7 Lessons for Selling-In your Innovation

Early sales must be founder-led, here's how to make it more bearable

We’re working on something new and exciting at Hearty—testing a product that’s a stretch from our current solution and customer base. And that means I’m back to being the sales guy…Yay!

Whether you’re a startup founder, software product manager, HR lead trying to push through a new compensation system, or anyone else on a mission to get early buy-in, it’s your responsibility to sell the idea. But sales is hard. I’ve had the chance to work with some fantastic sales talent, and they continually remind me that they’ve got a special combination of skills and personality—which I lack.

But a change agent must get good enough at selling. The best way to learn about customer needs and reactions is through direct experience. In this case, you’ve got to lead from the front—even if it feels like crawling through shards of glass. I’ve forgotten how many times I’ve been this first seller, and I still suck at it. But over the years, I’ve picked up a few tips that make the process more mentally tolerable and fiscally effective. So if you struggle like me, start here:

1. Ask for advice and let sales come as they may

You’re always going to be eager to make the cash register ring. After all, there’s no better way to “validate” your idea and get some financial fuel in the tanks. But no idea survives first contact with the customer, and your real mission in early sales is to gather feedback from customers that help you adjust your product and pitch.

Approach warm and cold leads early on by asking for advice and reactions. This lowers their instinct to avoid a sales pitch, and they will be more open with their feedback. Remind them—and yourself—at the start of the session that their open, honest input is priceless, and there’s no pressure to buy. You’ll feel desperate to close, but even a “no” is extremely useful. One of my mottos at early selling is, “Let’s go collect some No’s…so that we can figure out what’s necessary to get to a Yes.”

2. Never be defensive

This builds on the previous lesson and deserves doubling down on. When I’ve been the early-stage pitch target, I’ve found that many startup leaders push back hard against the questions and doubts that I raise in the spirit of being honest and helpful. They are passionate, and some have been coached that effective sales is about parrying objections. But not at the early stage.

Instead, treat the pitch more as market research. Start with good discovery questions that help you understand the client’s pains and current activity and spending habits. When they push back or question your pitch points, don’t defend, but ask “Why?” with a true spirit of curiosity. Stop clicking slides and double-click on their input to gather invaluable data about what’s going on in their heads.

3. CRM is your friend

Building good habits is about developing a productive process and sticking to it. And sales has so many moving parts that you’re best off going all-in on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software from Day 1. It doesn’t matter too much which one your pick, but please use something better than an Excel sheet. We’ve tried several over the years and like tolerate Hubspot best. They also have some free and low-cost options.

Get everything onto the CRM—Companies, Contacts, Deals, and Campaigns. As soon as your pitch is over, add notes and set reminder tasks. Every email should go through the CRM or have the special BCC address that will add emails to the Deals. Build pipeline steps with dollar amounts and move your deals through them regularly.

4. Share everything with your team

After adding your notes to the CRM, copy and paste them to your team. We’ve got a special channel for this on Slack. You may feel exposed and even think that these notes will distract others, but this is a very key step at the early stage. First, it provides raw input that helps everyone get a sense of what’s happening out in the market. They will make better big and small decisions when you’re not around.

Second, it can energize the folks grinding away at the home office. Anyone working on something new is interested in the reception, so feed their curiosity by being transparent.

Don’t sugarcoat the feedback too much, but keep it positive. More meetings mean more momentum for the project and everyone associated with it. And remind them that even a “no” can be good news because it saves you from going down the wrong path.

5. Everyone will need nudges

Be prepared for even your closest friends and biggest fans to be slow to reply at every stage. People are busy, schedules get screwed up, and your email will get routed to the spam folder. Shit happens. So bake that into your expectations and process.

You’ll pull your hair out when the client that gave a verbal yes on a $150k contract goes M.I.A. for two months. That client is your number 2 priority, but you’re their number 200. Most importantly, don’t take it personally. Your stupid brain will invent stories—“Did I piss them off somehow?”—when the truth is that their kid is sick at home for the 4th time this month, and there are rumors of pending layoffs. Have empathy for them and harden yourself.

6. Pump yourself up

Dealing with rejection and delays sucks for those not born with the natural sales gene. Remember that people are counting on you, you’re attacking a problem that can make a big, positive dent in the universe, and the struggle will be a pleasure to look back on when you finally reach success.

This doesn’t mean you need to put in 100-hour weeks and kick yourself for not working more. You’ll need to take breaks from the constant outreach, pitching, and follow-ups. Do whatever you need to get some frustration out of your system. Then remind yourself that crawling through glass is part of the process. Love the struggle if you can. Learn to power through if you can’t. If you haven’t noticed, this whole post is a reminder to myself!

7. Know when to let go

With luck and time, after months of selling by yourself, the deals will start to come through. Your team will love that you’re making the cash register ring, and you’ll begin to believe the dream can come true.

You know the pitch by heart and feel like clients are more likely to buy when a founder is in the room. This is when you need to find your first full-time sales hire and start passing the baton. You’ll know the product better, but they have the sales skills and focus needed to take your company to the next growth stage. I’ve met several founders who loved to sell and got in the way of their people and slowed down their company’s progress.

This is when you’ll switch to other roles, like marketing, fund-raising, product planning, and/or operations and process. Maybe you’ll struggle at these roles, too, which is just part of the process! The over-arching idea is the same: Leaders must get hands-on early-on to figure out how to make the right sausage.

Just seven steps! Sounds easy, huh? No, it’s not. But if it was easy, anyone could do it. And you’re not just anyone. You’re determined. You’re on a mission to solve customers’ pain points and improve their lives. No matter what industry you’re in, this is a noble calling. So embrace the suck, and we’ll see you on the other side of success!

Bob Gilbreath is a 2x-exit entrepreneur and co-founder of Hearty, a curated matchmaking service that combines top software developers with early-stage, venture-backed startups.