Sales Methodology Simplified: Ditch the Questions, Teach and Share Insights
As enterprise software founders, you can't achieve your vision and mission without customers, which means you need to sell. But if you've never sold anything before, the whole process is overwhelming. There's a ton of advice out there, but much of it is either confusing or requires a PhD in sales to understand. In this post, we'll cut through the noise and explore a simple sales methodology that any founder can use: Teaching and Insight.
Traditional sales methods - for example solution selling - often involve bombarding prospects with questions. You know the drill - a sales rep reaches out, you take a meeting out of curiosity, and then they start firing off questions about your challenges, solutions, objectives, and decision-making processes. It's annoying, time-consuming, and presumptive. While this "solution selling" approach might work in some cases (e.g., mature industries with mature products), it's not ideal for startups.
Instead, let's focus on teaching. As a founder, you should have unique insights into the problem your technology solves. You've likely conducted countless customer interviews and research, which means you have valuable information to share. When you approach a prospect, come armed with perspective, and show them why they're a good fit for your technology.
For example, when selling to Nestle, a top global CPG company, at my last company, I might say something like, "In conversations with other CPGs like Unilever and Colgate, we've observed that building direct digital relationships and centralizing customer understanding across their brands for better lifecycle marketing is a top priority. They've discovered how “customer identity” can be a unifying thread to make this happen." This approach sparks a response, leading to a productive back-and-forth conversation. In this particular case, it led to our first multi-million-dollar contract.
Notice that there are no questions, only insights. And I didn't even talk about our product - that comes later. The main goal is to get prospects to agree with your insights, recognize their needs, and believe that your technology category can address those needs. Note: If you want to dive deeper into this methodology, check out "The Challenger Sale" by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson.
By focusing on teaching and sharing insights, founders are well-positioned to excel in sales. Let this be your guidepost when developing your sales methodology, and as your sales efforts scale, be cautious not to lose sight of these core principles.