Founders struggle with sales because they take rejection personally, avoid pricing conversations, and lack outreach discipline. The video outlines three obstacles and four solutions, from sales training to hiring qualified salespeople or outsourcing to services like ConnectAndSell and GreenLeads.
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Your business invigorates you. Your conviction is stronger than ever before. When you aren't talking about your business, you're thinking about it while you're eating, showering, driving, and sleeping. You couldn't be more excited and afraid. And despite all of the attention you give to your idea, your business, your baby, You struggle selling and can't understand why. Perhaps you don't have enough opportunities in your pipeline. Maybe you have plenty of opportunities but aren't closing enough, or any of them. You work your social networks, but maybe the social networks aren't working for you. Whatever it is, the revenue you had hoped, needed to generate isn't keeping up with the money you need to spend and live on. So the question is, with your great business idea and all of this strong conviction, why is selling so difficult? Let's discuss the top 3 reasons why why entrepreneurs struggle so much with selling and determine whether or not there's anything you can do about it. Number 1: This is different. Let's compare the difference between selling for someone else and selling your own idea. There are around 16 million salespeople and most of them sell a product or service that isn't of their own making. When a prospect isn't interested in the product or service or doesn't choose their company, it's not personal. It's not about them. It's simply a part of selling. However, when a prospect isn't interested in your product or service, or doesn't choose your company, well, now it is personal. Most entrepreneurs are unable to separate themselves from their businesses, products, and services, and that makes it difficult for them to ask tough questions, push back, and ask for the business. They can't handle being rejected. Number 2: This is different too. Back when you attempted to convince your friends, family members, and potential employees that your business had legs and could succeed, you were very persuasive. They bought in hook, line, and sinker. But now when you attempt to get prospects to pay for your product or service, it's a completely different story. Money is involved. Your prospect must not only like your product or service better than the alternative, but they must also believe that the price you set is fair and provides value. Some entrepreneurs are very uncomfortable defending their value and having a discussion about money. 3. This is very different. Perhaps the biggest challenge for most entrepreneurs is the realization that this isn't like the movies. In Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner's character hears and acts on the voice that says, "Build it and they will come." So you build it, but they don't come. You market it, but that generates some crappy leads. After struggling to generate revenue for longer than the plan called for, you finally come to the realization that You must sell. Unfortunately for you, selling means getting on the phone and making calls. Cold calls. And you never signed up for that. So now you're having call anxiety. You find anything and everything else that you could possibly do instead of making those dreaded calls. And of course, no calls means no new opportunities. On those rare occasions when you can motivate or force yourself to make calls, you aren't very good at them. Few people will talk with you, and even fewer are interested. Once in a while you succeed at scheduling a call or meeting, and there are so few of those and so much pressure to close that you're afraid to say or do anything that would jeopardize the opportunity. The result is that you simply aren't very good at this. So what can an entrepreneur like you do when you have a great business or product idea but little desire or ability to sell? Here are some options. Have yourself evaluated for selling. An evaluation will help you understand exactly why you're struggling, which weaknesses are getting in the way, which skills are missing, and whether or not it's realistic for you to improve. Objective Management Group has an Entrepreneurial Sales Evaluation that addresses this very issue. Training and coaching. Assuming that there is hope for you in sales, some top-notch training and coaching will get you bringing in the business more effectively, more quickly, and more frequently. Hire a salesperson. Most entrepreneurs haven't hired people before and hiring salespeople is challenging even for those with experience. It's best to get help because you can't afford to make a mistake on your first key sales hire. Objective Management Group has a sales candidate assessment that helps with selection, but you want some advice to help with setting up a proper sales recruiting process too. Outsource. There are several outsourcing options you can look into. There's call technology. ConnectAndSell.com will automate the dialing so you can spend your limited time actually speaking with contacts. You can have as many conversations in an hour as you would normally have in a week. Appointment setting. GreenLeads.com will make the calls and schedule first meetings on your behalf. Independent reps. RepHunter.net will allow you to search for 1099 commission-only reps that will sell for you. If you're an entrepreneur that needs to significantly increase revenue and do it quickly, stop beating your head against the wall and feeling like a failure. Stop hoping that tomorrow someone will call and place a huge order. Stop believing that your outstanding proposals will close. Take action, get some help, and focus on what you do best: improving your business, products, and services.
