Start-Up Sales in the time of Covid19 & beyond

Times are indeed tough – WFH, remote demo’s, remote sales management, lack of client facing time, increased competition and list goes on. The pandemic of COVID-19 has affected almost all start-ups (funded or bootstrapped) and many early stage businesses in some way or the other. Companies are hit by lack of business visibility, abrupt change in market & user dynamics and most importantly poor sales forecast. In such evolving times, Start-ups & Early Stage companies, more than ever, will have to focus on the most defining aspect of its survival – Sales!!! (Generate enough leads, build enough pipeline and close deals to secure the big R – Revenue)

In my personal experience of being in sales & management roles, close to 17 years, I have noted that to build a sustainable business, one with meaningful value to its customers, you require a powerful sales process. This well oiled sales engine however, comes with years of investment in people, process, learning from failures, training, adapting and most importantly building a strong brand.

For a Start-up (funded or bootstrapped) however, the time or investment required to setup this process or brand, simply may not be there. Today, they are simply fighting to survive another day, week, month or year. Through my own experience of starting and scaling-up 2 ventures, I have learnt this the hardest possible way. Hence, I have taken a moment to share few of my personal sales experiences that has helped me over the years, in hope that it could help other FIGHTER’S out there. Some may be relevant, some may not, but I am sure there will be one or two things here that lights you up;

ABC: Always be Closing (& Helping)

Try to adapt an get-go aggressive stance when you are pitching for new business in these tough times. To “Always Be Closing”, doesn’t always mean you have to close deals at the first connect. It is a school of thought, to make sure you are always helping your clients and closing all necessary steps along the ways. This stance is applicable to all client impacting departments like Founders, Sales, and Marketing teams.

Make it PERSONAL

Wherever possible make it a point to reply to all incoming sales inquiries in person. The main idea here is to try and reduce dependency on any auto reply process that is setup. A personal connect early on in the sales process, goes a long way for niche companies to stay TOP of MIND, when the lead is ready to buy.

PERSONALIZE

Lead with what is a fit for your clients – curate all communications with new prospects and leads, in such a way that they feel like they want to be part of your journey. Storytelling has to be curated & well planned based on the current situation.

Invest in CURRENT clients

Protect margin, Secure Revenue, and Optimize your Returns. Consider making investments in your most strategic customers, and business partners as your way to a secured future. Contact all your customers to demonstrate your business stability and availability for them, during these tough times.

HISTORICAL Data

Change is the only Constant here, and so do people, their situation, their need, their mind-set, and their response will change, to your second approach. Proactively reach out to prospects who did not close in previous sales calls. Re-establish contact with older leads, mine old databases and territories, but do so with a fresh approach and set newer pragmatic goals. Course correction always helps.

LEVERAGE your network

Seek references from your partners & clients, as they are your best salespeople. Where possible use tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, Xing, and Facebook to understand pulse of the market, especially since you are unable to travel.

Embrace CHANGE & TECHNOLOGY

Adapt to the changing market conditions. Look for free tools and optimize it where possible. A great example is ZOOM Free Version, which if incorporated for sales meetings, forces you to tailor all your sales calls, demo’s, and meetings to 30-45 mns flat. Thus, enabling your sales team to avoid long demo’s, reduce unwanted chatter and ALWAYS BE CLOSING.

RE-ENGINEER

Depending on your business offerings, it is likely your prospects and clients have significant pain points about the Covid19 situation. Spend some time re-thinking the key benefits of your products and services and check if there is a relevant value proposition that you can add, to help them get through the crisis.

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – – Socrates.

In closing, I sincerely wish you all good health and hope that the entire human ecosystem comes out largely unscathed from this pandemic. Please feel free to add your ideas that has helped you, so that others could benefit.