Early Stage Sales for B2Bs explained

Description:

In the early B2B sales stage what we are really doing is turning solved problems into deal funnels. In the beginning you are learning a lot and seeking to understand who you need to talk to, what problems you are solving and what you need in order to open doors. The earlier stages are much more about exploration than they are about execution. The general conception of sales is about convincing or telling people about what you are selling - here we argue that sales is actually about listening and asking the right questions. It’s about building the stage before you pitch.

Exercises for this lesson:

Note: This exercise is intended for individual or team sales agents as a way to practice and reinforce learning. Incorporate this practice into your day and, if possible, into your ongoing sales work. This practice shouldn’t take you more than 10-15 minutes a day. Good luck and have fun!

Introduction: In the early stages of your business you know that your product can solve a problem. That’s great. Your theories however are only beginning to get put into practice. When you are excited to say “yes, I got it, I can define my product and its features!” it is also the best time to remain open-minded, receptive and listening to what your clients are telling you about what they really need and value in your services. Identifying the person/people most impacted by the problem you are solving is key.

Exercise: “Find the Problem Owner”

Step 1: think about and list 3 hypothetical and VERY relevant problems that you think your product is solving.

Step 2: think about 3 different business contexts where this problem occurs: industries, departments, process steps, etc.

Step 3: list all the different roles/people who work in this context or are affected by the work done in this context.

Step 4: identify the problem owner: which of the persons listed in step 3 is suffering the most from the consequences of the said relevant problem?!

Step 5: get in touch with this person and test your hypothesis. Does this problem really exist? Is it truly relevant to the problem owner or just nice to have? Are they doing anything today to solve this problem? If yes, what are they doing? Compared to the existing solution, what improvements does your product offer?

Tip: There is a huge difference between a) "nice to have" problems and b) "relevant problems" ☝️ a) are problems your fellow humans constantly complain about, but never do anything to solve them, b) are problems your fellow humans complain about and actually take action to solve them

During the week:
Tuesday: practice "find the problem owner" with 2 potential clients
Wednesday: practice "find the problem owner" with 3 potential clients
Thursday: practice "find the problem owner" with 4 potential clients

Timestamps:

0:00 tip for this video: what you can ask yourself in order to take the most away from this presentation

1:55 book recommendation to prepare yourself well for sales talks

3:22 sales is truly about the art of…

5:35 everyday sales looks much more like… an assembly line?

8:10 how sales is like making cars on an assembly line + you want deals to drop out of your funnel earlier rather than later

10:15 you want to find out as early as possible whether or not you and the prospective client are a good fit for each other or not!

11:27 the necessary mindset (shopping buddy vs. being “sold to”)

14:10 what is the game we’re really playing in the early stage?

16:02 asking yourself: Who is the problem owner? Who is the promoter?

19:28 let’s look at repeated value added

21:40 why getting pushed to clarify your business and product in the early stage can be limiting

23:00 relevant problems are not the same as nice-to-have problems + real-life example

26:10 rational decision making is a myth…feelings come first, rationalization comes later

28:00 looking at the problem owner’s context

33:43 summary and key take-away