So, sell me this pen.

3 strategies I adopted to sell $100k+ worth of product in 6 months.

Probably the most daunting question which could be posed to a person that considers themselves a novice in the Sales profession. ‘Sell me this pen,’ is a phrase used to test the style by which an individual employs to have a prospective customer purchase their product or service. Jordan Belfort or better known as the former ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ puts the art of the sale into perspective in this video here.

It’s worth a reminder that Sales are the lifeblood of any organisation. Whilst entrepreneurs and startups are blessed with the option of raising funds through venture capital, whereby, ideas could be funded based on factors such as projections, team and total addressable market — Sales remains the so called proof in the pudding. Your ability to sell asks numerous important questions of you, your product and your organisation as a whole: Am I a client-facing person? Is what we are offering uniquely solving people’s problems to the extent that they are willing to pay us for it? Is our company sufficiently positioning our product in front of our target market? And so on and so forth. In reality, asking these types of questions is what will determine the longevity of your startup by how well it is performing against said questions.

Having crossed the 6 month mark in my current at this startup, the road to $250k in sales remains possible this year and here’s a few tips of how I intend to get PeopleOfColorInTech there:

3 successful strategies I used to sell:

• Welcome each new user

Each customer or ‘lead’ that registers an interest in your product or service should be attended to. Picture this, you own a coffee shop and a prospective customer walks in to have a look at your menu, they don’t directly engage with you so you don’t interact with them and they ultimately walk out. This is the equivalent of customers registering an interest in your product or service online and you not dropping them a welcome email. Whether the customer purchases or not that day doesn’t matter — it’s more important that they felt noticed.

If you’re running a tech-enabled business, automate an email of acknowledgment and more importantly make yourself available to speak over the phone, Zoom, Skype, etc.

• Be patient

As an avid Chelsea FC supporter, I’m still revelling in the success of last season. Thomas Tuchel, Head Coach advised Chelsea Striker Timo Werner who was on a poor run of scoring form “If a woman doesn’t want to go out with you, you cannot force her. Step back and maybe she will call you.” This is to refer to the relaxed nature Werner should adopt towards his game rather than being overly aggressive in his hunt for goals. The same could be said for selling, desperation could scare budding clients off — allow customers to come to a decision. Further, you should remain aware of who you’re selling to — in a B2B environment it’s worth understanding that bigger companies may have longer deal cycles due to more layers of bureaucracy.

As a rule of measure, I implement a two-fold follow up. This means after week then after two, four, eight…if no reply, she’s just not that into you bro.

• Build or join an organisation selling a product with a somewhat of a product-market fit

If you’ve stuck around until this point in the article — here’s probably the most important insight I can share from my experience. I know…it’s much easier said than done to achieve point 3, nevertheless, it remains true. Product-market fit is a common term used in the startup world to describe when an entrepreneur identifies a need in the market and builds a solution that customers want to buy. Once this has been achieved, the product essentially sells itself and you become a vehicle for establishing trust.

So before you begin building or take up that Sales position, do your research on the industry and how the company is performing relative to it. Are or could revenues resembling somewhat of a hockey stick curve? Or not, if not — why not? Doing this due-diligence will make your life easier to avoid selling to customers who neither need or want what you have to offer.

Finally…

I am still of the belief that ‘Cash is King’ in business and that any business model designed around constantly raising without generating sustainable revenues takes your eye of the ball and merely escapes the reality that nothing beats cold hard cash generated from a sale.

My experience reminds me of the quote “How can a man come to know himself? Never by thinking, but by doing. Try to do your duty and you will know at once what you are worth.” So, take the leap and let me know how you get on with the tips!

I’m currently running the sales, business strategy, customer success, invoicing and supporting recruitment @PeopleOfColorInTech. Still maintaining an interest in the Africa Tech startup scene through @pamojanetwork and other tech-based ideas for social impact. Let’s chat! jason@peopleofcolorintech.com