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This is article #9 in my series How not to build a business. I open up about all the mistakes I made building a software as a service and all the lessons I learnt in the process.
My mistake: not managing frustration properly
I never imagined myself being a salesman. I had just finished a programming bootcamp and was fully immersed in product creation. With that mindset, I operated under the assumption that clients would come in droves, without putting much effort into sales. However, I quickly realised that if I wanted iMenoo to be successful, there was no way out of sales. Since my co-founder was building, I was assumed the responsibility of selling. I started scouring my contact list, looking for friends that were in the restaurant business. I managed to set up meetings with around 20 restaurant owners. If you are referred, the treatment is always friendlier. Clients are more welcoming and sometimes are willing to give your product a try. However, I think that most of the learning arrived when we were forced to expand to unknown territory: selling to strangers.
After having closed a few clients, I changed the sales strategy. I decided that the right course was to target restaurant chains. As they had a bigger infrastructure, their budget for products as ours would also be higher. I remember the first chain of restaurants we talked to. They had 17 locations and were quickly expanding. I had prepared a pitch word for word that was ensured to close the sale. Both my cofounder and I agreed it was well received by the prospects. The decision makers lauded our product and the sale was certainly closed. 17 locations in one go. We were on fire. After that meeting they never replied back and the sale never came through. I kept asking myself why this had happened. Since everyone seemed to love the product, I came to the conclusion that the problem was my sales pitch. Certainly, if I played a bit with my pitch I would manage to strike that chord, almost like some kind of subliminal message that would help close the sale.
Three months went by and my tables were the following: I had sat down with around 300 restaurants, out of which 30 had actually bought the service. Good numbers, right? Not for me. I was completely devastated. A 10% success rate seemed far too low, specially in comparison with the excel spreadsheets that foretold that I was going to close 20 restaurants per week. I became frustrated with the whole process. Instead of making sales, I started making excuses. I remember how I prospected hundreds of restaurants, making contact lists for phones I never called. My sales gig quickly came to an end, as we decided to close the company and find regular jobs.
My learnings
#1 Embrace frustration
Jobs are repetitive and frustration is an inevitable part of them. Whatever you are doing, be it programming, sales or customer success, there will always be frustration involved. It is key to set realistic objectives and not despair due to frustration. As anything in life, if expectations are too high, it is normal to be hard hit when reality kicks in. I was sure that everyone loved my product as much as I did. Rejection was not a possible outcome. With that mindset, any number below a 90% acceptance rate made me unsatisfied and frustrated.
The past years I have managed to talk with people who have more experience in sales and, as a result, my expectations have changed completely. A 10% success rate when doing sales is a great number, specially if you are doing B2B. If I had not been so emotional and had been a bit more patient, I would have realised that I was doing well. This would have provided me with the mental strength required to pummel through the unsteady waters that are entrepreneurship.
#2 Sales are about listening, not convincing
I sometimes tend to overthink, not going through the first principles of the problems I am trying to resolve. Being a sales novice, I thought closing a sale was all about persuasion and psychology. However, it could not be further from the truth. The reality is that when you are selling someone something, you are essentially a problem solver. The right thing to do is to listen, not to talk. That way, you are able to assess whether the person you are selling to actually has the problem you want to solve. You may be trying to find product market fit and, to do so, you must take heed of your interlocutor’s pains. The market is alive and needs can appear suddenly. An interesting phenomenon which happened to us at iMenoo was that two weeks after quarantine was declared, restaurants were calling us for our product. Suddenly we did not have to push the product down their throats. Product market fit is a very strong force, and if you manage to achieve it, it will pull you, making everything feel easier. If you do not have that fit, the sales process feels unnatural, trying to force clients to buy something they do not even need.
#3 Do not wait for the product to be ready to sell
This is an error that comes up so often I have lost count. It is very common that decision makers do not even have to see your product ”working” for you to pitch it. I cannot stress enough the amount of times I have had a presentation ready and a product demo that I never ended up showing. If you ask me, waiting for everything to be perfect to make a bet is the wrong approach, a result of being afraid of rejection. No one wants to submit themselves to being refused but, if you want to start your own business, it is unavoidable.
#4 A sale is not closed until the money is in the bank
People tell you what you want to hear because confrontation is painful. I call this the “flyer effect”. It is easier to collect a flyer from someone handing them out on the street and throwing it away in the first bin you find, than telling them you do not want the flyer. When doing sales, this translates into calls where the client seems to agree with everything you are saying, but shows no real urgency to close the deal. For the experienced salesman it is easy to identify when someone is interested and when it is right to push the sale. For the novice, pushing the sale when it is not appropriate will translate into emails that are never replied to and an uncomfortable realisation: the sale is not done until you sign the contract and the money is in the bank.
#5 Learn to be comfortable talking about numbers
For some reason, I was not comfortable when it came to the money part of the conversation. I think it is because I was brought up being told that talking money is not polite. Whatever the reason may be, this affected my sales process deeply. Being uncomfortable when charging made me accept huge discounts. Even though I knew the value I provided, it made me seem doubtful about the value of my product. In the same way a horse instinctively feels the fear of its rider, clients feel it when you are not sure of yourself. Do not be afraid of talking about numbers, it is probably the most important way of understanding if you are providing value and if you have a viable business.
Conclusion
Sales is a world of its own. There is no better master than hitting the road. Stop reading books about sales and persuasion and have casual conversations with clients. You will be surprised how much more you can learn with real live sales than with any course you take or any technique you read about.
Written by
"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious" Throughout my life I have lived in Hong Kong, France, England, Spain, United States and El Salvador. This has given me the opportunity to explore and learn from different cultures and societies, meeting wonderful people all around the world. I am a very proactive individual who works well in teams and with strong leadership skills. I love public speaking and hearing about projects and ideas.
