y combinator startup class #19 : sales and marketing 1/2
TRANSCRIPT
Sales & Marketing $0-1 MillionTyler Bosmeny
What is Sales?• #1 Goal = Get People to a Yes or a No
• “I’ll give you a maybe without even
• Impossibly charming • Well connected • Perfect lines • Incredible golfers
“We’ll just work on the product and then hire the salespeople”
The Mystique
The Reality• …It’s You
• “Build or sell - nothing else matters”
• Pick a founder to own this
• Founder passion trumps sales experience!
The Almighty Funnel
1. Prospecting2. Conversations
4. Revenue / Promised Land3. Closing
The Mission• Find the innovators (2.5%)
• It’s a numbers game!
• Reach out to >100 companies
• Top 3 methods:
• Your network / conferences /
cold emails
Conferences
Conferences!
Cold EmailJohn – my name is Tyler and I’m the CEO of Clever. My company has developed new technology that reduces the time spent doing SIS integrations by 80%.
I figured this might be of interest to you given the new middle school reading software Scholastic just released.
I’d love to get your feedback even if you’re not in the market for this right now. Do you have 20 minutes this week? It looks like I’m open Tuesday at 1 or 2pm ET if either may work.
Tyler
Once You’re On the Phone
Them 20%
You 80%
Them 70%
You 30%
What You’ll Naturally Do How to Win Deals
Religious Follow Upintroduced met in person email (no response) email (no response) email schedule a call have a call email (no response) email (no response) email
schedule next call pricing call #1 pricing call #2 send a quote answer ? via email send contract send references send financials email (no response) email
redlines #1 redlines #2 redlines #3 redlines #4 call with ceo redlines #5 agree “we’re close” execute contract
• Final step is to send them an agreement.
• YC has open sourced their template!
• Don’t quibble over minor points.
Closing Traps: Redlines
• Usually a polite pass.
• Building it will not get you the sale!
• Either:
• Sign a conditional agreement, or
• Wait to hear demand from more customers
Closing Traps: 1 More Feature
• Early on you need commitment, validation, and revenue
• “Free trial” gets you none of these
• Instead: Offer a 30 day cancellation period on an annual contract
Closing Traps: Free Trials
• 5 ways to build a big business
• Flea / Mice / Rabbits – Marketing
• Deer – Inside Sales
• Elephants - Field Sales
Looking Forward
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Source: Christoph Janz