Let’s talk about s***s baby
Yes, I’m about to talk about that dirty ‘s’ word that so many of the wannabe Linkedin thought leaders (such as myself) try and never publicly utter. Unless you’re Grant Cardone or a Digital Nomad entrepreneur type vlogging about how you’re hitting 6 figures sitting at the beach in Bali this is something I don’t see many business leaders actively admitting they do.
The irony is that to drive growth in your business, you must sell, but to publicly speak about selling you instantly make prospects cringe and duck for cover. Well, at the risk of making this commercial cardinal sin, I’m going to talk about selling. I’ll even go as far to say that for an early stage founder, actively talking about selling is the business equivalent of a baptism or naming ceremony — without it, it is very difficult to live in the world, in spite of what Shakespeare says about roses and sweetness.
My startup is in the midst of strategic shift in focus. We are redirecting our resources to a new and growing segment and it’s exciting. While we haven’t totally transitioned away from what we ‘used’ to do, we are putting increasing amount of attention on this new space.
To provide context, we are a B2B focused e-commerce business that has historically serviced the general trade and retail segment and are now focused on growing the corporate and institutional segment of customers. To demonstrate to my team (and in many ways to myself) that we are making the right strategic choice, I have personally been heavily involved in the sales process, or to use my tribe’s euphemism of choice, “Business Development”.
I have actively been prospecting, refining our funnel, generating leads, having sales meetings and ultimately converting customers. If I’ve engaged with you at all on LinkedIn in the past couple of months, it is probably because I want to sell to you. This process has been enlightening and exhilarating and while I can’t say I’m anywhere close to hitting my objectives, I’m compelled to talk about a few of the things that have made me excited by s***s and why I think we should talk about it more.
- Know Thyself
Engaging with real humans is not overrated. While AI is all the rage and will likely make me obsolete, in the meantime, the engagement between me and someone else who is a me has been incredibly valuable. It is impossible to know if your precious product is actually any good if you don’t go to the gemba. Features, benefits, value propositions, USPs are all useless jargon unless an interaction with another human elicits a response that is not one that makes you feel like you’re wasting their time. In fact, if you do get a negative response, it is equally valuable feedback that you should probably revisit your purpose.
2. Don’t lie
While this seems quite obvious, I’ve seen the opposite far too often. Honesty means being your authentic self in the context. Don’t try and pretend that you’re not there to make a pitch. Don’t avoid the fact that a win in your book will ultimately result in a transaction. Recognise however, that this means you have explicitly chosen to pitch to this entity because you believe it will have a high probability of meeting your goal. If you want to sell, you need to ensure you’re engaging with someone who will challenge the natural inertia of change because what you are offering is worth it. The more often you are selective about your prospects, the more likely you will have prospects that convert. Potential customers will reach out to you because they know the value you’re bringing to the table.
3. Be a nurturer
For someone who is naturally a bit introverted selling requires you to invest in nurturing a relationship. While you’re not expected to become best friends with your clients — actively listening, being empathetic to their needs, reaching out to check in — are all skills that will build the muscles required for the friends you do have. People at their core are quite simple, they just want to feel valued and have value offered to them in the finite resource of time they have. Doing this with clients will make them long-term customers, build your business AND improve your non-professional relationships as well.
4. Articulate and make meaningful words
One of the areas I’ve had the most joy from during this process is that I get to express ideas intentionally and purpose over the course of the job. I love language and the act of putting words to paper (or in this case thoughtful emails). Whether it is a clearly defined cold email or a conversational pitch, the endeavour to be good at sales forces you to be good at choosing meaningful words. You need to express yourself clearly, you need to be persuasive, you need to challenge yourself to choose how you say what you want to say. These are all important traits in my book and at the risk of being superfluous, dare I say make you a better person.
5. Self-fulfilling optimisation
I know this may not apply to every trade, however, I don’t want to sell a promise that I can’t deliver on. By committing value to a customer you now force yourself to work on all the moving parts of the business that will deliver this value. You are forced to enhance processes, streamline team structures, leverage tools and ultimately better manage your organisation. Selling is in many ways an act of forced self-improvement. That inefficiency in your organisation that you’ve been meaning to address now becomes essential once you’ve made a promise.
Talking about selling should be seen not as a taboo but as a badge of honour. It’s a testament to your commitment to your business and your belief in the value you’re providing.
Drumroll for the business plug
If you’re curious about what I’ve been selling — we’ve recently rolled out a service called inalipa Business that is catered to Corporates and Institutional customers to support, digitise and deliver on the procurement of their regular monthly consumables (Pantry Items, Stationary, Cleaning Items, Toners, Electronics, etc.). We’re a single source supplier that is extremely efficient, price competitive and ultimately saving our customers time and money. Hit me up if you want to talk.
Selling shouldn’t be a dirty word. It’s an s-word that can be as alluring as some of the others. It is an essential part of growing your business and achieving success. By changing the way we talk about selling and focusing on the value we’re providing we can not only make ourselves better humans and businesses but make our clients better too.
So next time I hit you up on LinkedIn — assume I’m trying to s*** to you and expect that it is going to be enjoyable for both of us.
