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SalesFounders - Startup Sales Growth | Venture Capital | Crowdfunding | Sales Strategy |

SalesFounders is a weekly podcast that focuses on sales growth and strategy for startups. We interview VC’s, entrepreneurs, and industry experts to discuss the strategies that will help founders bridge the sales gap and accelerate their most profitable channels of growth.
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SalesFounders - Startup Sales Growth | Venture Capital | Crowdfunding | Sales Strategy |
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Now displaying: November, 2017
Nov 28, 2017

Michelle Weinstein, also known as The Pitch Queen, has leveraged an exciting sales career, and an entrepreneurial rollercoaster to refine a skill that has become her secret weapon - the Pitch. Michelle has pitched her way into Costco, onto Shark Tank, and into the world of millionaires, athletes and coaches. Michelle joins SalesFounders this week to talk about the art of the Pitch and a few of her strategies to help entrepreneurs build relationships, gain rapport, and generate powerful sales traction. 

ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

  • Facing adversity - lessons from a failed startup
  • Entrepreneurship is a 24 hour sales job
  • Preparing your company to weather unknown costsBuilding Rapport - why trust is the secret to selling 
  • Relationship based-selling and the “champion”
  • Persistence and the art of being ‘Professionally Annoying’
  • Strategies to connect with influencers 
  • Ingredients of a great sales pitch
Nov 21, 2017

"More than 90% of startups fail, due primarily to self-destruction rather than competition."

The Sales Gap is perhaps the most daunting stage of entrepreneurship. Most founders will agree that their primary objective is to leverage product market fit into scalable sales growth as efficiently as possible. However, the majority of startups self-destruct during this transition as a result of premature scaling.

In this keynote excerpt from Founders Weekend, Brad Harker explores the concept of "sales validation," and the roadmap he has developed to help organizations preempt the dangers of premature scaling, and generate sustainable sales growth.

ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

  • Navigating the Sales Gap
  • Premature Scaling vs. Market Bubbles
  • Sales Validation - the capstone to Product Market Fit
  • 4 Prerequisites to sales validation
    • Business Validation
    • Value Proposition
    • Sales Alignment
    • Launch Strategy
  • Defining 4 Stages of the Sales Process
    • Lead Development
    • Sales Mapping
    • Marketing Automation
    • Metrics
  • 7 Components of Sales Validation
    • Sales validation is confirmed when the following 7 criteria are achieved with the majority of those transactions:
      • Are you consistent in where you source new leads?
      • Is the sales process similar?
      • When customers purchase, is the product stable?
      • Are customers buying the product for the same features?
      • Do you need to customize the product to make the sale
      • Are your customers endorsing and evangelizing your product?
      • Is it profitable?
Nov 14, 2017

"Nobody want’s to be sold anymore.” With so many products and solutions competing for our attention, buyers want simple solutions from people they know like and trust. 

Meet Steve Nudelberg, author, speaker, and “serial salesman” who has built a successful career by being valuable, authentic, and connected. Steve will argue that, for more startups, cold calling is a waste of time, and that entrepreneurs should spend less time hiding behind their brand and more time engaging with their customers.

On this episode, we explore the evolving sales landscape, the biggest sales challenges entrepreneurs face and some secrets to help startups connect with their customers and keep their sales pipelines full. 

Nov 7, 2017

Ace Marks is a brand of handcrafted Italian dress shoes that has leveraged a direct to consumer sales strategy to disrupt one of the most established industries. In the past year alone, Ace Marks have sold in more than 80 countries, and has become the worlds most funded footwear project through Kickstarter. Founders Paul Farago and Julian Gonzalez join SalesFounders to talk about their relentless focus on customer experience, the domain expertise behind this disruptive brand of luxury shoes. 

On this Episode we Discuss:

  • Leveraging domain experience around the needs of the customer
  • The pro’s and con’s of the direct to consumer strategy
  • Why Ace Marks chose crowdfunding as their initial source of growth 
  • Kickstarter success and their unorthodox approach to building a campaign
  • Life after Crowdfunding - how to find sustainable growth channels
  • Breaking paradigms - educating customers and the cost=value fallacy
  • Influencer Marketing - the algorithm Ace Marks developed to identify the best influencers
  • How to manage cash flow in high inventory startups
  • Competition and the challenge to disrupt highly established industries
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