
Enterprise Sales Tips for Hackers - brandonb
http://brandonb.cc/enterprise-sales-tips-for-hackers
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waterside81
As a hacker-turned-seller, it's a really eye-opening experience getting out
from behind the screen and talking with enterprise customers. This post hits
the nail right on the head - the sales cycles at large companies are loooong.
You speak in July and it sounds like they'll buy from you tomorrow and then
next you know, your follow-up emails go unanswered and you think they've lost
interest, only to be surprised they want to meet in person again in September
because now Person X wants in. And this goes on & on.

Two tips I've learned:

1) Don't discuss price up front if you can avoid it, especially if you're in
the 6-7 figure price range. Try to get as much info as possible about their
problem. Get them invested in you at a personal level.

2) If your emails go unanswered, instead of sending emails like "Hey wondering
if you're still interested" send update emails about your product like "Hey
Bob, just wanted to let you know we updated X so now you can do Y. Here's a
video explaining more." I've had lots of success with this tactic.

~~~
AndyNemmity
As a hacker-turned-buyer, these are good tips. Especially #2.

I have a couple guys emailing me like crazy right now. I'm not responding.
Why?

Nothing has changed. I don't need to respond every day to tell you nothing has
changed. I start to get frustrated, and it turns me from an advocate into
someone who just wants you to go away.

It's not that I mind talking about the issues, it's just.. if I say I don't
have budget now, you asking me every week is not going to change that.

If instead you're telling me about what's updated, if something you've updated
increases my business case, then that's actually actionable information I can
do something about.

~~~
larrys
"if I say I don't have budget now, you asking me every week is not going to
change that."

That's exactly the reason #2 is such a good idea (I do a version of the same
in some cases).

You keep your name in front of the prospect w/o being annoying and requiring
them to do anything. Along those lines though any contact if excessive can be
annoying.

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josh2600
Great blog post, lots of great information.

A few tips and tricks from my practical experience:

* Big companies still have cultures. If you understand how the culture works, it's easier to get things done. In the best enterprises, you can just straight up ask "how do things get done around here" or "What is the culture like? Who are the stakeholders on a project like this?". In fact, asking people in B2B works a lot better than B2C because often you'll get people revealing their actual painpoints

* Fear of loss is a more powerful motivator than potential gain

* Followups are everything; I can't tell you how many times I've called a company 12 or 18 months later and gotten a deal just by keeping in touch

* B2B is ridiculously personal. Be likable; send people candy on their birthdays, if they have kids send them gifts for their kids (we send/give away branded Kazoos, which also happens to be the name of our product). The sales process often comes down to (unfortunately) who the decision maker likes the most. This isn't actually a bad way of doing business (although it can be) because when the chips are down having an antagonistic vendor-client relationship is terrible.

My two cents.

Source: I'm currently managing marketing for a bootstrapped telecom company
that just cleared 30 employees. We sell straight B2B and these are tactics
that have worked over the last 24-36 months.

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HeyLaughingBoy
Be careful with gifts. I work for a large corp and we have to be very careful
about what we accept lest it be construed as a bribe.

Birthday card is OK, accepting gifts for my kids would probably get me fired.

~~~
josh2600
I think a card for the kids or a quick email is more what I had in mind.

We've received a box of twizzlers in the past. We don't eat twizzlers but it
was a nice sentiment.

~~~
larrys
Along the lines of what you said you gave "branded kazoos" I think that's the
key point.

If you give someone branded swag it doesn't seem like a bribe and most likely
wouldn't seem to be something that should get someone fired.

They typically have these types of things at tradeshows. And people try to
grab so they have enough for all their kids.

Young Kids get excited with some of the lamest things it doesn't take much to
make them happy. And when kids are excited because mom/dad walk in with
something for them the parents are happy and it rubs off on the person who
gave them the item for their kids.

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dave_sullivan
Good tips here--enterprise sales can be... interesting...

Best book I've ever read on selling big ticket items: SPIN Selling by Neil
Rackham. Engineers would love it (and it's short!)

Basically, you sell million dollar computer systems with the following
process:

>> (S)ituation -- what are they doing now?

>> (P)roblem -- what is the problem with that?

>> (I)mplications -- how much is that problem _actually_ costing them? -- as a
number, it's always bigger than people think, particularly if it involves
people doing some manual process somewhere

>> (N)eed Payoff -- Imagine your life if you fix this problem and imagine your
life if you don't. Wouldn't you much rather lead the former?

The instant rapport quick close doesn't work in these cases (in fact, it hurts
you)--you need to demonstrate real value, real ROI (as mentioned in the
article) and you've got to do that by taking the problem and blowing it up
really big, then offering two paths and letting your prospect make the obvious
choice. Or something like that :-)

~~~
AndyNemmity
I wish the startups I worked with had the SPIN you just outlined figured out.

~~~
lifeisstillgood
You sound like a buyer who still has pain that is not being fulfilled :-) Why
not share?

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jonnathanson
This is a great overview. I would be very interested in seeing a followup on
the "air war" subject: not just PR, but social proof and validation in
general. Getting a warm introduction and a set of meetings is not a trivial
task, and "hacking" the organization's structure and needs even less so. But
oftentimes, the final barrier to a sale -- especially for early startups -- is
social proof.

In the back of his or her mind, the buyer is probably thinking things like:
"Will these guys be around in 5 months?" As a small startup, the burden of
proof rests entirely on your shoulders. The bigger guys have already proved
themselves, and, while your service may be much better -- and while the
potential customer may totally understand that -- the incumbents have
incumbency going for them. That's no small advantage.

Another key thing to consider: departments (or people) within any given
company tend to be profit centers, cost centers, or some hybrid of the two.
They have very different goals, and hence, their people have very different
motivations. Some people are empowered to take risks, and others are extremely
risk averse. Pitching topline growth to a department mainly concerned with
managing downside, for example, isn't going to get you very far.

To your point, it's typically more effective and realistic to pitch topline
growth. But if that's going to be the case, then figuring out who at Company X
is _actually_ empowered to take chances on growth is a big priority. The
number of these people in any given organization can be extremely small, even
at large enterprises.

~~~
AndyNemmity
I'm not really thinking about if they will be around in 5 months... I assume
they will if it's an idea I'm willing to buy. It's not even a question for me.

Incumbency is an advantage, and a weakness. Everyone hates what they have for
some reason. Incumbency is rarely the issue.

The profit centers/cost centers idea is VERY true. I am empowered to take
risk, and the people I have to change their systems are risk adverse. So you
have an immediate issue that I have to deal with.

The best thing you can do to help me is have a business case vs. a competitor
or competing idea already outlined.

Somehow startups rarely have this simple information prepared. It shouldn't be
a shock to you that we're currently doing X.. instead of your Y. Why is your Y
better than X in business terms?

~~~
eitally
The other thing, too, is that it's pretty common for contacts with large
companies to include a software escrow clause (in relation to force majeur or
other eventuality leading to the vendor becoming unable to continue servicing
the customer). Whether the customer can keep the thing alive without the
vendor's help is another matter entirely.

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brandonb
I'm the OP -- happy to answer any questions those of you running B2B startups
might have!

~~~
beat
Question 1... how do you feel about the "valley of death" pricing-wise? As a
startup targeting enterprise, one of the things I am hoping for marketing-wise
is to price under the departmental budget line, so individual managers can buy
for their own needs without setting off defensive alarms. And the product
scales outward, so I can start with one department as evangelists, and then
rake in more money and bigger contracts as the product spreads.

But when I think of, say, $5000/year revenues, if it's too high, I have to
fight the corporate financial immune system. But if it's too low, I'm leaving
money on the table when there's a ceiling on how many customers can ultimately
be acquired.

~~~
AndyNemmity
I don't know the valley of death pricing you're talking about, but pricing
isn't a part of the conversation for me until people have already bought in
that they need it.

Pricing is not even on the list of concepts I have to consider to work through
a process. I work for a very big company though.

The product scales outward thing is overrated. Startups have talked to me
about this too, and it doesn't make as much sense as everyone seems to think.

You gain a foothold in an area in the company no one cares about, that doesn't
mean anything. You are the least person to judge which parts of the company
matter, so be careful about that idea.

I just had a company do this. They built a foothold in an area no one cares
about. I had to tell them, it's about as meaningless as an organization if you
had our janitors using their software.

If your evangelists are not connected and part of the decision making process,
the information doesn't expand.

~~~
brandnewlow
You should write a "Why my company isn't going to buy your startup's product"
blog post. It would help quite a few people.

~~~
brandonb
I would love to read that blog post too! It's great to understand how the
other side thinks about things.

~~~
eitally
It depends very much on the individual, their company, and their role/standing
within the company. Anything with too much detail will end up being too
specific and not very good general advice (imho).

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npalli
"Pitch the top line, not the bottom line ... Almost no products can cut costs
by 5-10%".

This is a very odd statement that is in odds with how most B2B software is
positioned. I would wager if you go into any company and look at the software
installed, almost 95%+ will have a use case of reducing costs. Whether is
automating your workforce, reducing inventory, optimizing product spend etc.
Even software which touches the topline (like salesforce/CRM/SFA), at the end
is about reducing the cost of sales not increasing revenue directly.

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eitally
I just realized I've replied to about a half dozen replies to this post. I
spend an awful lot of my work week talking with potential vendors, and have
for several years. As the guy responsible for deciding whether to build or buy
apps & related systems at a large enterprise, it's just part of the job.

I would be extremely happy to help any of you who would like some insight into
how the purchasing process works, and to answer questions about selling to big
companies. If you'd like to chat, to practice your spiel or demos, or anything
else, please contact me. There's nothing I'd like more than to help develop
software sales skills!! :-)

Work: elliot.tally@sanmina.com Personal:
[https://plus.google.com/u/0/110215565182616777712/posts](https://plus.google.com/u/0/110215565182616777712/posts)

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taude
I wish Hacker News had more articles targeting Enterprise software. T

I'm involved w/ enterprise startup and I've found a lot of things like MVP,
feeder landing pages, etc. just don't apply for customer acquisition. We have
a lot of issues with targeting the software at the users, but needing approval
from other people...

But thanks for this article.

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tptacek
Wow, this is an amazingly great post.

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taude
I wish Hacker News had more articles targeting Enterprise software.

I'm involved w/ enterprise startup and I've found a lot of things like MVP,
feeder landing pages, etc. just don't apply for customer acquisition. We have
a lot of issues with targeting the software at the users, but needing approval
from other people...

But thanks for this article.

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gregpilling
"Almost no products can cut costs by 5-10%."

Automation can cut costs by much more than that.

~~~
beat
My intent is to show turn cut costs into opportunity costs. If I can improve
the efficiency of critical lead engineers by 5%, it's not that I'm saving 5%
cost... it's that their effort could be going to positive work that generates
more revenue.

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swampthing
Great post Brandon! You should write the textbook :)

