Entrepreneurship is Sales

It is impossible to overstate the role that sales plays in entrepreneurship. When you’re trying to create something great from scratch, you are always selling. In order to build a team, you have to sell yourself and your idea. In order to raise money, you have to sell your team and its vision. In order to create partnerships, you have to sell your company and its values. In order to sell your product you have to sell… your product. Like the final Lord of the Rings movie, it never ends.

I know that makes a lot of you folks nervous. You don’t even like the sound of the word “sales”. Well I don’t blame you. Sales has got itself a pretty bad rap. It conjures up images of used-car salesmen, tupperware parties, and Alec Baldwin’s testicles.

The problem with these images is that they paint the salesperson as being out for themselves and — more often than not — trying to pull a fast one on you. Maybe he wants you to buy a car that’s a lemon or buy any form of tupperware. He almost never has your best interest at heart. It’s a sad state of affairs.

Here at startup flatland we are going make an assumption that will allow us to explore a much more compelling definition of sales. We will assume that you believe in what you are selling; that you think it is useful and valuable; that you think it will improve the lives of the people who buy it. If you believe these things, sales can take on a different meaning.

Shared Understanding

In this new light, we can see that great sales is not about pressure or manipulation. Great sales is about achieving shared understanding. Because you believe in what you’re selling, your task is simply to enable the person to whom you are selling to understand the product and its value to them.

From a place of understanding, they can evaluate for themselves the extent to which they need / would be willing to use or pay for your product. Your job is clear communication, nothing more. Of course that is much easier said than done.

Challenges of Sales

There are three primary challenges associated with sales. Remember that “product” as it pertains to the entrepreneur is defined loosely. Sometimes the product is your team, sometimes it’s your idea, sometimes it’s you, and sometimes it’s even the actual product you’re selling.

1. Clear Communication - How do you convey the value of your product quickly and clearly? If you can’t do this, you will lose people who would normally love your product and confuse everyone else.
2. Target Audience - How do you pick the right person to pitch? Shared understanding isn’t enough. You need to achieve it with someone who actually needs your product. Otherwise they get your idea but don’t care about it. Who is your target audience?
3. Timing - When do your reach out to people to sell to them? Selling can be very intrusive even if you are selling something people want. Choosing the best moment / environment for a pitch is a crucial part of the art.

I'll talk later about some ways to overcome these challenges. For now, just start to reframe your thinking regarding sales in terms of achieving shared understanding.

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