I’ve started working with an excellent private sales coach. We’re looking to hone fundamentals to build out a full-cycle sales process for an early stage startup (Crash).
We’ve covered plenty of ground from setting up automated email flows, templates, clarifying target markets, and tech stack. But for this post I want to flesh out the nuances at to the meat of sales: building human relationships.
Here are my takeaways after 2 sessions.
Discovery Calls
- Small talk matters to break the ice and build connection, esp. through video which can be weird at the start of a call. (This reminds me of this TED Talk on 7 Ways to Make Conversation with Anyone).
- Use “ACEM” to establish call structure. Appreciate their time, Confirm the agenda, set anticipated End game, and check for Mutuality (“What does a good meeting look like for you?”)
- When in doubt, ask more questions. Be keenly curious to learn about their needs, and also frame the problem vs. your solution. I.e. for Crash: “what response rates are you seeing to resumes for your grads?” “I see value there, do you agree?” And to set a second call, “who would feel left out if they didn’t see this?” Work to include other decision makers.
Make All Calls Warm - When you’re trying to set the first meeting via your cadence, start with a personalize email/LinkedIn touches, then in your first call, keep it informal and refer to the emails.
- Just be a human, don’t pitch them yet, and just try to get a meeting booked. “Hey Steve I know you’re busy, I hate getting interrupted too, just trying to catch you between meetings.” The goal is to disarm them, not pitch them. Their guard is up trying to disqualify you. Be authentic and empathetic (for real, not just as a technique).
- If they try to get you to pitch (so they can find a reason to reject you), talk about the problems you solve, then ask “are you experiencing any of those problems.”
- If they hit you with an objection, don’t handle it! Just get the meeting booked. “That’s something we can talk about on the call. Just trying to catch you right now while you’re between your meetings.”
