{"id":428,"date":"2021-03-19T01:28:26","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T01:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/321-growth-academy-2023.local\/founder-led-sales-the-focus-of-growth-snacks-1\/"},"modified":"2023-11-02T21:12:05","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T21:12:05","slug":"founder-led-sales-the-focus-of-growth-snacks-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/321growthacademy.com\/founder-led-sales-the-focus-of-growth-snacks-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Founder led sales: The focus of our first Growth Snacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Being a <\/strong>successful f<\/strong>ounder <\/strong>requires an impressive set of skills<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While there are many skills integral to your success, chief among them (much to the chagrin of many founders) is selling. While learning to sell may seem to be a daunting task (especially when you already have so much on your plate), it\u2019s an essential ingredient for sustainable growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which is precisely why on February 24th, 2021, we made it the focus of our very first Growth Snack <\/a>\u2013 a new series of sessions we are hosting for curious start-up founders along with support from our friends at Platform Calgary.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you were unable to attend the event live, don’t worry, we\u2019ve got you covered. Here\u2019s our recap highlighting the major takeaways from our first Growth Snacks event: “Why Founders Must Sell (And why outsourcing sales is tricky)<\/em>.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s just no getting around it. As a founder, you must be able to sell. In fact, chances are you\u2019ve already been doing more \u201cselling\u201d than you realize. Convincing someone to join you in your new venture as a co-founder or team member? That\u2019s sales. Pitching to investors why your company is a good bet to invest in? Sales. Getting into a great accelerator program to gain the guidance and mentorship you need to take things to the next level? Sales again. Even convincing your partner that being an entrepreneur isn\u2019t a crazy career can be an act of selling too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In short, many of the things you\u2019ll need to be able to do well as a member of the founding team require you to be strong at influencing and persuading others \u2013 a.k.a. \u201csales\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sales is also an excellent vehicle for fast-tracking your learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every time you pick up a phone and talk to prospects and customers, you will likely learn something new:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so much more! So whether you\u2019re doing customer discovery, trying to learn more about where the opportunity lies, or you\u2019re in market and trying to land some customers, sales gives you an unparalled opportunity to quickly learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may be thinking to yourself, \u201cthat\u2019s all well and good, but I\u2019m just not a sales person\u2026.can\u2019t I hire someone else to take sales off my plate?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The short answer is \u201cprobably not\u201d \u2013 and there are some very real downsides to outsourcing your sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First and foremost, by outsourcing your sales, you are outsourcing your learning<\/em><\/strong>. We highlighted above how sales can be a great way to rapidly learn. And if you\u2019re an early-stage company, chances are you haven\u2019t figured everything out yet. You might still be nailing your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), your value prop or what has to be included in your MVP (minimum viable product). To de-risk your venture, and keep things \u201clean\u201d, you need to figure things out ASAP. Sure, you can hiring a sales person to go out there on the frontlines to do the selling for you \u2013 but that won\u2019t be fast. And they might be missing what we call \u201csituational fluency\u201d \u2013 that knowledge about the market, the problem you solve, and your product vision that you\u2019ve gleaned since long before you even started your venture. As a result, \u201coutsourcing\u201d your learning might be slower than you expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plus, it\u2019s not cheap<\/strong>. Hiring an outside company to do your selling for you can be costly. (As in, really costly.) There can be high upfront costs to get them onboarded, and they rarely offer outcomes-based pricing \u2013 where you pay when you\u2019re successful. Often, outsourced sales firms want to get paid for booking demos and appointments \u2013 which is great. But only if those demos and appointments are with your ICPs \u2013 otherwise there\u2019s lots of activity but precious few outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And last, to be a sustainable company (and be able to attract investment), you must have control and ownership of your \u201cgrowth engine\u201d. Investors want to know that you have capacity and expertise to drive revenue growth. If that capacity only exists outside your organization, you may be far less appealing to outside investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay, we know now that sales is a foundational skill for founders and that outsourcing sales is tricky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Start by resetting your expectations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Selling is a skill not a personality trait. Few of us are born to be great at sales. Like many things, we need to learn how to do it, hone our skills through consistent practice and get outside coaching and support if we need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Put first things first.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the early days, your main focus should be getting to Customer #1. Too often entrepreneurs are consumed with building a fully-featured product, assembling a team, building a full website\u2026 before they fully understand if there\u2019s an opportunity worth chasing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, dig in. <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you heard about \u201cthe 50\/50 traction rule\u201d \u2013 namely, that founders should spend 50% of their time building an awesome product, but the other 50% of their time figuring out how to get that awesome product in the hands of (hopefully paying) customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We consistently see founders just not investing (yes, \u201cinvesting\u201d) enough time on sales \u2013 figuring out the best sales approach for their product and markets, testing what works and what doesn\u2019t, then ramping up with a proven recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The more you sell, the better you\u2019ll get at it. But you\u2019ve got to dig in and invest enough of your time to get results.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nEverything is <\/strong>s<\/strong>ales<\/strong>\u2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sales can be a fast way to learn \u2026<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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But, c<\/strong>an\u2019t we find someone else to do it?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s a founder to do?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Hungry for More?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n