Figuring out the sales model for your startup takes time. If it’s your first rodeo, chances are you’ll try different tactics before you find the one that works for you and is truly a scalable rinse-and-repeat model.

This is not meant to be discouraging; every founder goes through a process of tweaking their sales and go-to-market strategy. That learning process establishes a strong foundation for your startup’s culture and guides future hiring.

The key is to start early. Sales strategy is a byproduct of thoughtful customer discovery and market validation. Do those things before you build the product, and you will have a head start on what selling to your customers should look like when the product is ready to launch.

#startups

#salesstrategy

#productmarketfit

Of the many things that are keeping you from getting traction with your early-adopter customers, Price is probably not one of them. The tendency to offer your product for free, especially in the enterprise B2B market, is very tempting but completely misguided.

Early on, one of the many things you need to be testing with your marketplace is their ability and willingness to trade their time and capital for access to your product. If you make a good enough case that the value of your product meets their needs, they will find a way to pay.

Explore a lot of options when you’re trying to get those first six customers and get some initial signal that you’re approaching product-market fit, but don’t jump right to free as a way to get around all the other objections; it rarely works.

#startups #B2B #pricing