Notes from "How To Build a Solo SaaS Sales Machine"
I’ve been needing some motivation and ideas for getting a side project off the ground, and ran across a video from Steli Efti at MicroConf a couple years ago.
If you do sales of any kind, it’s definitely worth an hour of your time. Go watch it here.
I’m going to publish the rough notes I took while watching it, and at the end I’ll give my one biggest takeaway.
Notes
To be dangerous in sales, understand these:
- sell based on value (not features, etc)
- qualify people (ask questions until you actually know if you can help them or not)
- follow up until you get a yes or no
Content sells
- How people will discover you, return to you, trust you.
- It compounds over time (unlike ads, etc)
Sales Emails
Email is a three step process:
Open - figure out how to get them to open the email
- you’re a human, act like one!
- be personable, not overly professional
- don’t be gimmicky or tricky (fake questions, etc)
Read - they need to read it
- either needs to be really short, or really good
Respond - get a response
- one simple call to action
- follow up until you get a yes or no
If your SaaS product has a trial, you’re not emailing them enough.
- Double the number of emails you send them (today)
- Enough emails that some people think they’re getting spammed
- Out of 10 people, you’re better off with 3 that love you and 7 that hate you, then 10 that are indifferent
- The #1 goal with these emails is to get a response.
Cold Emails
- read “Predictable Revenue” by Aaron Ross
- reach out 1-2 levels above your decision maker - very brief - ask for referral down in the org - 10-30% success rate
Followups
“90% of the time when I win, its because I followed up more than anyone else”
Followup until you get a yes or a no.
Most people interpret silence to be rejection… that’s wrong. Stop trying to read their minds. They’re busy, that’s it.
Magic happens when you follow up. Because nobody else is.
Some people have success with “The breakup email”: - “I’ve been trying to get in touch… I’m going to take you off my list, here’s my contact info if you ever want to get in touch.”
Don’t reference your previous emails or make them feel guilty for not responding. Keep it short, upbeat, and just keep following up.
Demos
Should be quick! (10 to 15min)
Quality first: Can/should they buy, is it worth their time
Show Benefits, not features: Focus on what’s relevant
Sales vs Training: Demo the value, don’t teach functionality
Referrals
When you close a deal, ask for referrals. When they say they need to think about it, say “sure… but what’s one name in the meantime”?
When you close a deal, send the person who referred them a thank you note, and have the new customer thank them as well.
“if you follow up with everyone at least 20 times, magic will happen in your life”
My Biggest Takeaway
I loved his mindset on following up. When I’ve sent outreach emails in the past, I’ve struggled to get to 2 followups before I give up, as I assume they’re annoyed and not interested.
My biggest takeaway is “follow up relentlessly until you get a yes or a no, and magic will happen”.
I’ve got a new spreadsheet made for one of my side projects, and it’s got 20 columns for tracking when I send followup emails. I’m looking forward to seeing this bear fruit.