Our May/June 2016 newsletter highlights early sales for entrepreneurs, who are motivated not by a quota but the need to meet payroll or otherwise keep their startup solvent.
May/June 2016 Newsletter: Early Sales
| This blog post summarizes our May/June 2016 newsletter, you can subscribe to the monthly SKMurphy newsletter using the form at the right.
Selling for entrepreneurs is about establishing rapport, project management, and acting as a change agent. The need to listen, communicate clearly, and build trust over time has not changed. I think the most difficult challenge in sales is maintaining an appropriate perspective and emotional distance from deals: balancing fear, greed, and frustration to maintain empathy and a clear understanding of business objectives. To a first order sales people worry about making quota, entrepreneurs worry about making payroll. It’s a different mindset. |
Early Sales Efforts Foster Value Co-Creation
Two key tasks we help early stage teams with are preparing for and executing successful negotiations of complex long-term business relationships. These early sales efforts must foster value co-creation with customers because both parties understanding of requirements will continue to evolve as the product is deployed and gains wider use.
Cutting Your Teeth In Sales
If you are an entrepreneur then sales is always a part of your responsibility. Perhaps not your primary responsibility, but always something that your actions impact directly. Here are some tips for cutting your teeth in sales.
Interview by Gabriel Weinberg: “Sean Murphy on the First Dozen Enterprise Customers“
My interview with Gabriel Weinberg was the basis for the opening of his chapter on Sales in a fantastic book for entrepreneurs called “Traction.”
Three Sales Pitches That Never Really Work
Here are three sales pitches that never really work with some suggestions for how to improve them.
SKMurphy E-Mail Newsletter
- Mar/Apr 2016 Newsletter: Lead Generation
- December 2015 Newsletter: Retrospectives, Post Mortems, and After Action Reviews
- November 2015 Newsletter: Referrals / Thanksgiving
- October 2015 Newsletter: Customer Discovery Interviews
- September 2015 Newsletter: When and How to Seek Investment
- August 2015 Newsletter: Strategies for a Winning Sales Presentation
- July 2015 Newsletter: Collaborating to Build Better Companies & Teams
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