitching... I'm really interested to bounce a few things off you just for your feedback... halfway through they'd say, 'This is really interesting... how much does this cost?'\"
• Approach calls as opportunities to learn, not just sell. • Let the product's value speak for itself during discussions. • Customers may express interest to buy without feeling pressured.\"We said we're only going to bring them on for 3 month pilots... to figure out which of those 10 customers after 3 months wanted to keep working with us.\"
• Short-term contracts allow faster learning about customer satisfaction. • Use pilots to refine your product based on real-world usage. • Identify which customers are likely to renew and focus on them.\"In the early stages, you're doing just as much exploration and learning as you are selling, because the reality is, you don't quite know who the customer is.\"
• Use sales calls to gather customer feedback. • Adjust your product, pricing, and messaging based on insights. • Understand that finding product-market fit involves continuous learning.\"You need to really understand your customer and... think about what do they want to read about. And then you need to be posting about that.\"
• Identify your ideal customer and their interests. • Create content addressing their concerns and industry trends. • Position yourself as a thought leader to gain their respect and attention.\"You can actually have free advertising or warm up your prospects before you actually reach out... that's in the form of posting.\"
• Post thought leadership content to build authority. • Allow prospects to see your content to increase familiarity. • Warmed-up prospects are more receptive to outreach messages.