
How to generate sales? - ld50
I'm currently bootstrapping my startup with what I can save from my day job. The biggest business related expense I have is my sales force, a sales outsourcing service that over promised and under-delivered. They claimed to be a full service sales outsourcing solution, but have amounted to nothing more than a half-assed lead generation service. My concept is great- it's a product and a service, margins are hyooge, interest is high, but there don't seem to be any closers in the company I hired. What's the next best approach short of paying 7k/month (which I can't afford) to hire a real sales outsourcing service? I've tried commission-only sales reps off of CL but they all jerk around because they're not getting a base pay and lose interest within a few days. Maybe I should break down and pay one of them hourly+commission? I've also tried selling it myself, which I'm still doing with the leads I get from the SoS, but like I said I have a day job and can't sneak away to make calls very often.
Nobody's funding, so that's not really an option (though I am pursuing it on the side on the off chance that I get a bite). HALP!?!?!? Thoughts anyone?? I'm becoming increasingly frustrated as I continue to accrue business related expenses, yet have no supporting stream of revenue, save the day job.
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petercooper
Unless you plan on hiring someone to work for you (not some outsourcing deal,
but an actual employee, or a sales person on commission who you can get
_excited_ ) I think you should focus on selling it yourself, since you know it
best, can gauge the quickest whether it's actually sellable, _and_ you're
passionate about it - the most important thing!

You can always outsource the sales _later_ once you've figured out the best
techniques, the most common objections, etc, and can instruct an outsourced
team on those issues.

So where do you find the time to do this for real if you have a day job? Take
a week of vacation time as soon as possible and work your ass off during it.
If the margins are huge and interest is high _and_ you can sell it well, then
keep doing that and quit the day job.

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tjic
Read _Ready, Fire, Aim_, one of THE best business books ever.

[http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Fire-Aim-Million-
Agora/dp/047018...](http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Fire-Aim-Million-
Agora/dp/0470182024)

YOU are the only one properly motivated to sell. You have to do it, until (at
least) you have it down to a science. Then you can teach that science to
others.

It's hard hard hard hard work. I hate marketing and sales. But you have to do
it.

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adammichaelc
I can give feedback (have been in sales for 5 years, have done quite well and
am thinking about starting up a software startup with some friends on campus),
but will need more info. Shoot me an email adammichaelc@gmail.com and send
your number. We can set up a time to chat next week. I'm going out of town for
the weekend.

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siong1987
Since you are selling something, why you keep that as a secret here? Someone
here might buy your product.

No hacker steals people's idea.

~~~
nazgulnarsil
corollary: all hackers steal other people's ideas in order to improve upon
them.

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netcan
_short of paying 7k/month (which I can't afford) to hire a real sales
outsourcing service_

The thing is, a direct sales process that works & functions predictably can be
more akin to a production cost then a long winded marketing cost. If you run a
training/consulting business a 'course' could cost you $A to prospect & sell
$B to host & $C to teach. As long as $A stays more or less predictable & A+B+C
still allows you to cover overheads, it works. 'Affording' shouldn't
theoretically be an issue.

The part that is akin to an investment that you can afford or not is
_creating_ a system where A is predictable & reasonable. That might be
achievable with a 7k/month outsourced sales. It may be achievable some other
way. What you need to invest in (time and/or money) is finding it. So, your
first couple of 7ks are an investment. An experiment. If it works, affording
should no longer be part of the consideration.

There are companies that basically are a sales process just like there are
companies that essentially are a product or a technology. If you are going to
be a company that is a sales process or a big part of you is a sales process,
then you probably need to be directly involved.

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fdschoeneman
You need to first develop a sales road map, and the easiest way to do that is
to sell yourself. Find out what works, what doesn't. Only then will you know
how to show other sales people how to sell, whether it's part of an internal
team or outsourced. For a more complete rationale on this, I encourage you to
read Steve Blank's "4 Steps to the Epiphany" which is all about how to develop
customers.

\-- Fred

~~~
sabat
Fred, thx for the reference to this book. Just ordered it on Amazon based on
your review and tons of others I found.

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skmurphy
I have a number of questions that you don't have to answer in public but you
might want to give some thought to:

How did you price the product? If margins are huge is it priced to high? Do
you take "Cost of Sales" into your margin calculation? Perhaps it's priced too
low?

What alternatives do you compete against? Do they have a direct sales force or
rely on one or more indirect channels? How do they recruit sales people and
what compensation plan do they offer? How long is their sales cycle?

If you have a long sales cycle it may be difficult to hire a commission only
sales rep.

What sales tools and materials did you provide your sales folks? How did you
train them to sell your product?

It's not clear from your post if you are able to sell the product if you spend
time on it: are you? If not, I would spend more time on that before trying to
hire someone else.

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markessien
Sell using email. Do it by phone. Don't blame your salesforce - if a company
wants your product, they will pay for it, you don't need to hassle them with a
sales force. If you are not getting any sales, even after people have been
introduced to the concept, then maybe your concept is not perfect. Start
asking the people who what is wrong.

And again, use email, so you can do this yourself.

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shafqat
I didnt realize there were "outsourced sales services" - do you have any
examples? Of good ones that may cost a bit more?

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mcdowall
Weve used Elance.com and Guru.com for numerous different outsourcing projects
beforehand, including sales.

To be honest though it does depend on location, having had salaried, salary +
commission, commission only, remote commission only it really depends on the
product and its location.

For example if you need a couple of calls to close a sale then its probably
worthwhile to have regional specific sales reps (commision only) as it will
probably end up the client wants to meet to close.

Price is also a big factor, try cold selling anything more than £100 ($160)
over the phone and your gonna be up against it!

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tyohn
Can I ask what you're selling?

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dejb
Maybe you need a co-founder.

