SELLING in an ENTREPRENEURIAL CONTEXT ©

OPPORTUNITY WILL THE NEW PRODUCT GENERATE PROFITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE REVENUE ?

• Identify and assess opportunity

• Determine the financial feasability

• Pursuit of the opportunity

ACTION OBJECTIVE

Determine how well the new product addresses an unmet need or want in the marketplace.

FOCUS

Selling is not about you!It is always about the prospective buyer and his or her organization’s challenges and/or aspirations.

Creating market demand for an unknown product

Reaching a deep understanding of prospective buyers, their specific issues and what they value

Discovering a repeatable road map based on how and why buyers’ purchase

Allocation of the time and resources required to identify, educate and sell prospective buyers

CHALLENGES IN SELLING UNKNOWN PRODUCT

Build Credibility

Provide Feedback

The ability to effectively sell is one of the key factors that determine whether a start-up entity will succeed or fail!

WHY SELL?

ProvideInsights

Basis ofReferrals

Provide Testimonials

Generate Revenue

ENTREPRENEURIAL SELLING

SALES STRATEGY FRAMEWORK

REPEATABLESystematic approach to drive efficiencies and effectiveness

MANAGEABLEDefined rules , roles, processes and procedures

MEASURABLEForecasting and analysis of plans against revenue goals

SCALABLECapability to maintain efficiencies as the enterprise grows

CONSISTENTCustomer experience is the same throughout the organization

SEQUENTIALMoves through a series of phases

The sales strategy and function are built upon multi-step framework and methodologies which are:

CONSULTIVE SELLING

Gain perspective of buying motives to improve forecast accuracy

Develop ideal client profile

Generate more qualified leads and opportunities

Validate product assumptions

Build trust

Determine whether the product addresses a prospective buyer’s unmet needs and wants

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Poor customer service is the number one reason a buyer will change suppliers!

ACTION:Build

and execute

standardized sales

processes

ACTION:Adopt

win -win philosophy

to develop relationship

strategy

ACTION:

Exceed customer’s needs and

expectations at every

interaction

RESULT:

Will create and

integrate selling

mindsets and

behaviors

RESULT:

Both buyer and seller respective

interests are addressed

RESULT:

Returnable customer

loyalty and repeated business

GROWING ORGANIZATION

STANDARDSEstablish rules, roles, procedures and processes

VALUE PROPOSITIONDeveloping stories from early adopters

INTERNAL FORCES

Identify internal forces

that impact sales

performance

EXTERNAL FORCES

Identify internal forces that

impact sales performance

CULTUREEstablish a common language that builds a customer-centric culture

INTERNALVALUES

STA

ND

AR

D

S

EX

TER

NA

L

CULTURE

ENTREPRENEURIAL SALES PIPILINE EIGHT STAGES

Identifying the right

target buyer

Qualifying the

prospective buyer

Defining and

validating market demand

Generating

referrals

Post sale service

Negotiation and

closing

Building credibilit

y and developing value propositi

on

Cross selling and

up selling

opportunities

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From day one, it is critical to build a sales pipeline within a defined framework

REV

ENUE LEV

ELS

GEOGRAPHIC SCOPENUMBER O

F EMPLO

YEESMARKET SEGMENT REVENUE

IND

UST

RY

IDEAL CLIENT PROFILE

STAGE ONE | IDENTIFYING THE RIGHT TARGET BUYER

WHO IS THE BUYER?

Develop an ideal client profile by segmenting a group of prospective buyers with

• similar unmet needs• similar problems• similar demographic

characteristics A viable and well-defined group of prospective buyers increases the probability of a purchase.

STAGE TWO | DEFINING AND VALIDATING MARKET DEMAND WILL THEY BUY IT?

Create a “minimum viable product”

(Eric Ries’ Lean Start Up)

Seek feedback from

prospective buyers

Prove or disprove

hypotheses

Determine critical issues

How can the product solve

the issue?

STAGE THREE | QUALIFYING THE BUYER

WHAT IS THE BUYER THINKING?

Ask relevant, probing

questions

Listen to determine a

buyer’s wants and

needs

Clarify issues

Determine ability

to purchase

To develop an understanding of the buyer’s thoughts and feelings, wants and needs

Match what the product offers

to address the buyer’s unmet

needs and/or wants

ADDRESShe prospective buyer’s

unmet needs

BUILD CREDIBILITYEngage in a dialogue

with the buyer

Demonstrate how the product

offering drives long-term value for the

buyer’s organization

Develop a

VALUE PROPOSTION from

the buyer’s perspective

STAGE FOUR BUILDING CREDIBILITY AND DEVELOPING THE

VALUE PROPOSITION

PROCESS OF DISCOVERY

Clarify the buyer’s issues

SHARE EXPERIENCES

Telling stories is one of the most effective

tools to use in consultative sales

If the prospective customer realizes the product will be of value to their organization during the early discovery stages of the sales process, the impact on any subsequent negotiation is typically positive.

STAGE FIVE | NEGOTIATING AND CLOSING

NEGOTIATING

CLOSING

Close the sales transaction by clarifying the issues and the proposed solution.• Set realistic

expectations to meet and exceed buyer’s expectations that will postively impact and generate a profit

STAGE SIX | POST SALES SERVICE

Prov

idin

g

exce

ptio

na

l cus

tom

er

serv

ice Ensu

res

cust

omer

s ar

e sa

tisfie

d

Stre

ngth

en

s bu

yer

and

selle

r bo

nd Gen

erat

es

long

-ter

m

cust

omer

rete

ntio

n

and

loya

lty

STAGE SEVEN | GENERATING REFERRALS

Genera

ting

R

efe

rrals

Gain Customer’s Trust Mitigate risk

Buying process

Product usage

Transform Current Base

Satisfied Customers Case Studies

Referrals Testimonials

Exceptional Customer

Experience

Why they bought the product

MAINTAIN ONGOING CUSTOMER CONTACT

WITH EXISTING RELATIONSHIPS

SELL MORE PRODUCTS

REDUCE CUSTOMER

CHURN

ENHANCE CUSTOMER LOYALTY

REDUCE COST OF SALES

DRIVE NEW REVENUEOPPORTUNITIES

STAGE EIGHT | UPSELLING and CROSS SELLING OPPORTUNITIES

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

How much is the buyer willing to pay to resolve those problems?

Have we found visionary prospects who will buy the product early?

Key Performance

Indicators

Milestones that can be used to measure a startup’s progressaccording to Steve Blank:

KPI

• Quantifiable

• Specific measurements

• Define critical success factors

• Measure progress toward the revenue goals

ADDITIONAL READINGS

The Entrepreneurial Conversation by Edward RogoffDisciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup by Bill AuletThe Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company by Steve BlankThe Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric RiesTo Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others  by Daniel H. PinkRules of the Hunt  by Michael Dalton Johnson Entrepreneurial Marketing by Bjorn BjerkeSolution Selling: Creating Buyers in Difficult Selling Markets by Michael BosworthCustomer Centric Selling by Michael BosworthCrossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers by Geoffrey A. Moore Consultative Selling: The Hanan Formula for High-Margin Sales at High Levels  by Mack HananThe Four Truths of the Storyteller by Peter Guber, Harvard Business Review, December 01, 2007http://hbr.org/2007/12/the-four-truths-of-the-storyteller/esThe Sales Learning Curve by Mark Leslie and Charles A. Holloway  Harvard Business Review July 2006 http://hbr.org/2006/07/the-sales-learning-curve/Entrepreneurs' Biggest Sales Mistakes Harvard Business Review July 17, 2012 Harhttp://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/07/entrepreneurs_biggest_sales_mi.html

PAMELA PETERSON | BIO

Pamela Peterson has more than 25 years of diversified experience in sales and marketing at the national and global level with a proven track record of success. Her industry expertise includes professional service firms and industrial and durable goods manufacturers ranging in size from start-ups to Fortune 100 corporations including Accenture and Tyco.

She has significant experience managing complex initiatives across highly-matrixed organizations with multiple stakeholders. Equally conversant in the sales and marketing disciplines she specializes in defining and executing go-to-market strategy, identifying and capitalizing on new product and market opportunities, building brand equity and creating viable sales enablement tools.

Since 2008 Pam has been teaching sales, marketing and management at the University of Nebraska in addition to consulting. From 2006 to 2007 she served as the Global Marketing Lead for Accenture’s Security Practice. Her responsibilities included managing all the marketing and business development initiatives for the Practice’s joint ventures and strategic alliances. She drove new business opportunities with Global Fortune 500 corporations and large government and healthcare organizations which led to significant increases in revenue year over year.

Ms. Peterson received her MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business and a MS degree from Creighton University.

PAMELA SHIELDS | BIO

Pamela Shields has over thirty years of experience launching start-ups, growing mature companies and repositioning branded and private label manufacturing and service companies. She is recognized for her ability to visualize a company’s potential for growth, to develop value-added solutions to exceed customers’ needs and to deliver profitable revenue. Pam’s track record of delivering profitable growth spans across the food and food packaging industries as well as professional services, contract office furniture and building products. Throughout her career she has successfully generated profitable revenue through developing innovative new products; by further penetrating existing markets through customer segmentation; by entering new channels and by implementing cross category marketing of new product lines into more profitable categories.

Most recently Pam served as the General Manager at Menu Inspirations with responsibility for both the Hors D’oeuvres and Desserts portfolios of the $200MM H.J. Heinz subsidiary. She successfully designed and executed the strategic turnaround of the business, led the development of innovative products and implemented a segmented approach to the marketplace. In addition to creating profitable growth and to improving the financials of the business, she was also instrumental in selling and transitioning the appetizer portfolio to a private equity firm.

Pam received her MBA from DePaul University and from the University of Kansas, a MSA in Education and Guidance Counseling and a BSA in Education.

KEITH FIX | BIO

“Award-winning entrepreneur and marketing connoisseur, Keith managed to raise six-figures from private investors to start his 3rd company, blabfeed, while still in college at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He was the recipient of the Peter Kiewit Entrepreneurial Award and CEO’s Student Startup of the Year in 2012.

He graduated in December 2012 with a BS degree in Marketing, Management, Entrepreneurship & Innovation. His work as a budding small business enthusiast across various tech ventures has been highlighted in Entrepreneur Magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, articles on Yahoo, Omaha World Herald and more."

blabfeed, a Perfecta Media LLC, specializes in the procurement, installation, integration and design of digital signage and marketing technology solutions that drive revenue. Since 2012, blabfeed has experienced 1551% revenue growth and national footprint with clients across the country.