Back to Basics
"Get back to basics!", my boxing trainer Edge answered.
It was his response to my asking him how he dealt with moments when he'd struggled. I had just faced a setback myself and was once again seeking his perspective. A former world champion in kickboxing, Edge has a wholesome, no-nonsense approach. An attitude likely shaped by a sport where physical survival relies both on discipline and an ability to face reality head-on. Our training sessions are just as much about how we see the world, as they're about leveling up my fitness or right cross. Edge's hard-earned wisdom pours out of him, and I do my best to let it seep in. He's become a confidant – a cornerman for my own life.
When we're struggling, we can get into overthinking mode. Despair, or even victimhood can creep in. 'Why is this happening to me? What am I doing wrong? There are so many things I could be doing better...where do I start?' The mind can take over and lead us to overwhelm.
When we get back to basics, we reestablish the foundational things that get us back on track. We build things back up from the ground floor. It's a great way to increase confidence when it's shaken to its core.
Since then, I've heeded Edge's advice. I now offer it to my clients when they get in a funk. “So, how does this show up in startup sales?”, you might ask. In giving you a few examples, I'll also provide some steps you can take to get yourself out of these rough patches.
“Paul, I feel like our close rate is too low. We're not closing enough of the opportunities we have in our pipeline. I ran some numbers and it looks like we're at 17%, right now.” A startup operator might confess. One might think to start by looking into how well we're demoing, selling the next steps, leading the prospect, or even controlling the sale. But even before doing that, the first thing I examine when clients come to me complaining of a low close rate is their qualification process. 'Could it be that we're letting prospects become qualified opportunities, that shouldn't belong in our pipeline? Does that end diluting our close rate?'
Before breaking down the things that could impact the way we close deals, we zoom out and look at how we get our denominator: qualified opportunities. Talk about zeroing in on fundamentals. Is there something faulty about how we go about qualifying? And if so, let's go about fixing it. Are we qualifying for budget? Timing or urgency? Missing pieces that can cost our clients dearly. We'll start digging in and find that perhaps we could have a tighter qualification process.
Clients will come to me in a panic about a slew of deals dropping off the face of the earth. In those cases, there are numerous possibilities as to the reasons why. And yet it's another time to inspect our nuts and bolts. The first place my mind goes is, 'Did we obtain the buyer journey?'
Without obtaining the path towards getting a deal done and the product implemented at the customer's, it's virtually impossible to know what might have happened with a lost deal. Without getting a detailed map of the terrain – steps, timeframes, and stakeholders – we need to traverse to secure a deal and onboard our customers, we are blind as to where things went awry.
The classic story of a deal vanishing into thin because we didn't garner the buyer journey goes something like this. In our initial meeting(s) with the champion – let's call him Carl – we managed to get him excited about our product. Carl goes to his boss to brief him on his conversation with us. “Hey Peter, I just met with Acme Corp and they have this awesome software platform that could save a ton of time in my day-to-day.” Peter, the boss, responds harshly, "I told you we wouldn't spend more on tools the rest of the calendar year...why are you bringing another one my way? Why don't you focus on delivering on your priorities? Those could use some work!" Sheepish, Carl, our champion, is reminded of his lack of political capital within his company. Our email follow-ups remain unanswered, as he's ashamed to admit that he couldn't get the deal moving.
Gathering the buyer journey in minute detail enables us to prevent such instances. You learn early that getting in front of the boss will be necessary. And you're able to book the demo with him in the room. Because we're there to convey the value of our product, Peter now fully understands what we do and what pain it might eradicate for him. The trajectory of the sale changes for the better. Instead of the mysterious drop-off, the opportunity is alive and well, and its chances of closing increase dramatically.
“Paul, I feel like our prospects cooled off towards the end of our group demo. I don't know what happened, but can you look at the call recording and let me know what happened?” My first inclination is to watch the game film and provide detailed feedback. Once my input is provided, the next step is making sure that my clients hit their marks. The best way to do that? Have them script their calls. Talk about getting back to first principles.
Scripts are your roadmap as to how you will exactly manage the conversation. When I bring this up, a lot of founders or startup operators will balk. Usually, it's because they think it'll make them sound robotic. They harken back to sales reps who have called them from an offshore call center and blurted out a spiel reading from a script.
My counter is well-oiled by now, “Do you think Denzel is robotic on camera? How about Meryl Streep? De Niro? Helen Mirren? All of these actors have internalized their scripts so well, that they own them fully. They've earned the freedom to ad-lib if need be. That's what a good script will do for you. Provided you memorize it.”
Lastly, a founder will tell me, “My outbound is not working.” I ask, “How do you know it's not working? Do you know what success looks like? What are your target metrics?”
All I get back is silence.
Tech/product founders are savvy at leveraging product data to make decisions. But often, I've found, they haven't transferred this love for data to their go-to-market motion. And that's just the first step to being able to adjust your GTM.
Fundamentals. Once again, rearing their ugly heads.
If you don't know what success looks like, how are you going to go about attaining it?
To illustrate the point, what does it mean for a 4-step campaign to get a 60% open rate and 3% reply rate? What are you supposed to do with it? (To those asking for the analysis: your open rate is very healthy; meaning your deliverability should be great, and your subject lines are likely stellar too. However, something about your email body copy is not doing enough to engage your audience.)
Our job is to learn from the market through our interactions with it, and then iterate on our motion based on what the market is telling us. Just like a surfer reveres the ocean, we should do the same with our market. It's a much greater force than we will ever be. That's the rigor required for a sturdy go-to-market.
Sales and go-to-market are often viewed as an art. A line of work where you fly by the seat of your pants and have to think on your feet. While those elements can help – in my experience – sales and go-to-market are more about discipline and rigor than most might initially realize. Discipline is comprised of nailing the basics. Those are usually the things that will not only be foundational to your success but also get you back in the saddle when you fall off the horse. The examples above hopefully give you concrete steps on how to apply the basics in startup sales. If you have your own examples, feel free to share them in the comments below or with me privately. Happy to help whenever I can.