Sales is not socializing
If there's anything that repeatedly gives me—and every other technical founder out there—anxiety about what I'm doing, it's sales.
So much of sales involves talking to other people. But when you conflate the goals of making money and being a pleasant person to talk to, your head spins with all kinds of questions like:
Did I say the right thing?
Did I say it in the right tone?
Am I bugging you?
The thing that’s hard to remember is that sales isn’t socializing at the café, and the normal rules of engagement don’t apply. It feels weird, but until you get over it, you can’t play the game in the most effective way.
This week, I'm heads down preparing for Current (a fantastic marketing opportunity, which I'll talk plenty about in the coming weeks), so here's a short one on keeping perspective while you sell.
It’s not about making friends
Your prospect is engaging with you because they think you can solve an important problem for them, not because they want a bigger social circle.
When you get worried about saying the right thing, come back to the overriding priority and ask: am I helping the customer with their problem? That’s nearly all that matters.
It’s on you to make it happen
Many of the best sales people I talk to all say the same thing: you need to be a touch pushy to make things happen.
By default, your deal will stay stuck. Other projects will come pop up. Followups will get dropped.
You can’t be worried about keeping a legitimate deal on track. That responsibility is almost always on you.
The customer’s world is big
Particularly when your business is brand new, it’s true that each deal is probably more important to you than your prospects.
I things get a little stuck, it’s worth giving the buyer the benefit of the doubt: they very likely are overloaded with other priorities. So again, it’s on you to keep it on track without getting emotional about it.
By all means: be respectful, courteous, and gracious. But remember: the goal is to connect your solution with people’s problems.