Sales hacks for startup hustlers

Harris Kenny was working as a head of sales when he decided to quit and become a consultant. Three years later, he runs an international sales consulting firm that specializes in helping startups grow by supporting their early-stage sales process. Hear his essential sales lessons for startups. Read the writeup: https://blog.close.com/saas-startup-sales-consulting/

Marc Belgrave is a growth advisor who equips hungry, data-driven entrepreneurs to scale to add 20k/month in new revenue. In 90 days or less. How? Sales process and automation. Check out his article: How a top revops consultant helps startups grow revenue in 4 steps https://blog.close.com/revops-consultant/

Millisa Nwokolo spent 20 years in logistics & trucking sales, and shares some of her best tips on building a successful business in this industry, as well as real-talk on what to expect when you're starting out completely from scratch. Check out her article: 3 lessons I learned from 20 years in logistics sales https://blog.close.com/trucking-logistics-sales/

In today's episode of Close Call, Nick Persico, our Director of Sales at Close talks all about: ⭐️ How to choose a CRM ⭐️ How to get buy-in across different departments ⭐️ How to increase adoption Video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iEpoLHQdoE

What if a prospect asks you for a reference... but you don't have one? Here's a simple action plan to help you win the deal without a customer reference. To learn more, read https://blog.close.com/3-steps-to-take-the-deal-home-without-a-reference?utm_campaign=closedealswithoutreference&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=salesfuel Access exclusive listener content when you sign up free at: https://close.com/podcast/

Learn what it takes to become a sales manager at https://blog.close.com/become-sales-manager-skills/ And get access to exclusive SalesFuel listener content at https://close.com/podcast/

How do you talk with a prospect that's badly affected by the crisis? Layoffs, budget cuts, maybe the future of their company is unsure. Don't give up on these prospects! Get exclusive listener content at http://close.com/podcast Learn more about talking with prospects whose company is going through a crisis: https://blog.close.com/how-to-treat-prospects/?utm_campaign=how-to-treat-prospects&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=salesfuel Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steliefti/ Tweet at me: https://twitter.com/steli

We've just released our latest book. Get your free copy today: https://close.com/resources/sales-teams-crisis/?utm_campaign=202005191513 The book is titled "Leading Sales Teams Through Crisis", and you'll find 500+ pages of actionable tactics & advice with contributions from over 30 sales and SaaS leaders.

Right now, and for the foreseeable future, tradeshows are dead. If you relied on them in the past for lead generation, now is the time to adapt. Here are 5 ways to adjust to this new reality. Read more: https://blog.close.com/sales-lead-gen-without-tradeshows/ Want to access exclusive listener content? Head over to https://close.com/podcast Questions, comments? Always love hearing from you on Twitter: https://twitter.com/steli

Everyone is looking to cut costs. They’re making lists of software and services deemed nonessential, and sending them to the chopping block. Here our CEO, Steli Efti, shares 5 ways to help customers reduce costs without leaving you outright: https://blog.close.com/churn-prevention/?utm_campaign=salesfuel20200423&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=salesfuel

Whether you’re talking with a prospect, a customer, or a colleague, your boss, or your employees. use this simple approach to starting your meetings off right. Want more remote sales advice? → https://close.com/remote-sales/ CONNECT WITH US Blog: blog.close.com Twitter: twitter.com/close Facebook: facebook.com/closeio Instagram: instagram.com/close.io Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/close-crm ABOUT CLOSE The sales CRM sales people love—no more manual data entry. Customer management with built-in calling and email synchronization. Make and receive calls while taking notes tied to each address book contact—all without leaving the application. On this channel we share startup sales advice and Close tutorials.

Getting ready to offboard a sales rep? If it's am amiable split, there's a straightforward 3-step process to wrap things up smoothly. And if it's on bad terms? We've got you covered as well. Check out our accompanying blog post: https://blog.close.com/offboard-sales-rep CONNECT WITH US Blog: http://blog.close.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/close Facebook: https://facebook.com/closeio Instagram: http://instagram.com/close.io Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/company/close-crm ABOUT CLOSE The sales CRM sales people love—no more manual data entry. Customer management with built-in calling and email synchronization. Make and receive calls while taking notes tied to each address book contact—all without leaving the application. On this channel we share startup sales advice and Close tutorials.

Steli Efti shares 5 ways to overcome the "Your product is too complicated" sales objection. Check out the corresponding blog post over at https://blog.close.com/sales-objection-too-complicated "It sounds good, but it's too complicated" is a common objection in SaaS sales, but it shows up in other industries, too. It's tough to deal with because you can't make your product simpler. (Well, that's mostly true; we'll get to a sort of exception below.) But with the right approach, you can reframe this objection as an opportunity for growth. With that reframing and carefully attending to the real objections underlying this one, you can make the sale.

Lots of people will tell you that outbound sales is a lost cause—that inbound is the only way. They're wrong. Here's how to win with outbound: https://blog.close.com/outbound-sales

How do you sell your solution when your prospect saw bad reviews or heard negative things about your company? How many times have you heard this objection? Many salespeople, even those with years of experience, have trouble with this one. We share some insight on how to close deals when you have bad reviews. Check out https://blog.close.com/close-deals-bad-reviews?utm_campaign=201904182155&utm_medium=closepodcast&utm_source=description

When it comes to sales funnels and sales reporting, people like to share big numbers. But, don’t buy it until you’ve gotten the full context for the claim. Check out the related post and video here: https://blog.close.com/sales-pipeline-metrics

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, Close.io Account Executive rebecca@close.io, @rebeccatluo Listen: iTunes, Soundcloud, & your favorite podcast app Watch: YouTube Catherine Stewart (https://catherinetaylorstewart.com/) is the Chief Business Officer at Automattic (https://automattic.com/), the company behind WordPress.com

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, Close.io Account Executive rebecca@close.io, @rebeccatluo Listen: iTunes, Soundcloud, & your favorite podcast app Watch: YouTube Danielle Diamond (@dhopediamond) is a Content Creator at User Interviews (https://www.userinterviews.com), the Director of Marketing at Rebel Motion (https://www.rebel-motion.com/), and a Screenwriter at ScreenPower. Danielle was previously a conversational marketer of video at Drift. She’s had numerous experiences in film production and marketing, and graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor’s degree in Film and Television. Episode highlights: How Danielle got an early life start in filmmaking Danielle feels that film sets have a lot to learn from how businesses are operated. This is part of what influenced her desire to orient her career towards sales & marketing Danielle's storytelling structure, with her piece of advice of how "people don't care about your product, they care about their problem" How Danielle was able to land her sales & marketing role at Drift without prior traditional experience in the field Danielle's remote work experience with three companies simultaneously

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, Close.io Account Executive rebecca@close.io, @rebeccatluo Listen: iTunes, Soundcloud, & your favorite podcast app Watch: YouTube Nicole Wolosoff (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolewolosoff/) is the President of the New York Operation of Boston National Title Agency (https://www.bostonnationaltitle.com/en/). Prior to joining Boston National, Nicole served as the Vice President, Director of Operations and Underwriting Counsel at Insignia Title Agency. Before that, she was Vice President and Counsel at Langdon Title Agency. Nicole graduated from New York University’s School of Law LLM in Taxation Program, and earned her J.D. from the New York Law School and her bachelor’s from Towson University. Episode Highlights - From an early age, Nicole learn about the law of attraction and knew that she was destined for law school - How Nicole used a dorky technique as a conversation opener at the early stages of her career - How Nicole got her first internship, which set her up for career opportunities upon graduating from law school - Jen's "choreographed" routine at networking events - Jen's advice to salespeople is to "always be on" and "always be listening”

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, Close.io Account Executive rebecca@close.io, @rebeccatluo Listen: iTunes, Soundcloud, & your favorite podcast app Watch: YouTube Rebecca Kacaba (rebecca@dealmaker.tech) is the CEO and Co-Founder of DealMaker (https://dealmaker.tech/). She was previously a Partner at Dentons LLP and Aird & Berlis LLP and also a Secondee at the Ontario Securities Commission. Rebecca earned her LLB at the University of Windsor and a Bachelor’s in Psychology at Western University. Episode Highlights: Rebecca got her inspiration to study psychology and practice law from her family When hiring, Rebecca looks for people with cold-calling experience Rebecca's father was an OG side hustle entrepreneur while running his own legal practice Rebecca and her co-founder, Mat Goldstein, on their experiences working together at a law firm and howod they started a startup business practice there at the time How Rebecca uses self-awareness to manage stressful situations

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, Close.io Account Executive rebecca@close.io, @rebeccatluo Listen: iTunes, Soundcloud, & your favorite podcast app Watch: YouTube Zainab Allawala (https://www.linkedin.com/in/zainaballawala/) is a Customer Success Account Executive at Help Scout (https://www.helpscout.net/). Zainab worked as a Strategic Account Executive at Survey Monkey and as an SMB Account Executive at Asana. She’s also previously worked as a recruiting coordinator for the Kiva.org Fellow Coordinator, at Facebook, and Google. Episode Highlights: How Zainab's political sciences studies shaped her curiosity in understanding what makes people tick in recruiting and sales How we can ensure accountability in order to be effective at diversity and inclusion? How to ensure that diversity and inclusivity is not just a vanity metric, and just not a photo-op? Resources: “Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do (Issues of Our Time)”, Google’s re:work guide on un-biasing, & Project Include on ensuring inclusivity throughout the entire employee life cycle

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, Close.io Account Executive rebecca@close.io, @rebeccatluo Listen: iTunes, Soundcloud, & your favorite podcast app Watch: YouTube Megan Muldary (https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-muldary-2843b625/) is the Director of Sales Operations at TUNE (https://www.tune.com/). Prior to TUNE, Megan was a Sales Operations Manager at thePlatform and has worked at San Gennaro Foods as an office manager and at Salem Media Group in marketing and promotions. She graduated from Western Washington University with a BA in Journalism and Minor in History. Episode Highlights How Megan has learned about communication and vulnerability through difficult life situations How the quote "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place” manifests in day-to-day life Sensitivity as a strength and compliment to empathy, rather than a weakness Advice on communicating with colleagues that are reserved, hard-to-read, and tight-lipped Initiating dialogue about an issue or area of improvement so that its clear that its a collaborative discussion, rather than one-way criticism How to communicate when you feel undervalued

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, Close.io Account Executive rebecca@close.io, @rebeccatluo Listen: iTunes, Soundcloud, & your favorite podcast app Watch: YouTube Shikha Bindra (https://www.linkedin.com/in/shikhabindra/, @BindraShikha ) is the Manager of Business Development at Vidyard (https://www.vidyard.com/. She’s been an avid community volunteer at several different organizations working on a range of causes including children, education, and health. Prior to Vidyard, Shikha worked as a Direct Support Professional at the Kitchener Waterloo Habilitation, providing daily emotional, behavioural, and practical support. She graduated from Wilfred Laurier University with a Bachelor of Science, Psychology with Biology Minor. Episode highlights: How Shikha's science education background shapes her view of sales being a process of trial and error How Shikha realized that building trust is about being able to help people, as learned through her experience as a direct support habilitation professional Shikha describes an experience that she was able to prevent from escalating negatively, and shares what she learned about conflict resolution and diffusing tense situations Selling with a purpose: Shikha's message and kudos to all the BDRs out there showing up each day for the grind!

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, Close.io Account Executive rebecca@close.io, @rebeccatluo Listen: iTunes, Soundcloud, & your favorite podcast app Watch: YouTube Heidi Grey is a Strategic Account Manager at Skilljar (https://www.skilljar.com/) and the founder/blogger of The Rogue Essentials (www.therogueessentials.com), a fashion and lifestyle blog focused on inspiring women to go outside of the norm to curate their own list of essentials. Her experience in sales, mobile attribution and fashion have all led her to launching and seeing success in her blog. Prior to Skilljar, Heidi worked as a Manager at Nordstrom, before moving to Sales & Account Management roles at AWB, Optify, and TUNE. Episode highlights: Heidi's unique measure of her blogging success How she's applied what she's learned in retail, mobile attribution, and technology to her blog How she balances her career with her side hustle, and dealing with burn out How to curate your essentials in your every aspect of life, in areas such as your style, career, creative endeavours, and community Heidi's definition of the modern woman and why she admires Sandi Lin, CEO of Skilljar

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, account executive at Close.io rebecca@close.io, @rebeccatluo Listen: iTunes, Soundcloud, & your favorite podcast app Watch: YouTube Jen Wolosoff(https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenwolo/)is the Director of Brand Strategy at Buzzfeed(https://www.buzzfeed.com/). Jen joined Buzzfed as employee #20 in 2010, where one of her many responsibilities has been managing, leading, and executing custom social advertising solutions to Fortune 500 companies. She’s been promoted eight times at Buzzfeed, having been the company’s first Account Manager, the first Ad Operations manager, and the winner of numerous awards. She is the first ever BuzzFeed Sales award recipient to win the Greg Coleman's President's Award and the Doug Weaver's 212NYC Digital Sales Excellence Award, and she’s been awarded to BuzzFeed's Sales President's Club. Prior to Buzzfeed, Jen was a celebrity reporter for New York Daily News, and a media planner for GroupM.

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, account executive at Close.io rebecca@close.io, @rebeccatluo Emily Breuninger (https://digitallynomadicemily.com/) is the Partnerships Manager at Zapier (https://zapier.com/). Episode highlights: > Zapier's fully-remote company structure and the serendipity that brought her career there > The moment she realized her dream of working and living abroad > What type of person thrives in a digitally nomadic life? > Two places that Emily will cherish for the rest of her life > Minimalism: Food for thought and a few parting words

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, account executive at Close.io rebecca@close.io, @rebeccatluo Melissa Rosenthal (https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissarosenthal5/) is the Executive Vice President at Cheddar Inc. (https://cheddar.com/). Melissa was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 and Business Insider’s 30 Most Creative People Under 30. In 2010, Melissa joined Buzzfeed, where she became a key contributor to the early success of BuzzFeed’s branded content advertising model, and created the site’s first ads. She went on to become BuzzFeed’s Vice President of Creative Services where she led and grew her direct team to 100 creatives, working with Fortune 500 brands to create compelling, engaging, and social branded content. We discuss her iconic career moments, working with Jon Steinberg (Cheddar CEO, Former Buzzfeed President & COO), and reinventing how sales teams work in the creative industry. Bonus discussion: what it was like for her to meet Terry Crews!

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, account executive at Close.io rebecca@close.io, @rebeccatluo Julianne Gsell (https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannegsell/) is the Director of MidMarket Sales at Databricks (https://databricks.com/). Julianne was previously a Director of Enterprise Sales at Box, where she started her career as the company’s first SDR in 2009. Julianne studied Applied Science and Nutrition at California Polytechnic State University, where she also competed in NCAA Division 1A Cross Country. Julianne began her career in newspaper ad sales, learning about solution-selling to business owners, before moving to technical sales at Box. Over the course of her time at Box, Julianne was promoted five times, having been an integral part of the sales team and in building out the sales process. In this episode we delve into Julianne's amazing career trajectory. Julianne shares how empathy turns technical conversations into people conversations, and how to give feedback and coaching to sales reps in a way that is unique to their learning style and personality type.

Check out the full blog post here: http://blog.close.io/user-experience-in-sales Too many sales reps focus shortsightedly on the close. Because that's the moment they earn a commission. But there's a lot that happens leading up to that moment. Today, I want to share how you can close more deals with less effort by designing a better buying experience. Too many sales reps focus shortsightedly on the close. Because that's the moment they earn a commission. But there's a lot that happens leading up to that moment. Today, I want to share how you can close more deals with less effort by designing a better buying experience. It doesn't matter what part of the sales process you're focused on: the cold email the qualification the sales call the product demo the meeting the close You can take insights from UX designers, and apply them to your sales approach to unlock massive sales growth. Stop chasing after prospects, and instead make them want to engage with you. While everyone's trying to scale, automate, and optimize every touchpoint with their prospects, you can win by focusing on the quality of their experience. Zig when everyone's zagging. More here: http://blog.close.io/user-experience-in-sales

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, account executive at Close.io rebecca@close.io, @rebeccatluo Joanna Moshman is the Senior Manager of Business Development at Figure 1(https://www.instagram.com/jomosh/). Her career today comes from two paths that converged: startups and healthcare. She previously served as the investor services manager at Golden Seeds, an angel investment firm focused on female-led and -founded companies. Prior to that, she assisted and volunteered through the AmeriCorps Volunteer Program at Hudson River Healthcare. In discussing how she landed her current job, Joanna shares how to overcome the fear of asking when it comes to reaching out to people for introductions. Joanna works remotely in New York while Figure 1 as a company is predominantly on-premise at the Toronto office headquarters. She shares how Figure 1 became a partially-remote company, how her team uses daily routines, and how she personally structures her time and environment.

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES http://blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, account executive at Close.io rebecca@close.io, @rebeccatluo Alicia Cornell is a Sales Manager at Shopify Plus (alicia@shopify.com). Alicia graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa, and shortly after joined McGraw-Hill Ryerson, the Canadian division of McGraw-Hill, an educational publishing house. After a few years selling there, she traded in textbooks for e-commerce software and joined Shopify in 2014, where she was previously a manager for the Shopify Partner Program, and worked on the Enterprise sales team. Alicia has always been a true student of the sales game, but at one point during her career, as the top salesperson on her team, she took a break from sales. Her heart told her to explore other functions within Shopify, which she did, only to eventually fall back in love with the craft of sales.

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES http://blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, account executive at Close.io @rebeccatluo Kelly Aizicowitz is the Senior Director of Business Development at Figure 1 (https://twitter.com/KellyAizicowitz), (https://www.instagram.com/kelly_aizicowitz/). Special thanks to Ilya Motamedi, undergraduate student in computer sciences at the University of Toronto, for filming this interview. Kelly held adviser roles between 2004-2010 with the Government of Ontario, before moving on to various roles in her career which included being at a government relations consultancy in Toronto for four years. Kelly discusses what she learned about communication and stakeholder management from working in government and consulting. She also shares how her career journey has come full circle from her childhood aspirations to where she is today!

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES http://blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, account executive at Close.io @rebeccatluo Jolijt Tamanaha is the CMO & CFO of Freshprints (j@freshprints.com). Jolijt founded Farmplicity at 18 years of age while enrolled as a full-time student at Washington University in St. Louis. She created an online marketplace for farmers to sell directly to chefs and got acquired by Sunfarm Food Services in less than a year and a half. Jolijt is now managing and coaching approximately 40 of 250 of Fresh Prints' on-campus student sales representatives and managers. Jolijt explains how she got the job by content marketing herself like a product - her Medium piece, “'Don’t Take Startup Advice’ and More Startup Advice” (https://medium.com/female-founders/don-t-take-advice-and-more-startup-advice-2723e7a169d3), caught the attention of the right folks and was even mentioned in a tweet by Marc Andreessen!

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES http://blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, account executive at Close.io @rebeccatluo Megan Orth is the Director at Freightview. In 2014, Megan co-led the development of Freightview as a part of a startup project within a company called Freightquote, and by 2015 Freightview was acquired by C.H. Robinson. She is a CPA by designation with a background in Finance and previously held a Manager role at KPMG. Megan fully embraces the busy yet fun nature of running a startup and having a family of three children. She points out that both business and family are about empathy and listening. Megan talks about not allowing for “death by comparison” when it comes to parenting, sales, and management. She reminds us that sometimes life isn’t about being perfect all the time - sometimes, it’s about surviving the chaos and appreciating those around you.

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES http://blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, account executive at Close.io @rebeccatluo Liz Stephany is our very own Senior Customer Success Manager at Close.io. (liz@close.io). She has worked in sales at Oracle and as a sales and account management team lead at Thomson Reuters. She received her JD at the Cecil C. School of Law at the University of Memphis. We talk about overcoming doubt and disappointment when your career and life doesn’t go according to plan. Liz shares her take on being resilient and calm as someone in her role, which involves having difficult conversations with customers about their concerns and criticism. Liz tells us about how she’s evolved from a self-proclaimed “yes” person at the start of her career to a highly adaptable, proactive, and respected leader at Close.io. She believes in treating your career like dressing for the job you want to have -- if you do the job you have now as well the job you want to have, you will get it!

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES http://blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, account executive at Close.io @rebeccatluo Lauren LaForge is a professional sales trainer and business coach at Southwestern Consulting (llaforge@southwesternconsulting.com). As a college student, Lauren sold books and software door-to-door for Southwestern Advantage, finishing top 5 out of 3,000 sales people for all 4 summers. She also started and sold two businesses before the age of 30. Lauren gives us advice on what she calls the “intentional roller coaster” in sales, scheduling, and remote life. When it comes to consistency in sales, Lauren advises her clients to focus on what they can control in terms of three categories: hours, attitude, and meetings.

CLOSE.IO WOMEN IN SALES INTERVIEW SERIES http://blog.close.io/topic/women-in-sales Host: Rebecca Luo, account executive at Close.io @rebeccatluo Sarah Haselkorn is the Head of Sales Operations at Makespace and co-founder at Unfettered Socks (https://www.instagram.com/sarahstartups/). She’s a triathlete, an investor, and an advisor, with a university degree in systems engineering.

Selling software solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses? Understand who your stakeholders are. We learned this the hard way—and almost did some serious damage to our startup because we weren't differentiating enough among the stakeholders we're serving. Related blog post: http://blog.close.io/smb-saas-sales

Imagine there's a way to close a lot more deals, without really having to change anything you do. You wouldn't have to work more or harder. All you have to do is contact the prospect at the right time. Here's how. Related blog post + video: http://blog.close.io/sales-call-timing

Channel sales partners can be a great way to accelerate your sales growth. Getting the right resellers to sell your product for you can be a real game changer for your business. But if you do it wrong, or at the wrong time, it can totally derail the trajectory of your business.

You’ve got a new product you’re ready to start selling. And by some miracle, there’s already a major client ready to pull the trigger. There’s only one problem: You don’t know 100% if you can deliver for them. A lot of people will advise you to fake it 'till you make it. Wrong. Others will suggest you "just give it away for free". Worse. Instead, you want to a) close the deal from a position of strength, b) charge a lot of money, c) but completely remove the risk for them.

Here's how ANYONE can build relationships with influential people and grow a high-value network. (While keeping it real, without fluff and BS "networking tactics".)

Too many startup pitches follow a flawed formula. They start with a grand vision rather than simple explanation. Learn how to make your pitches more effective. Learn more at http://blog.close.io/killer-startup-pitch

I’m not gonna lie: I’m a great salesperson. Humbleness aside, I've pretty much always been. But as long as we’re being honest, I’ve got a confession, too: I was a terrible sales manager. Seriously, I almost ran my first sales team into the ground. And I probably would have, too, if not for a single, defining moment: The moment I met the sales genius who gave average, underwhelming, and all-around unimpressive sales pitches. If you’re a sales manager or leader of any kind, this is for you: The story of the most valuable sales leadership lesson I ever learned. Hopefully, you won’t need it as badly as I did. Can't wait to get the tools you need to scale a sales team? Get them right now! (Not so) humble beginnings As I said above, I’ve always been a pretty gifted salesperson. I had my faults and made mistakes, but I usually closed more deals than I lost, and it didn’t take long for my creative pitches and aggressive negotiation tactics to catch the attention of my superiors. Soon, I was promoted from salesperson to sales manager. And just like that, I was in charge of an entire sales team: A team I had to teach to replicate my results and scale my successes. No big deal, right? Wrong. As it turns out, that’s where my natural gifts ended. I thought being a good sales leader meant demonstrating my abilities through impressive presentations, so I spent every day wowing my team and winning customers with new and creative pitches. On one hand, this was great: My presentations really motivated and inspired the team. On the other hand, my salespeople were failing; all of them, every single month. I was failing as a manager. I knew this was my fault, but I couldn’t figure out why. After all, I spent every day “training” my team, teaching them everything I knew, and demonstrating what I wanted from them. It worked for me, so why wasn’t it working for them? Meet the sales genius who changed my life Fast-forward a couple of months and things weren’t any better. But then, mere weeks from a mental breakdown, I got lucky: I was invited to an exclusive sales leadership workshop and that’s where I met the sales manager who would save my career. The first time we met, I was immediately impressed by his charisma. But what intrigued me most was his reputation: He was supposed to be some sort of sales genius with a massive and highly successful team. At this point, I was desperate. I had to know this guy’s secret. Thankfully, I’d get my chance: We were both scheduled to deliver practice presentations to the other workshop attendees for feedback. I was the first to present, so I took the stage and did what I always do: I winged it. With no preparation, I gave a pitch that was customized to the audience, full of funny details pulled from earlier in the event. And it couldn’t have gone better: I hit all the right notes and had people smiling, laughing, and engaging the whole way through. But as soon as my presentation was over, I was only interested in one thing: Hearing this sales genius deliver his pitch. Then, finally, he walked on-stage. The most mediocre sales presentation I’ve ever seen that turned out to be the best sales management lesson I’ve ever received This so-called sales genius reached into his bag and pulled out an old-school folder full of what looked like laminated PowerPoint slides, then spent his entire presentation going through one slide at a time. It was … unexpected, to say the least. I don’t know what exactly I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. Don’t get me wrong: He didn’t give a bad pitch. It had a clear beginning, middle, and end, with a good call-to-action. It was just … boring. Boring, uninspired, and overwhelmingly average. And based on everything I’d heard about the guy, I was more than a little surprised. So surprised, I may have been a little blunt. When it was time for feedback, I said something like, “Is that really how you give presentations to customers? I’m sure you can do better than that.”

http://blog.close.io/cold-calling-how-to-respond-to-i-dont-have-time Cold calling: How to respond to "I don't have time"? by Steli Efti When Donald Trump says he has “no time” for political correctness, what he really means is that he’s chosen not to make it a priority. It’s the same way with your customers. Unless you happen to cold call someone whose office has just caught on fire, it’s pretty likely that “I don’t have time” is just a polite way of saying “Go away,” or “What you’re offering is not a priority for me.” After all, if they really didn’t have time, they would have just hung up on you. And yet, your average salesperson still hears “I don’t have time,” stammers, gets nervous, and hangs up. It’s a difficult objection to deal with—we’re not used to responding proactively to “I don’t have time.” You can’t really argue with it, because who are you to question whether someone really has time? A great salesperson, however, finesses this objection around into further conversation. A great salesperson hears “I don’t have time” and recognizes that it’s time to drive home the core value proposition that will get that customer to stay on the line. Think about it this way. If your potential customer was convinced, deep down, that they could make $8 for every $1 they spent with you, would they still tell you they don’t have time? No! They’d rush to keep you on the phone, and spend as much money with you as they possibly could. "The main thing when you are engaged with a client, dream client, or prospect is to create value during every interaction. The more value you create, the more valuable you are to your client. The greater the perception of value, the greater the likelihood you gain a commitment that moves you forward together."—Anthony Iannarino Your #1 job when someone tells you they don’t have time is to demonstrate all the value and upside you can bring them, proving that you are worth their time. You need to work around this objection by showing the value at every turn, whether this objection pops up early in the sales cycle, or later and more insidiously, toward the end of the process. Early stage objection No one likes getting cold called, and the “I don’t have time” objection is often a polite way of shooing you away early in a call. But this knee-jerk reaction is your chance as a salesperson to differentiate yourself and your product from the swarm of telemarketers out there selling candy and cable upgrades. At this stage, you need to acknowledge the value of your customer’s time, and show them why they should give it to you. Emphasize with their position, but make sure you grab their attention and hook them on value. Sales rep: “Hey, I get that, maybe it’s not worth your time! The last seven people in your field who I talked to said that as well. And they were all wrong. Just give me three minutes to see if you’re right—let’s confirm that talking to me is not a wise investment of your time.” Be polite, charming, and decisive. Give them compelling proof for why they should stay on the line, and why they’d be missing out if they hung up. Most customers will be willing to give you a few more minutes—which is all you need to start establishing value. Pitch to priorities Use this time to show how your product or service can help them meet their goals today. Pitch to their priorities by asking questions. Ask questions that will help you understand what your customer's needs are, while demonstrating your expertise and authority in the field: What is your number one priority at this point? Because if you’re like the other customers I talk to in the field, your number one goal for next quarter is ______. Is this something that matches your priorities or are you thinking something totally different? If not, what are your top priorities right now

http://blog.close.io/c-level-sales-for-startups In the early days of your startup, the ultimate validation is money. I’ve talked about this before, but it’s worth repeating: people need to vote with their time and money. That’s how you know there’s a real market for your product. End-users might think your technology is cool, but they don’t often make financial decisions. Many times, the people you need to convince are C-level executives. But here’s the problem: executives get pitched every day. They’re always asked for cash. So how do you stand apart? Ask for their expert advice Cold-calling executives doesn’t work if you don’t know about the market. To sell anything effectively, you need to understand their needs and how they buy. When you reach out to them, say: “We’re building a new technology and I could use your input. You’re an industry leader and I really value your expertise. I’d love to jump on a quick 15-minute call so that we can build this technology in a better way.” Here’s why this strategy is effective: You’re appealing to their ego. People like to be experts. They like to give advice. You’re showing them that their advice might directly influence the end product. They’ll get exactly what they’re looking for with this new technology. This isn’t a bait and switch, though You should truly want their advice. You need to learn more about them. They could be future customers, so you want to make sure that they’re happy with your solution. On the call, ask questions so that you understand: Who they are How they think How they buy How they would describe your product How they would use your product What they’ve identified as positives and negatives about your product If they’re not ready to buy, don’t jump into your pitch When you ask for money too early, they’ll likely get defensive and the relationship won’t go anywhere. Instead, ask to stay in touch: “Can I keep you updated on our progress? In a few months, once we’ve checked off some of the things we discussed today, should we schedule another 15 minutes?” Most executives will say yes. When they do, it’s your responsibility to keep them in the loop. The more they hear from you, the more invested they’ll feel, especially if you can deliver on their feedback. If the call goes better than expected and they’re excited about the future, go for the virtual close Ask questions like: If you were me, how would you try to market this? How would you try to sell to people? How would you raise money? What would it take for you to buy our product? Push them out of their role and into yours. If the fit is great, say, “I get the sense that you want to buy this product. Would you like to be an early customer?” There’s a right time for this, but if the opportunity is there, go for the close. In the early days of your startup, you need to build strong relationships, create a product with market fit, and generate cash. Reaching out to C-level executives isn’t always easy, so make the best out of every opportunity. Just remember this simple framework and you’ll be ahead of the game: Ask for money and you’ll get advice. Ask for advice and you’ll get money. CONNECT WITH US Blog: http://blog.close.io/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/closeio Facebook: https://facebook.com/closeio Instagram: http://instagram.com/close.io Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elastic-inc-

http://blog.close.io/sales-leaders-deliver-bad-news another Monday morning: The sun’s shining, the investors are happy, and the entire office seems to be in an exceptionally good mood. You can just tell it’s gonna be a great week. Or so you thought, until you got that call. You know, the one from your most profitable customer saying, “Yeah, we’re not gonna be renewing our contract at the end of the month. Thanks for the last five years, though. Peace.” The news hits like a bombshell, and your head’s still reeling when you come to a terrible realization: As a leader, you actually have to do something about this. Moreover, you have to be the one that breaks the bad news to your team. There’s nothing worse than having to drop bad news on the people you’re responsible for. But here’s a wake-up call: As a leader, navigating bad news is your job, your responsibility, and your privilege. Your team chose you as much as you chose them, and this is your opportunity to prove to them they made a good decision. If you don’t mess it up. Startups are hard. Make it easier by claiming your free copy of From 0 to 1,000+ customers & beyond. Seriously, don’t mess it up There’s only one thing worse than bad news: Bad news, delivered badly. I see it all the time in inexperienced leaders: They get the news and immediately think, “Okay, how can I make sure nobody knows about this?” It’s a symptom of imposter syndrome. Suddenly, all of your time and energy goes into hiding the problem rather than solving it, but guess what? Your team always finds out sooner or later, and in the worst possible way: By uncovering something you were trying to hide. And just like that, your credibility as a leader is compromised. Now not only do you have a crisis to navigate, you have to navigate it without the trust and faith of your team. And spoiler alert: It’s probably not gonna work. Your team’s too divided to survive. How to break bad news to your team Alright, that’s the wrong way to break bad news. Thankfully there’s a better way. It just takes a bit of finesse and patience. I recommend breaking the process down into three days: On the first day, keep the news to yourself and focus on managing your emotional response. On the second day, do research around the problem, gather data, and ask for help from advisors. On the third day, call a meeting and break the news to your team. Let’s take a closer look at each of the three days. Day I: Getting perspective First things first: When you get bad news, it’s probably gonna sound like the end of the world. It’s not, unless you treat it that way. Because here’s the thing: If you, as your team’s fearless leader, claim the sky is falling, people are gonna believe you. They’re gonna buy into your fear and helplessness, and that doesn’t help anyone. So pause, take a minute, and breathe. Don’t jump to conclusions, solutions, or decisions; not yet. Your number one priority after getting bad news must be managing your own emotional household before you worry about anyone or anything else. Before taking any further action, I recommend completing two exercises: The Worst Case Scenario Planner and The Five Why’s. Let’s take a quick look at each. The Worst Case Scenario Planner If the present crisis feels like the end of the world, you lack perspective. The truth is, even the worst case scenario probably isn’t really all that bad.....

Want more advice + templates that help you negotiate with prospects → http://blog.close.io/price-negotiations-underbidding-competitor He likes you and he likes what you’re selling. You estimate that there’s a 90% chance you’ll close the sale during your next conversation. But then, the (not so) unthinkable happens. You get a call from the prospect and he tells you he’s been talking to your competitor for weeks now, and they’ve just offered him an outrageously low price on their own product. He puts you on the spot and asks you straight up, “Can you beat that price?” If you’ve been in sales for any reasonable amount of time you’ve probably encountered this scenario. If you haven’t, or were unsure about how to proceed, the answer is pretty simple. That’s because there’s one surefire way to win a price war. Get out of it.

Related blog post here: http://blog.close.io/sell-high-tech-products-to-low-tech-buyers?utm_campaign=yt_description&utm_medium=video&utm_source=youtube You did it. You developed the next great tech product. The features are endless, the benefits innumerable. It’s a game-changer. So you meet with prospect— traditional buyers— and recite all the ways your solution changes everything. You provide diagrams and data. You discuss industry trends and the future. But that’s when you see them. The blank stares. You realize that your traditional buyers just aren’t comfortable with innovative technology. They don’t like change. They don’t get why your product is such a big deal. (It's a common scenario when selling high-tech products, and we cover more on this topic in our free Startup Sales Success course.) So where’d you lose them? The answer is pretty simple. You never discussed the cost of ignoring such an opportunity. Remember this formula: The Past + FOMO In these situations, my advice is always the same: relate your new technology to something that happened in the past, then connect it to one of the most powerful motivators in sales—the fear of missing out. Let’s say you’ve developed a social media ad platform and you want to sell it to car dealers. Dealers aren’t typically innovative and tech-savvy buyers, but they spend tons of money. If you start with next-generation features and the future of advertising, they’re going to think your pitch is bullshit. You’ll get questions like, “How does this make any sense for us?” and “How’s this going to help us sell cars?” When buyers feel overwhelmed, intimidated, or confused, the pitch gets difficult. Ask yourself the following question: What was the last technology to disrupt how dealerships do business? A recent example is Google AdWords. Paid search advertising was something dealers ignored until they could no longer afford to do so. In the beginning, many of them still funneled their ad spends into newspapers, billboards, and TV. The few dealers who invested early in AdWords understood the way people would shop for cars in the future. They saw an opportunity to build expertise in a platform that would give them a competitive advantage in the marketplace. With this in mind, let’s use AdWords to sell your high-tech product to low-tech buyers. Step 1: Relate to the past Remind low-tech buyers of a time when they came upon a new technology too late. Start with something like: Remember the early days of Google AdWords? Dealers weren’t spending money on paid search. The whole thing seemed crazy, right? Who’s looking for cars on the internet? Most dealers had no clue what it meant for their business. By recalling a time when technology felt confusing, even esoteric, you’re letting them admit to prior insecurities. They likely weren’t one of the first AdWords adopters, so they know how much it sucked, how much it hurt, when they missed out on a technology that could have provided a competitive advantage. By relating to the past, you’re handing them something tangible—a previous mistake. Step 2: Pitch the present This is when you discuss all the great things your new ad platform has to offer. Try this: I’m going to share something that may seem weird or intimidating, but in the next five years, every one of your competitors will be using this platform. What I’m about to show you, most dealers would ignore. Most dealers would wait until it’s too late. You’re telling them that this uneasy feeling is the same one their competitors have. It’s what they’ve all felt whenever they encounter new technology. Explain that your social media ad platform already reaches 500 million people. Highlight major successes with your current run of advertisers. Talk about features, benefits, and your approach to advertising. Do all of this. But do it after you’ve related your platform to a past technology that’s now become industry standard. Step 3: Show them the future ....

Level up: https://close.io/free-sales-course/ You've worked hard to set up that sales meeting or demo—but your prospect never shows up. No-shows suck but there are 9 things you can do to reduce them. | Related blog post here: http://blog.close.io/sales-no-shows Monday morning, 10:00 a.m. Meeting time. You’ve got an appointment with a major prospect who seems really interested in your product. You take a deep breath, lean back in your chair, and stare at the phone in eager anticipation. Any time now. 10:05 a.m.: Nothing. But they’re probably just late, right? These things happen. 10:10 a.m.: That’s odd. But they’re probably on their way to the phone right now. 10:15 a.m.: Still nothing. You decide to take the initiative and call, but get no answer. 10:30 a.m.: No call. No text. No email. No doubt: You’ve got yourself another no-show. Maybe they just forgot, or perhaps they lost interest. Either way, it doesn’t make the situation any less frustrating, especially when they’re the ninth no-show this month (and you’re not even halfway through the month yet). There’s nothing more infuriating than investing your time in a prospect only to have them go dark without warning. Sure, you can argue that no-shows are just a part of the sales process. And you’d be right: Occasionally they are just a part of the job. But if they’re a regular occurrence, you’ve got a problem. Let’s talk about the steps you can take to ensure that your prospects don’t just show up for meetings; they’re excited to be there and eager to move forward. How many no-shows is too many? Think you’ve got a no-show problem? Let’s confirm that. What’s your no-show rate? Most people I ask have no idea. If that’s you, here’s a quick way to calculate it: Divide your total number of no-shows by the total number of scheduled meetings. For example: If you had 50 meetings scheduled for the last month and 15 of them were no-shows, your no-show rate would be 15/50, or 30%. So how many no-shows are too many? That depends on what stage of the sales funnel your no-shows happen. Top-of-funnel no-shows No-shows at the top of the funnel are prospects you’ve only just met. If you do a lot of cold prospecting, no-shows are just a part of the deal; it’s almost impossible to entirely eliminate them. But, as a general rule, these no-show rates should never exceed 20%. Bottom-of-funnel no-shows No-shows at the bottom of the funnel are those you’ve already invested substantial time and energy into. You've pitched them, managed their objections, learned about their needs, and have done everything you can to schedule them for a meeting. If you’re getting cancellations and no-shows at this stage of the sales process, something is wrong. As a general rule, your bottom-of-funnel no-show rates should never exceed 10%. “Is it something I said?” Why prospects don’t show up Before we talk about reducing no-show rates, let’s take a look at what’s causing them in the first place. Generally speaking, no-shows happen for one of two reasons: Emergencies or priorities. Emergencies Emergencies are the reason it’s impossible to have a “zero” no-show rate. Unexpected crises happen and, when they arise, they often make it inconvenient or impossible to meet. This could be anything from a family emergency to a last-minute board meeting. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to eliminate external emergencies. Priorities More often than not, no-shows are the result of a prospect prioritizing another task over your appointment. Sometimes this is intentional, other times it’s accidental. This could be anything from the prospect just forgetting your meeting to actively choosing another meeting over yours. Thankfully, you have almost full control over your level of priority with a prospect. 9 scheduling tips to get prospects to show the hell up When a prospect no-shows, it’s tempting to place all the blame on them. How dare they, right?

In this episode Steli talks about how to deal with not meeting your sales quota and how to manage the stress that it causes. We all have stress in life, and that’s not a negative thing as it shows that we care. Steli shares practical advice about how to manage your stress. He also delves into what you can do as a salesperson to deal with missing your quota. He refers to The 5 Why Methodology that helps you identify the root causes of why you’re missing that quota and the RIGHT way to address these root causes for your future success. Time Stamped Show Notes: ●00:03 – Today’s episode is about how to deal with the stress of missing your sales quota and how to turn it into an opportunity ●00:20 – Sales is results driven and this can be a source of stress, but it is also beautiful because you have to take action for it to be successful ●01:12 – Sales people suffer from a tremendous amount of stress because the company depends on their work as it can affect their income and family ●02:11 – Steli shares a statement shirt he saw saying stress means you care a lot about something ●03:09 – Managing stress is about managing your own emotions ●04:10 – The basic principles of managing stress: o 04:22 – Sleep enough and make sure you are rested o 04:59 – Eat healthy and eat well o 05:31 – Make sure you are physically active o 06:12 – Take breaks o 06:36 – Meditate ●07:22 – For salespeople, evaluate why you missed your quota o 07:59 – Use the 5 Why Methodology o 08:16 – One why is not enough because it will not get you to the root cause of the issue o 08:47 – Steli shares a scenario using the 5 Why o 10:11 – The root cause of not meeting the quota is setting an unrealistic goal or not doing the right things to reach the goal ●10:54 – It takes patience and getting over your own resistance to get through the 5 Why ●11:05 – The usual causes of not meeting the quota: o 11:10 – Setting unrealistic goals o 11:20 – You didn’t take enough action o 11:27 – The quality of the action is lacking o 12:04 – All of these things are in your control ●12:13 – The one thing that is out of your control is whether or not the market has shifted dramatically ●12:55 – The second thing out of your control is that the company did something wrong ●13:18 – Check and analyze if the reason is within your control or not ●13:51 – Staying in a clouded space WITHOUT resolution or clarity will only amplify your stress ●14:12 – Identifying the root cause will ease your stress because you know the problem and can find the solution ●14:50 – You can also ask for help ●15:37 – The number one thing you CANNOT do if you fail to meet your quota is hide from the world ●17:30 – The majority of those who lie believe that they can fix it in the future ●17:43 – Do NOT be that person ●18:09 – Taking shortcuts is setting yourself up for future problems and failure in the long term ●18:41 – Do not hide from the failed numbers and own up to it—plan to change what you did wrong ●19:32 – What defines your sales career is the way you deal with the bad situations ●20:09 – Everybody misses their numbers in sales ●20:56 – Find the root cause of the issue, own up to it, communicate and seek help, and look for mentors who can inspire you ●22:00 – You will feel stress in life, but what you do with that stress is what will define you ●22:11 – Leave your comments on how you have dealt with stress ●22:23 – Subscribe to the blog at Close.io 3 Key Points: 1.Do the 5 Why Methodology to get to the root cause of why you’re not hitting your quota. 2.If you do not meet your sales quota, evaluate if it was within your control or not. 3.Once you identify the mistake, OWN it and get help—what you do in these situations will be what defines you.