Key Take-Aways from Fri-Nov-3 Bootstrappers Breakfast
We had a good discussion at this morning at Voyager Coffee in San Jose for the Fri-Nov-3 Bootstrappers Breakfast. Here are some key items we discussed and my take-aways.
Sales
How Founders Can Learn Sales on the Job
In this podcast, Étienne Garbugli and Sean K. Murphy discuss several proven approaches for how founders can learn sales on the job.
Customer Buying Process: Understand, Believe, Act
A simple but very useful model we like for the customer buying process is “Understand, Believe, Act.” This post explains what it is and how to apply it.
Customer Care
Customer care is treating your customers with respect and dignity. It requires curiosity and empathy on everyone’s part in a startup.
Land and EXPAND – Recession-proof your Sales and Expand your Bottom Line
Land and EXPAND the fasting path to expand your bottom line. A key area where many companies don’t focus as much as they should – is expansion within their existing customers
Newsletter Q2 2022: Startup Friendly – Scrappy Sales Framework
Is this you? You have put their heart and soul into developing your product. You launch your dreams and then nothing…nobody buys
Drawing a Map of the Customer Organization
A conversation with Brendan McAdams about what’s involved in drawing a map of the customer organization as part of an enterprise sale.
Cultivating Luck in Business Endeavors and Relationships
Brendan McAdams and Sean Murphy discuss cultivating luck in business endeavors and relationships.
Micro-VC / Angel investor Thomas Ahn on the Effective Investor Pitch
An extract from a highly interactive session with Thomas Ahn at the Lean Culture Meetup on Mar-25-2021 where he answers “what makes for an effective investor pitch?”
Maintaining Your Professional Network
Some people are natural connectors. Sean Murphy is one of those. In this video, he shares one of his secret to network maintenance. He frames maintaining your professional network as counting your blessings. Your network is a long-term investment. It takes the time to nurture and grow your relationships.
Lean Canvas Operations
Lean Canvas Operations is part of a five part series by Ed Ipser where he explains how to use the Lean Canvas and what it is good for.
Why is an Enterprise Sale So Complex?
An enterprise sale is a significant source of opportunity for startups, but it is a complex undertaking with many moving parts and many people involved. This article is the result of a collaboration with Brendan McAdams (@BrendanMcAdams), a sales and marketing professional focused on B2B clients in healthcare.
Just Sell the Results to Reduce Perception of Risk
Sean Murphy explains to a client why startups should just sell the results to reduce a prospect’s perception of risk in a new tool.
Landing Your First Ten Customers: Videos, Slides, and Other Resources
Here is video and slides from Feb-11-2021 talk “Landing Your First Ten Customers” at the Lean Culture Meetup. I have included some supplemental resources for further reading.
Why is it so hard to get your first ten customers?
The key challenges to getting your first ten customers relate to understanding the customer buying process and managing the startup learning process for need, impact, customer definition and message.
Q: How Does a First Time Founder Learn Sales?
You learn sales by doing sales: as a founder you must sell. Sales is a conversation, marketing is a broadcast. Marketing gets the phone to ring, sales takes the call and closes the deal.
Brendan McAdams on Sales Craft: Proven Tips to Elevate Your Sales
“Sales Craft: Proven Tips, Tactics and Ideas to Elevate Your Sales” by Brendan McAdams is a quick read, well written and clearly based on practical experience.
Be Open Kimono With Partners
Work with trusted partners open kimono: disclose relevant financials, plans, and internal processes to increase synergy. Play a long game.
Address Technology, Management, and Executive Concerns To Close Enterprise Deals
To close enterprise deals is a complex undertaking that requires you to orchestrate a mix of conversations and other activities with three kinds of stakeholders: technologists, managers, and executives.
CEOs Who Are Engineers Should Delegate Design Work And Focus On Sales
It’s not uncommon for CEOs who are engineers is to hire someone to focus on sales. But unless they know how to sell their product, this is a mistake. CEOs need to learn the basics of how to sell their product so they can manage the sales function.