A Memo to HR Startups from a Customer
Okay, let’s start by acknowledging that there may be a few “sales gurus” on Instagram / TikTok / LinkedIn who probably provide you with sales tips that don’t work with real customers. Otherwise, I fail to come up with an explanation as to why most of my poor experiences are so consistently scripted with incredibly similar points of cringe.
Now that is out of the way, here are a few things I have noticed that make for a smoother sales process if your business is just getting started and you don’t have a lot of brand recognition or a giant marketing budget:
Do your homework
Figure out if your customer is part of your target user/buyer audience first before reaching out. If we only have 30 minutes together, do you really want to spend your time, energy, and effort interviewing me in the first 10 minutes to determine if I am in a role that is part of your target demographics? Contrary to popular belief, throwing the same sales pitch to a large distribution list in hopes of seeing what sticks doesn’t work when selling to a niche market like HR and trying to build your brand.
Focus on your difference
The HR tech market is so saturated at this point that at least one other provider out there provides a service or technology like yours. Start the conversation by sharing why you are different and why you believe your solution stands out from the rest. Having seen many executive teams sit through demos and sales pitches, sales teams realistically have about 3 minutes from when you start introductions to when your audience decides whether they should pay attention for the rest of the presentation. Make that time count.
Position your product
I have seen a brilliant AI solution being undersold and some run-of-the-mill DEI training being oversold. Positioning your product well is everything. I understand why the underselling happens, especially when the sales teams and founders aren’t well-versed in HR and feel the need to simplify their solution to make it relatable to a general HR audience. The only thing I can say is: please stop underestimating the HR audience you may be speaking with and underselling the brilliance of your solution. As to overselling, let’s leave it as: there is no quicker way to lose your potential customer than overselling what your solution truly is.
Vet your sales teams
I understand that to grow and scale a business, there comes a point when every founder must step away from the sales calls. My biggest tip on this one is to ensure your sales team is practicing their pitches with you. I have been on the receiving end of some truly bizarre sales conversations that genuinely made me wonder what the owner/founder would think if they heard this. Also, please ensure you have boilerplate sales and marketing content that is accessible to your sales team. I remain perplexed when I get told things like, “We don’t have a slide that represents our overall solution set.”
Other little things (because it really is the little things that matter)
Customers can tell when your outreach person is measured by the number of customer responses they receive from email/LinkedIn/phone calls. Spamming doesn’t usually help a brand, at least not sustainably in the long run. We can also tell when you outsourced your marketing and outreach efforts; I’m unsure if it’s the best solution for everyone.
Be careful with cameras and screen sharing. I saw Amazon shopping carts on someone’s second screen during a demo once because it reflected from their glasses.
Your outreach team may not be your sales team, and that’s fine. Please at least do a warm transfer or email heads-up. It is very jarring to see meetings booked with one person and another person showing up.
Your customers usually look for long-term solution partners because nobody likes to shop for the same solution in the market repeatedly. Focus on how your solution can grow with us, balance that with the sales pitch, and don’t dive headfirst into “So, are you the person who is going to sign the contract?”