Sales 101 for a Techie Founder !

When devising strategies for startups especially for a techie, one question that is daunting is how do I expand my business and thereby doubts around his sales prowess starts growing. The world of sales is unknown, one that is very traumatizing. This blog demystifies the sales process

First “You need to be speaking all the time to be a great sales person”

Wrong. Who wants to keep on listening to some loudmouth blabbering, be it at a business conference or at your own office ?

Second “You should be very boisterous and jovial to be a good sales person”

Again wrong. Anybody can see through a fake “jovial” person. Who wants to be initiate a fake conversation ??

One of the common misconception that gives Sales an almost Godlike title is that ‘Only a great orator/speaker can do Sales’

Surely this is an added advantage however rightsales strategies far outweigh any amount of Oratory or networking skills

Let us first understand what happens the whole sales process.

In a Sales Process there would be 2 parties. At one end there is an individual or an institution who is the buyer. Let us call him Mr Consumer …who needs to buy some product to meet his needs, which means without this or similar product they may have to undergo some pain.

At the other end there is a representative of a company, Let us call him Mr. Seller …. who are manufacturing a product or offering a service which may cater to the needs of Mr. Consumer.

Now the question is how do they meet and understand each other’s requirements

As a first step Mr. Seller goes around announcing the name of his product. Mr Consumer is nearby and is able to hear Mr Seller. Assume that Mr. Consumer knows his pain but does not know what product will remove the pain. In that case Mr Seller’s efforts of going around peddling the name of the product goes waste.

Let us extend this a bit more with the help of an example

So there is a patient (in our example Mr. Consumer) who is having high fever. And there is a Doctor (in our example Mr Seller) who is offering Panadol.

When the consumer goes to the doctor he does not say he wants Panadol, neither does the doctor starts offering Panadol as soon as he sees the patient. What transpires is there is a conversation Mr. Consumer, our patient conveys his pain ie “fever”.

After understanding the pain, the doctor which is our Mr. Seller offers Panadol which is the remedy to the pain of Mr. Consumer. Notice that the language of communication is not the product but the pain

Now let us go take this analogy to the sale process.

Firstly Mr. Seller when seeking out a client for his product should mention the benefits of his product and how the pain of the consumer is removed with this feature of the product. Just promoting the name and composition of the product will not interest the Consumer.This is a standard mistake made by even seasoned sales personnel. They would be selling the name of the product which has no meaning to the Consumer. What the sales person should do instead is explain how the particular pain of the consumer is removed by a specific feature of the consumer

Secondly when Mr. Consumer is in pain he would be open to listening to anyone who has a solution to his pain. Mr Seller on the other hand may have a product that can cure various pains.It is essential however that Mr. Seller initially pronounces the words that Mr. Consumer wants to hear that would relieve his pain, all other benefits from the same product may not interest him. This is a very important concept to keep in mind when devising marketing strategies for startups.

Like for example Panadol has differing benefits including as a pain killer, however in this situation the doctor offers it as a remedy to reduce fever.

Thus when Mr. Seller is near Mr. Consumer, targeting a communication towards our Mr. Consumer the messaging should be only those that help Mr. Consumer’s pain. This is called targeted messaging.. with customized messages to the target audience.

One When selling we need to speak the language of the Consumer that describes his pain, his problem In hand and how the product is going to be the remedy for the particular pain of the Consumer

Two It is important to specify the feature of the product that meets the particular pain of the consumer, thereby targeted marketing to a specific target segment of consumer who has similar pain is a must. There can be multiple messaging for the same product each targeting a different consumer segment with differing pain points.

Three If the pain is removed by a specific product the consumer is all ears. The sales person need not be loud, nor does the sales person need to bea great networking person to be able to promote his product.

Thus it is clear that Sales is much more than just talking loud and being boisterous, instead the right sales strategy is all we need.When devising the startup marketing plan these simple steps would be much more powerful than being an avid talker.

And yes the simple answer to the topic of this talk

Yes of course you can be a good founder and a good sales person too and yes we need to get the right definition to the term sales person.