Summary of B2B Sales for Startups Strategies, Tactics & Tradecraft - Session 1 || Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs

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00:00:00 - 01:00:00

Kent Summers, a professor of B2B sales at Harvard, stresses the importance of revenue for any startup and B2B sales as a unique way of problem-solving. Successful sales involve understanding the decision-making process of teams, the pain points and costs associated with a single use case, and the need for founders to be the first salespersons. The process also involves having a customer profile, a sales pipeline, and focusing on the right prospects. He advises against cramming multiple stages of the sales process into a single interaction, providing value to buyers and having a relaxing yet professional attitude. Successful buyer-seller relationships require empathy, trust, value, and competence, with salespeople having the right attitude and behavior to control sales performance.

  • 00:00:00 In this section, Kent Summers, who teaches B2B sales for startups at MIT and Harvard, introduces the importance of revenue as the main concern for any startup. He emphasizes that revenue is the only thing that really matters, and any other aspect of the business becomes manageable once revenue is flowing. He focuses on B2B sales as a different animal from B2C sales, involving complex problems that require innovative solutions and a different mindset. Enterprise sales often involve higher priced offerings and managing uncertainties, and understanding how to solve those problems is crucial for sales success.
  • 00:05:00 In this section, the speaker discusses the nature of B2B sales, where the goal is to understand who or what a solution will displace and to identify hidden agendas and forces that influence purchasing decisions made by the team rather than an individual. Salespeople therefore need to be able to ask the right questions to manage these aspects head-on. The speaker emphasizes that contrary to popular belief, sales is not about chasing buyers or picking winners and losers, but rather about helping people achieve a goal or solve a problem, which eventually leads to a transaction. Salespeople need to approach sales with the proper mindset of using their attitude and behavior to control their sales performance. Lastly, sales, like any other skill, can be learned through practice, and most technical founders can become good at sales with repetition and coaching.
  • 00:10:00 In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of understanding the high failure rate of sales and the need to approach it as a failure recovery rather than failure avoidance. He suggests that instead of always qualifying customers, effective sales involves disqualifying potential customers who aren't a good fit and doesn't rely on making statements but rather on asking questions. He stresses the importance of founders being the first salespersons and understanding firsthand the issues that prevent customers from making a purchase, along with early product market feedback that can help shape the product roadmap. The founder has a skewed view of reality that can help overcome obstacles and maintain vision. The speaker cautions against hiring professional salespeople too early as it usually leads to failure. He concludes by suggesting that a discussion of sales toolkit and mechanics would be more impactful than personality and skill traits.
  • 00:15:00 In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of having a customer profile and a sales pipeline in B2B sales for startups. A well-defined customer profile enables startups to focus their daily sales activity on a specific industry, company types within that industry, specific geographies and sizes, and the decision-making unit. The buyer profile, which is a job title or role with specific responsibilities and unmet needs, is another essential component of the customer profile. The speaker recommends gathering facts related to pain and cost, not theoretical or implied gains while fine-tuning the customer profile through continuous engagement with the team and 100-200 prospects. The sales pipeline, also known as the funnel, is a methodology that startups use to drive focus and efficiency in time management by allowing them to identify the most productive use of their time daily.
  • 00:20:00 In this section of the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of identifying the pain points and costs associated with a single use case rather than pursuing multiple scenarios, which may dilute the focus. They also explain that the validation of a customer profile is receiving purchase orders from different companies to solve a similar problem. The speaker then discusses the pipeline process, which involves leads coming in at the top, being filtered through specific criteria to become suspects, prospects, and opportunities, until they eventually become customers, with conversion metrics occurring at each stage. They also explain the importance of triage and attrition in shaping the funnel, and how to effectively manage the pipeline by investing team time and exposure to customers at the opportunity stage.
  • 00:25:00 In this section of the video, the speaker discusses the different stages involved in sales at a mature company, including marketing, inside sales, field sales, and account management. He points out that each stage requires a specific skill set, and that scaling a go-to-market team involves dividing the roles into specialized disciplines. The sales pipeline is also defined as a sequential list of steps that help focus a team's efforts and balance sales activity, from filtered leads (MQLs) to prospects (SQLs) to opportunities to customers. The speaker emphasizes the importance of increasing the conversion rate from left to right and of having well-defined criteria for allowing people to take up valuable time.
  • 00:30:00 In this section, the speaker discusses the difference between MQLs and SQLs and emphasizes the importance of clarity in messaging on websites, as a website can prevent B2B sales if it overwhelms the visitor. The speaker also highlights the goal of creating a champion for the product or service within the organization and the two methods of gathering leads - outbound and inbound. The former is a traditional approach that involves targeting specific company profiles or groups of prospects, while the latter is a more efficient method that involves acquisition through search engine optimization and pay-per-click.
  • 00:35:00 In this section, the speaker discusses inbound versus outbound lead generation and the skills that are necessary for each. In outbound marketing, the seller initiates the contract, while in inbound marketing, the buyer initiates the contact. Outbound marketing requires direct marketing skills, while inbound marketing relies on SEO and PPC skills. It is important to optimize your website and PPC spend around the problem you solve, not your solution, especially if you have a unique and innovative offering. The big difference between the two approaches is the cost of sales. Outbound marketing tends to have a fairly proportionate cost of sales to revenue, while inbound marketing tends to flatten off, resulting in a lower overall cost of sales. Companies that have experimented with both approaches have found that SEO and PPC are more successful in the long run due to sales economics.
  • 00:40:00 In this section, the speaker advises startups on common mistakes they should avoid while making sales. Firstly, founders should avoid cramming multiple stages of their sales process into a single interaction with a prospective buyer as it may wear them out. Secondly, founders are advised not to solve buyer's problems over email, but rather create room for a person-to-person interaction. The use of the term 'we' instead of 'I' is also recommended when prospecting as it gives the buyer the impression of working with the company and not an individual. The speaker also explores the importance of being mindful and respectful of other people's time and pressures on the job when sales prospecting. Lastly, providing value to buyers in conversations goes a long way in building relationships.
  • 00:45:00 In this section, the speaker offers advice for B2B sales and emphasizes the importance of being professional yet relaxed in sales interactions. He also stresses the need to develop specific skills to help customers easily opt-in or out of the sales process, as well as the need to trust one's instincts when making decisions with incomplete information. Additionally, he suggests treating expensive opportunities in the sales pipeline like perishable food to prioritize and manage timing effectively.
  • 00:50:00 In this section, the speaker discusses the different types of salespeople and their behaviors, emphasizing the importance of attitude and behavior when it comes to successful sales. He explains how efficiency and performance are not mutually exclusive and that being too efficient can result in diminishing returns. He describes four types of salespeople: the Pusher, the Dreamer/Hoper, the Mechanic, and the Facilitator. He advises that highly perishable deals should be given more attention, but that even qualified opportunities that do not close can be placed in the freezer for future drip campaigns. He stresses that sales is unpredictable and that controlling one's attitude and behavior is essential.
  • 00:55:00 In this section, the speaker emphasizes the importance of the attitude and behavior of salespeople in building successful buyer relationships. Rather than jumping straight into problem-solving mode, salespeople should begin with empathy and establish trust with buyers, showing they understand their unique needs and have their best interests in mind. Building a successful buyer relationship revolves around the four pillars of empathy, trust, value, and competence. Too often, salespeople make the mistake of attempting to build the relationship backward by trying to convince the buyer how knowledgeable they are, which can be viewed as dismissive of their unique circumstances. Instead, by starting with empathy and trust, salespeople can earn the right to talk about their competence as it becomes a gift to buyers who trust them.

01:00:00 - 01:10:00

The first session of "B2B Sales for Startups" highlights key strategies, tactics, and tradecraft for successful B2B selling as a startup. The speaker stresses the importance of looking for a shift in a prospect's attitude, balancing sales activity for all stages of the pipeline, and focusing only on qualified buyers. Additionally, Ken discusses the network effect and offers advice on dealing with prospective clients who are just looking for competitive intelligence. The session ends with a brief discussion of the upcoming Thursday session and gratitude for attendees' time and questions.

  • 01:00:00 In this section, the speaker advises B2B salespeople to look for a shift in the prospect's attitude during interactions, from being self-centered to wanting to solve the problem together. They also caution against personalizing rejections from potential clients, as sales is a numbers game, not a personal referendum on one's abilities. Additionally, the speaker articulates the importance of balancing one's sales activity among all stages of the pipeline to avoid unsustainable fluctuating cash flows during a startup's early stages. They emphasized the importance of focusing only on qualified buyers, as unqualified prospects are not worth investing in. Lastly, the speaker advises startups not to engage in evangelism during the sales process and not to attempt to change people's priorities.
  • 01:05:00 In this section, Ken talks about the network effect in B2B marketing and mentions that it occurs in the same way as it does in B2C marketing. He also advises on how to deal with people who are just looking for competitive intelligence without intending to become a buyer. Lastly, he addresses the question of when to hire outside help for sales, stating that it depends on the ability to tell a salesperson to go out and get more customers just like the current ones.
  • 01:10:00 In this section, the video concludes with a brief discussion about the upcoming Thursday session and expresses gratitude for the attendees' time and questions. The speakers express their excitement for the next session and hope that participants are able to take away valuable insights and strategies to apply to their own B2B sales for startups.

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