2 Simple (But Profound) Sales Tips I Give Every Founder
When founders come to me asking for sales tips and advice, I am often tongue-tied.
Because I don’t think of myself as sales person per se.
I embody this simple personal maxim I have: “Sell only what you believe in”
So, I just share with people what I deeply believe in and somehow that turns into sales and revenue.
My wife made a comment the other day at dinner that stuck with me.
She read an email pitch I made to a billion dollar startup on potentially hiring me and quipped: “Man do you know how to make someone feel special, even a top company!”
I was startled because I didn’t “mean to” make them feel special. I just operate that way. Which brings me to my 2nd personal maxim: "just care more, genuinely”
Anyway, so if I have to summarize my top 2 pieces of advice in sales, it would be this:
1. Sell only what you deeply believe in
This may feel obvious but in reality most founders are building products they don’t actually use daily and be their own customer fundamentally.
This simple view is held by a couple other brilliant minds too.
“Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself.
- Charlie Munger
Nike’s founder Phil Knight has an amazing quote related to this principle:
“Driving back to Portland I’d puzzle over my sudden success at selling. I’d been unable to sell encyclopedias, and I’d despised it to boot. I’d been slightly better at selling mutual funds, but I’d felt dead inside. So why was selling shoes so different? Because, I realized, it wasn’t selling. I believed in running. I believed that if people got out and ran a few miles every day, the world would be a better place, and I believed these shoes were better to run in. People, sensing my belief, wanted some of that belief for themselves. Belief, I decided. Belief is irresistible.” — Phil Knight
2. Care about people earnestly
This is also obvious to me because I operate this way with every one whether they are a potential client or just another person on my X audience. But I’ve grown to learn that caring is a super power that compounds over time and builds your reputation for you.
Don’t look down upon your customers, don’t treat them poorly or behave as if they are not smart. Behave with integrity.
"The customer is not a moron. She's your wife" - David Ogilvy
Most people are trying to look too smart or appear too indifferent (“cool”) or fool customers into buying vs simply connecting with others as a human first and understanding their needs and fears.
Walk to a shopping mall or a fast-food center or a bank and see how many of them actually care about customers. And truly mean it.
If you do this with your existing customers, they will bring their friends to your business. If you do this with future customers who are now just “leads” in your database, they will want to do business with you some day.
Mary Kay, the great cosmetics legend used to train her staff with this principle:
“Every one that you interact with, every person you ever come across has an invisible sign hanging from their neck that says: “make me feel important”
Not just sales, this is golden advice for interpersonal communications too.
Care about people genuinely. Make them feel special. They will never forget you.
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