As a founder or a sales lead at an early stage startup, you’re likely reading this while messaging team members, scheduling calls, or prepping numbers for an investor call. The point is- your time is limited and your goal post is changing everyday. As someone who's been in your shoes (building out sales infrastructure from tools to first GTM hires to testing the product in market, all while defining the ICP and managing fast growing sales teams), I always valued quick reads that would provide real insights I could take action on. Here’s a handful of trends that will help accelerate your revenue quickly, with limited resources:
1. Lean in to Consultative, In-Person Selling
Forrester’s 2024 predictions state that Millennials will make up 75% of business buying teams in 2024, and they have a preference for in-person meetings with product experts. As a sales lead for an early stage start-up, this means two things. First, with your product team likely more built out than your sales function, make sure you have a shared OKR when it comes to direct customer engagement. While you’re on the front lines when it comes to revenue generation, it takes a strong cross-functional team to drive optimal growth. Second, consider making your next sales hire someone with some technical background, or who has a genuine appetite for learning the product in and out. Sellers at this early stage need to be product experts, and product experts need to be comfortable interfacing directly with customers.
2. Leverage Generative AI without a lot of customer data
Data scarcity shouldn't hinder your sales motion. Generative AI can still be powerful, even with limited customer insights. Leverage publicly available data – social media conversations, industry reports, and competitor analysis – to understand your target audience's pain points, interests, and language. Use generative AI to draft sales scripts, create messaging templates, and build hyper customized pitch decks. Tools like Tome, and of course Gemini and ChatGPT are good places to start. There are a lot of options out there when it comes to content creation, so chances are if you put in a search for exactly what you need, there will be a tool with a freemium model you can test. Tools specific to sales needs, like SellScale and Gong.io are useful for creating efficiencies throughout the sales process.
3. Build a Collaborative Playbook
While a core sales playbook is essential, a culture of collaboration will set you apart in 2024. If you do have a sales team, involve them in crafting and continuously updating the playbook, encouraging them to share best practices, challenges, and learnings from the field. This collaborative approach fosters a culture of continuous innovation, ensures your playbook remains relevant, and empowers your team to adapt to dynamic market trends. If you’re looking to build out your team and want to attract top talent, emphasizing that this is a part of your value system will help you stand out.
4. Think Small when it comes to Experimentation
As you begin to gain traction in the market and have a handle on your core ICP, it’s tempting to think about expanding your audience. Let’s say you have a good handle on your solution for enterprise customers and want to pivot to a scaled play, or you have cracked one vertical and want to test another. The challenge with this is even though your solution works more or less the same for each, the audiences will have different challenges and objectives. Oftentimes, you’ll have to start from scratch when it comes to things like your GTM strategy, onboarding process, account management, and customer success. Instead, first try out Micro experiments within your ICP. Unless you’re sure you’ve achieved full market penetration, there’s a lot you can do to grow your revenue with your audience while minimizing your risk and limiting the resources spent. To do this, make sure you have a hypothesis to start and are testing only one change in your sales motion at a time.
5. Hire a Sales Pioneer
In transitioning from founder-led sales to a scalable team, too many startups make the mistake of thinking they need to hire a VP of Sales. Instead, consider the Sales Pioneer: an ambitious seller with a blend of talent and drive that has recent experience as both an Account Executive and Sales Development Rep. The key differentiator here is that this person has to be experienced enough to effectively source and close deals, but are not so experienced that they aren’t willing to do the grunt work. Ideally, they will own everything from outbound prospecting to closing deals to developing a scalable playbook. Compared to the immediate cost and potential mismatch of a VP, the Sales Pioneer offers a cost-effective solution while developing an intimate understanding of your specific sales landscape and Ideal Customer Profile. Remember, as a founder making this hire, your upfront time and support are critical to their success.
And if you’re not at a place where you can hire additional talent (or it’s taking too long), but are looking to accelerate revenue growth, consider partnering with consultants or freelancers to kickstart your efforts. I’ve recently launched Seed Through Series, a marketing and sales consulting firm specializing in revenue-driving initiatives for startups. We just finished up a project with Metanoia which included a new consultative selling strategy and playbook.
Want to learn more? Contact Morris Milton if you’re interested in having a conversation about about we can help your startup grow.
