Do you have what it takes for Startup Sales Success?

Welcome to the Startup Sales Success email course. Let's kick things off by defining who the ultimate startup sales person even is.

Startup Sales Success Email Course: Lesson #1 You're receiving this email because you signed up for our Startup Sales Success email course. Let's kick things off by defining who the ultimate startup sales person even is - shall we? There are 7 key characteristics you want to look for in yourself as well as your team if you want to do sales for a startup:  Focus on results Impatience Shamelessness Strong follow up High tolerance for rejection High sense of values Resourcefulness It you're looking to hire sales people for your startup you should make sure they check off on the above criteria. If you're looking to improve your own sales game ask yourself how you're stacking up in these areas and pick at least one of them you want to improve. You can write down a quick action plan for that or simply reply to this email asking me for advice/feedback. I'm always happy to help :) Results  A startup sales person is someone who is single minded in her quest to get results. Nothing else motivates her. Nothing else matters. To do the startup hustle you have to think big picture and you have to be driven by creating significant results for your venture. It doesn't matter if it's closing deals or closing a round of funding - a startup sales person gets things done that drive revenue for the company and that are crucial for survival and for growth. Impatience A good startup sales person knows only one timeline: NOW! She wants to find the shortest way possible to generate the needed outcomes.  Shamelessness A good startup sales person is willing to look foolish in the name of progress. She is willing to ask for things that others are afraid to ask for. The reason for that is that she doesn't care about rejection or humiliation to some extent. She knows that failure is part of the game and understands that you can't succeed if you don't go for it. Only extraordinary actions create extraordinary results. Follow up This is a big one: A good startup sales person knows that life is all about the follow up. If showing up is 50% of success - the other half is about being the one person that actually follows up until you get the job done. Rejection If she doesn't get rejected she's not really startup sales material. If she doesn't have a high tolerance for emotional pain she will not last out there in the cold world of the startup hustle. Resilience regarding rejection is a must! Values A good startup sales person wants to generate value. She's not just in it for a quick buck. Or for her ego. She knows that her strength is her fearless attitude toward getting things done and closing deals for the startup. She wants to use that power for good and for something she believes in. Resourcefulness Startups are places with little resources. By definition you're looking for people that can do a lot with a little and that are inventive in their approach as well. A good startup sales person will have all of these characteristics. It's easy to find bad sales people and tough to find good ones (just like with hackers and designers). But when you find one you never want to let go of them. And if you checked off all these characteristics for yourself - congratulations! You truly have what it takes to succeed in startup sales. Happy Selling! Steli P.S. In some of these emails, I'm going to ask you a question, and I'm going to ask you to EMAIL ME YOUR RESPONSE.  Why am I doing this?  Because I want you get maximum value out of this course. I want it to improve your sales and make a real difference to your bottom line. To get that result, it's not enough to just consume the information - you need to take action.  That's what the questions at the end of these emails are about - to help you identify which specific action step to take. By telling me about it (rather than keeping it in your head or jotting it on a todo list), you're one step closer to actually getting it done. Deal? Okay, here's today's question: which of these seven characteristics are you going to improve next? Pick one that you'll focus on for the next seven days and let me know! What startup hustlers say about this course: "Steli's a great teacher. After reading his posts, we switched from an enquiry form to a self sign-up with 7-day trial period--our potential customers used the app more proactively and upgraded more frequently." - Richard Burton, Cofounder at Sourcing.io Elastic Inc. PO Box 7775 #69574 San Francisco, CA 94120-7775 You may manage your email preferences anytime.