Since we have crossed the webinar and thought leadership around entrepreneurship during COVID19, I can write it. This COVID19 is a test of your leadership. All your principles painted on companies’ walls in huge fonts will be tested. Everyone will look upon you: customers, investors, and team members. Now is the time to find real …
Category Archives: startups
On sales
There are a million hours of a podcast recorded, thousand books written on sales. Each book has something to offer. Each podcast has some advice. My limited learning in sales has taught me a few lessons. Customers will buy if they are in pain. In other cases, discounts or other offers might get you closer. …
posturing
I disregard the evangelicals from the valley and their posturing to we Indians. Our country has just opened up to the digital revolution. The millions of customers for most valley companies are going to come from India. The posturing by valley companies reminds me of the British Rule, you illiterate Indians, we have got this …
Customer needs
Reading Customer Culture by Micheal D. Basch has been a refreshing read focused on building an organization, managing team, and delighting customers. In one of the chapters, the author talks about customer needs. He defined the journey in these stages. These are related to his experience in logistics service, as the book revolves around FedEx. …
Cats or Dogs
The success of any enterprise product depends on the team it caters. These teams have their working comfort. Some teams work like a herd of dogs, all in together. Success is for everyone resulting in shaping the organization. Some teams like to work as a herd of cats. Each is unique, in its own way …
buzzwords
Silence does not mean a sense of fear or some void. During the pandemic, I had the opportunity to interact with many founders. For many of them, nothing has changed because they have been running the business on simple fundamentals. Go to social media to learn about mambo jumbos around SaaS metrics. When key should …
Build
Some customers think they can build everything themselves and consider it as an advantage over their peers. The reason for it is very simple: Sunk cost and the Ikea Effect. The sunk cost of their knowledge and skill. How can it go to waste? Even though this is no more our primary task. The Ikea …
Qualified Customers
Saas metrics are in abundance when it comes to qualifying leads or potential customers. Various analogies are taken into account like ticket size, effort to move to the platform. In the early days of product development and onboarding customers, my learning has been different. Customers or teams who are empathetic with you during the trial …
Customers
Customers who care for you want to work with you will treat you as part of their internal team. They are part of your product development team. You have to listen and get every clue from their feedback, usage patterns. My friends tell me why am I so transparent with them, the simple reason is …
Believers
I keep hearing from my friends and experienced sales folks about closing. My last 24 hours experience has been different. There is no one fit for all. A sale is about solving customer’s pain, delighting him. Closing the revenue target is a byproduct. A sale is about making him or her comfortable. It is about …