Today my interview with The Room Podcast went live.
We focused on how startups close their 1st Enterprise sale.
Episode link: Apple, Spotify.
1st — VALIDATE THE PROBLEM — Get feedback from potential customers, min 10.
Ask for advice not for them to buy. Need to know if this problem is urgent. If so, it’s easier to get a yes.
Here’s a post with an example cold outreach email.
2nd — DEPLOYMENT — Getting from verbal yes to an Enterprise being live & using your product is a journey.
You will have to go through security, IT & legal reviews in most cases.
Once live, we have to ensure the features we deployed are working. Expect your app to break a lot.
3rd — ENGAGEMENT — We need the customer to be using the product regularly, to ultimately be reliant on it.
Talk to your customers often to find the blockers they’re encountering & motivate them to try again.
Once a customer is reliant, the leverage for pricing switches to you
4th — SIGNED CONTRACT — If a customer needs your product, you can use the threat of them being turned off to ensure your contract is signed & paid on time.
Always try to get an annual contract, paid upfront. Quarterly is a fair compromise.
Plus, plenty more on metrics for success, sales mentality and pricing.
Take a listen and let me know your thoughts….
