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FIN24 readers enjoyed last week's to-do list but a couple of people commented that while the theory was good, it didn't answer the question about how to fill a sales pipeline.
With that in mind, I thought I would pen some thoughts around this topic.
In the last few weeks I have had some quite interesting chats with Colette Symanowitz from MBAConnect.net about the establishment of an angel investor network in South Africa. As part of these discussions, we tried to answer the question about what assets a quality “angel” brings to the party when he or she invests in an early stage start-up.
Forget money - the most important thing an angel investor can do is make a handful of good quality connections that can put an entrepreneur in business.
Money you can, and most probably will, burn through. A quality connection can turn into a client for life.
For me one of the really big bugbears in life is when I see young entrepreneurs try and start a business with no clients, no experience and no support structure with which to get on their feet. You might buck the odds and make a success of it, but history is sorely against you.
With that in mind, I've prepared a few tips I have found to be quite effective to help entrepreneurs fill the sales pipeline.
1. Survival factors aside, don't rush to get yourself into your own business. There is little worse than that first day in business when you are sitting there, asking yourself “what now?”.
2. Don't chuck in your day job too soon. The thinking entrepreneur is somebody who is constantly building networks, connections and relationships whether they are employed by a business or in their own venture. These will help you significantly down the line.
3. Depending on your industry, get at least three reference clients. It is not about getting paid by them, but rather to understand issues such as why would they buy the product? How much would they be prepared to pay? Can they give you measurable metrics about the benefits your product brings to their lives?
4. Most important on the previous point – can they recommend you to another potential client and facilitate an introduction based on their experiences?
5. I have very rarely seen commission-only agents work out well for small businesses, particularly when the products they are selling are relatively complicated. More often than not entrepreneurs find themselves being dragged to "sales" meetings to try and correct the over-promises the agent has made.
6. Having said that, I am a firm believer that if you are going to invest in a website early on, make it able to handle pay-per-lead and pay-per-sale referral campaigns. This can be a powerful tool when you don't have a sales force at your disposal
7. Don't waste your money on business cards, flyers and brochures. Get out of the door and get in front of people by attending and talking at networking events, and contribute to online communities like Silicon Cape or whatever your local industry body is. Writing opinion pieces for specialist media is also a fantastic way of raising your profile.
8. I said it last week – make a handful of sales-related calls each day to get the ball rolling.
One of the people who commented on last week's article argued that the exotic dancer I used in my column offered a product that was "in demand", whereas building demand for their product is not that easy. Without being cynical, I would argue that that the dancer is charging for a service that many people get for free, so it is not an easy sell.
She is, however, the perfect reminder that business is done between people and if you can build a client base that can refer you to other potential customers, you give yourself a decent chance of survival.
- Fin24
With that in mind, I thought I would pen some thoughts around this topic.
In the last few weeks I have had some quite interesting chats with Colette Symanowitz from MBAConnect.net about the establishment of an angel investor network in South Africa. As part of these discussions, we tried to answer the question about what assets a quality “angel” brings to the party when he or she invests in an early stage start-up.
Forget money - the most important thing an angel investor can do is make a handful of good quality connections that can put an entrepreneur in business.
Money you can, and most probably will, burn through. A quality connection can turn into a client for life.
For me one of the really big bugbears in life is when I see young entrepreneurs try and start a business with no clients, no experience and no support structure with which to get on their feet. You might buck the odds and make a success of it, but history is sorely against you.
With that in mind, I've prepared a few tips I have found to be quite effective to help entrepreneurs fill the sales pipeline.
1. Survival factors aside, don't rush to get yourself into your own business. There is little worse than that first day in business when you are sitting there, asking yourself “what now?”.
2. Don't chuck in your day job too soon. The thinking entrepreneur is somebody who is constantly building networks, connections and relationships whether they are employed by a business or in their own venture. These will help you significantly down the line.
3. Depending on your industry, get at least three reference clients. It is not about getting paid by them, but rather to understand issues such as why would they buy the product? How much would they be prepared to pay? Can they give you measurable metrics about the benefits your product brings to their lives?
4. Most important on the previous point – can they recommend you to another potential client and facilitate an introduction based on their experiences?
5. I have very rarely seen commission-only agents work out well for small businesses, particularly when the products they are selling are relatively complicated. More often than not entrepreneurs find themselves being dragged to "sales" meetings to try and correct the over-promises the agent has made.
6. Having said that, I am a firm believer that if you are going to invest in a website early on, make it able to handle pay-per-lead and pay-per-sale referral campaigns. This can be a powerful tool when you don't have a sales force at your disposal
7. Don't waste your money on business cards, flyers and brochures. Get out of the door and get in front of people by attending and talking at networking events, and contribute to online communities like Silicon Cape or whatever your local industry body is. Writing opinion pieces for specialist media is also a fantastic way of raising your profile.
8. I said it last week – make a handful of sales-related calls each day to get the ball rolling.
One of the people who commented on last week's article argued that the exotic dancer I used in my column offered a product that was "in demand", whereas building demand for their product is not that easy. Without being cynical, I would argue that that the dancer is charging for a service that many people get for free, so it is not an easy sell.
She is, however, the perfect reminder that business is done between people and if you can build a client base that can refer you to other potential customers, you give yourself a decent chance of survival.
- Fin24
