Tag: sales

If it works with ten people

FabrizioLeave a comment

The idea that by hiring more you will get more business is flawed.

The idea that by implementing more processes things will be running more smoothly is flawed.

The idea that by buying a new tool your employees will suddenly start to make sense is flawed.

The idea that by acquiring more customers your product will finally take off is flawed.

Hiring, processes, tools, and customer acquisition are fantastic ways to achieve goals, but they do not work in the same manner in all contexts. And particularly, they are not a cure for some fundamental flaws your organisation might have.

A general rule of thumb: if it works with ten people, you are ready to move to one hundred, one thousand, one million.

If it does not work with ten people, though, it’s time to go back to the drawing board and find a new way to make it work.

One plus one does not equal sale

FabrizioLeave a comment

In the past four years, I have only replied to four cold outreach from sales or business development reps.

In two cases, I already knew the company. Their brand was so popular in my circle that I was just seeking an opportunity to work with them. When the sales reps reached out, I was sold already. I booked a meeting, and from there on it was just a matter of how.

In one case, the sales rep really put work and effort at personalising the outreach. I did exchange some emails with them, and the whole thing turned into a deal with another side of the organisation a few months later.

In one case, there was an offer for a €125 Amazon voucher to attend a demo. I did reply, the thing got too complex, and since I had absolutely no interest in the tool they were selling, I gave up easily and with a smile on my face.

I can’t say how many others I have gotten, but they all went to the trash bin or ended up accompanying some pungent posts on social media.

And yet, there is people that still believe that one plus one equals sale.

Not how people work

Fabrizio1 Comment

Subject: Such Interesting Mentorship Programmes

Body: Hi Fabrizio, came across your LinkedIn profile and wow you have participated in such interesting internship programmes. I’m just checking to see if you are the person responsible for lead generation. If you aren’t the right person to speak with, can you forward me on to someone more appropriate?

I guess the assumption here is that personalisation is easy. That to establish a relationship it is sufficient to point at some trivial thing, such as the colour of your hair, or the fact we both have two eyes and one mouth. That after quickly exchanging some pleasantries, it is ok to not only go straight to business, but also to ask for further introductions. That the receiver of a cold outreach is nothing but a necessary evil to surmount in the name of the business goal.

Of course, that’s not how it works. Because that is not how people work.

Time to grow

FabrizioLeave a comment

There are many things that are potentially interesting, many opportunities that could change the course of a life, many ways you can go about business that might make your company the new hyper-celebrated unicorn.

Yet, jumping from one to the next will do you no good.

Give one thing the needed time to grow.

Within a stone’s throw

FabrizioLeave a comment

Your urgency is not your customer’s urgency.

You might have a plan, investors that demand that you grow, the idea that 30% year-over-year is the only measure of success, a team that is competitive and wants nothing more than their bonus at the end of the quarter.

But that is you. And honestly, nobody cares.

Think about your customer’s plan instead, what their investors want from them, how they define success, what their team wants to achieve in the next 90 days.

And if your first thought is “it depends”, you might be right. Most likely, though, you are just trying to sell to anybody who comes within a stone’s throw.

Focus. And learn.