Sales answers

At what point should we bring on a sales person (and not do the selling ourselves as founders)?

Answered by Benjamin Yoskovitz Posted in Management Sales

Ideally you bring on a salesperson when you know: * what you're selling * to who * at what cost * and how If you can build a repeatable sales model that works, then you h... (more)

We have a web service business. How can we compare our membership growth with our competitors?

Answered by Dev Basu Posted in Sales Product Development

I'm assuming you have a SaaS business? I would look at competitive insight tools like: - Quantcast - Compete - Google Trends - Google Insights (type in your competitor's d... (more)

I would be interested in seeing how others are setting up sales comp models for inside sales reps in SaaS companies.

Answered by Ryan Kelly Posted in Sales

The goal of my website is to get you to try our product. What you want to do is pay attention to the items in red that need attention. Right now the tool is very basic, an... (more)

What is the best way to encourage current clients to recommend your services to others?

Answered by Noah Godfrey Posted in Sales

Ask them to recommend you and show them that you're grateful when they do. Or, you can always try offering incentives ... just be careful about changing the dynamic betwee... (more)

How do you deal with competition?

Answered by Bruce Poon Tip Posted in Lessons Sales Operations

I don't really deal with them. I do what I can to build a culture to not get caught up with what others are doing. It is different when you're market leader though..as we d... (more)

You advised that startups should concentrate on "optimizing their funnel" before looking at customer acquisition tactics; can you explain what that means and what it entails?

Answered by April Dunford Posted in Sales

The funnel is how a prospect moves from not knowing about you at all to paying you money. For an online B2C product the funnel might look like this: X people see your Googl... (more)

Hi Eric, when you are doing customer discovery, is it ok to try to make a sale during first time interview if a prospective customer likes your idea? Or should I wait after...

Answered by Eric Ries Posted in Sales

As long as you are not in "sales mode" if the customer wants to order (or pre-order), I would always try and take their money. (more)

Financial services company with $450k revenue in year 1 with tech like EBITDA margins. Scaleable. No fixed costs. Cash is not a problem. How do I speed up growth? Orga...

Answered by Daniel klass Posted in Sales Money

VCs are focused on technology plays - its the mandate of most funds. (more)

We have an online classifieds website but this space is too crowded. We are here to give a better user experience then Craigslist and backpage. We are a startup and can't c...

Answered by Dev Basu Posted in Sales Marketing

Do what Yelp did - Hustle really hard in one city to build up and audience and then take on CL/Kijiji. You should also read how AirBnB grew their business by porting users ... (more)

We have developed an enterprise software product and already sold it to a couple of major clients. However, these first few sales were to companies that we already had busi...

Answered by Daniel klass Posted in Money Sales

outside sales people are way to expensive. if the product works and your customers are happy - build through referrals. channel partnerships take too much time and you dont... (more)

if you were wanting to eventually do a start up in the tech space and wanted to work in sales before hand what are the companies that have the best training ?

Answered by Mark Ruddock Posted in Sales

Depends on if your idea is enterprise focused, partner focused or consumer focused. Try and find a company that is best in class in the sector that you are targeting. You'l... (more)

what is the best way to approach companies (retailers) that might be potentially interested in my product and convince them to sign up for my service?

Answered by Kevin O'Connor Posted in Sales

Businesses only buy if you can prove you can save them money or make them money - you must prove a positive ROI. The first few customers, I'd make it risk-free - they only... (more)

What do you think of "freemium"?

Answered by Gary Levitt Posted in Sales Product Development

I think it's the strongest model for Software as a Service companies. It can be annoying if done poorly. I think giving away a lot for free is key to making fremium succeed. (more)

Scaling our small b2sme company is starting to shape up like we're going to need at least a sales person or two. How best to avoid that?

Answered by Dan Martell Posted in Sales Management

Create a sales process. By doing so, you'll likely be able to increase opportunities by 3-4x without feeling overwhelmed. Here's how I recently advised a service company ... (more)

I've just started my own catering company with the soft launch last year, and going part-time starting in May 2011. After only a couple of months, We are already growing at...

Answered by Rick Spence Posted in Sales Marketing

Join the local chamber of commerce; get involved in events and committees. Get to know your fellow members and network with those who are in a position to hire you. People ... (more)

With the advent of different technologies and therefore different avenues of marketing and sales, is there still a strong need to go "door-to-door", with pamphlets/printed ...

Answered by Kevin O'Connor Posted in Product Development Marketing Sales

You're not the only one facing the same problem - going after small, local business is expensive, high churn and small sales. We launched an early local product (called Do... (more)

I'm looking to hire someone to steer business development for my company -- this will be my third hire and my only sales hire. What should I look for and what should I look...

Answered by Michael Garrity Posted in Sales

You are looking for a relentless "doer" willing to buy-in long term to the business. You need them to take up-side in the business versus draining all your cash. When you... (more)

I'm an experienced marketer who has been in charge of global campaigns for previous employers. However now I'm striking out on my own as a consutant, I'm not sure what I sh...

Answered by Saul Colt Posted in Sales Money

The truth is that you should charge as much as someone will pay you. Here is a better explanation. http://t.co/eaXHTtUl (more)

Hello Kevin, We have launched our business in November last year. Basically we are developing a social training network to help trainers and trainees to collaborate and sh...

Answered by Kevin O'Connor Posted in Sales

Not really sure what problem you're trying to solve. Why would colleges be your market? I know students buy $4 coffees now, but are they hiring trainers too!? (more)

Do you think it's important to have customer case studies on my site? If so what should I include?

Answered by Daniel Debow Posted in Marketing Sales

Yes. It's important to have stories about how customers like your target customers have used your service/product. It helps with "social proof" and also helps pragmatic b... (more)

Sign up for Sprouter

Sales answers