Working in a tech startup means wearing many hats, especially if you’re the founder. You’ll be an expert in a particular area, but in the early days you’ll also need to be able to handle finance, sales, marketing, HR – the lot. 

As a founder, your time will be stretched already. Therefore, it’s even more vital that you use your time well and put the right actions in place in the proper order. After all, timing is everything in life and business. 

One way to do that involves working with specialists in specific areas on a consultancy basis. This is where Sales for Startups can help and offer insights into your company’s sales process. With that in mind, we’ve looked at the pitfalls founders face and how Sales for Startups can help. 

Problems founders face

From Seed to Series A

Moving from Seed to Series A on founder-led sales alone can be tough. We’d go so far as to say almost impossible.  But there are several risks involved with hiring a VP of sales without the proper support and infrastructure in place. 

Handing off sales to a VP of Sales puts a lot of reliance on one person. Your tech startup will need to learn what works for your audience, which aspect of your product particularly interests customers, where they found out about you and how to convert. 

You’ll also be getting feedback from customers which will help inform and iterate your product. There is a lot of value you’ll be missing out on as a founder if you detach yourself from sales completely. And when your VP of Sales inevitably leaves (73% do within 12 months), they’re taking a lot of insight with them. 

You really need to be clear on your proposition and how that informs your strategy before you start hiring people. If you’re not clear on that yet, now is the time to get that right. 

Marketing and sales aren’t a tap

Unfortunately, you can’t just switch sales and marketing on as you please, then pause it until further notice. Plus, if you’re budgeting an increase in revenues in a particular month, you can’t wait until that month is upon you to address sales and marketing needs. A plan should be in place months in advance. It should cover the right channels to reach your audiences and an effective lead gen strategy. 

It takes a rigorous approach and continuity to build relationships, grow audiences and turn them into prospects and then customers. You need to do sales and marketing consistently to build brand awareness and convert more sales. Otherwise, you’ll struggle to build brand trust,  increase awareness and strike relationships with the right people. 

You know you need to sign more customers. But do you need to work on conversion, lead generation or both?  Make sure you leave enough time to create traction and impact before you start addressing it. 

A solution with Sales for Startups

We help you get the strategy right 

At Sales for Startups, we refine your value proposition and pricing, helping you craft the right messaging architecture for audiences. Making a connection with your customer personas is vital, and that involves knowing their pain points and showing them how your product or service helps. 

This all forms part of a sales and marketing strategy, which we’ll craft after working closely with you and the wider team. Part of this includes the pricing strategy, one of the most important aspects of any business. We’ll give you the scalability needed to succeed.

And then get it up and running

Investors expect revenue increases in line with the targets you’ve set together. They’ll want an average growth rate year on year of at least four times their return. But none of this will happen without a plan in place. 

That means you need to get your sales process up and running, which is what Sales for Startups specialise in doing. We’ll work to craft a strategy that you can use in the long term. Beyond that, we’ll improve lead gen and conversion while helping you hire the right people to help continue taking the company forward. 

Sales for startups

The high-pressure world of a tech startup means you always need to be on your toes. But with the right help, you can put processes in place and bring stability while setting the company up for the future and attracting more investment. The Sales for Startups team specialise in delivering effective sales and marketing machines for businesses. We do it day in, day out, so we know what works.  Working with Sales for Startups increases your lifetime value – we turn your sales into a fully-functioning set up that can reach its targets and grow the business.