Tips for Winning Those First Sales (WSJ Startup Journal)

Having worked for two startups where my primary responsibility was winning initial customers and leveraging these early sales to build a customer base, I can relate to several of the points made in this article. I would summarize some of the most relevant points as follows …

• Never underestimate the time and effort it will take to land those early sales
  Recognize the importance of understanding the company’s buying process (like it or hate it)
• Do not confuse someone’s enthusiasm for your product / service with their authority to actually make the purchase
• Identifying / creating a champion within the organization can not only help close the sale, but can provide insight and perspective that you otherwise may not get
• Buying from a new company is perceived to be riskier than buying from an established customer, so work with the prospective customer to mitigate this risk
• Early reference customers can be the most important component to establishing a reputation and growing your customer base
• If the sales process is not moving forward, it is moving backwards (be willing to admit when it is not moving forward)

In my opinion, no salesperson has the ability to “control” the company’s buying process, but a good salesperson understands how to work diligently and efficiently to strongly influence the process.

When trying to land those early sales, it is also essential to have continual, open communication between the salesperson in the field who is gathering valuable customer feedback and your company’s product management team. This does not mean immediately incorporating every product change the prospective customer wants, but it does mean listening to ALL feedback with an open mind and taking this feedback into account when evolving your product.