Fintech CEOs always ask me, "What are the top three things I should be doing to grow sales faster?". How I wish it was only three things; I think my current list of best practices is somewhere north of sixty. We can, however, break this into three key areas of focus: Pipeline Management, Messaging and Resources.
#1 PIPELINE MANAGEMENT
First, Filling the Funnel. In a B2B sales model, Marketing typically owns creating awareness and lead gen is Sales’ accountability. This is especially true for Startups. To generate leads, your account executives should be living on LinkedIn, hitting the phones, and executing multi-step targeted outreach campaigns. Next up is ensuring that you have defined Territories in a logical fashion; do not allow multiple reps to go after the same client. Third key point is to structure your weekly sales cadence to be focused on Deal Management. That means steps to close and blockers. Please stop asking for the status and next step.
#2 MESSAGING
Messaging tends to be a big challenge for most startup firms. Too often, we are so engrained in the solution and features, we forget it’s our responsibility to help prospective buyers see the value. A strong Value Proposition takes hard work. You need to understand all the buyers (and there’s many), their motivations and create proof points. Your message needs to be relevant and create a sense of urgency. Ideally your messaging also proactively addresses unsaid obstacles. I always advise salespeople to ask if the buyer has any concerns. When left unasked, it is usually left unsaid. Stale pipelines are almost always due to lack of urgency or unaddressed obstacles.
#3 RESOURCES
The final focus area is to give your sales team the resources they need to be successful. Fund your Marketing team to be successful in building brand awareness. Create some basic Sales Enablement tools including scripts, pricing, and an ROI calculator. Have a standard Sales Presentation that showcases more about the business challenge or opportunity, than it does about your company and product features. Give reps the Collateral they need most: a 1-pager and a 90 second video; please stop sending 20-page PowerPoints! Finally, your salespeople can only sell if you have the right Leadership Team and they’re the right Sales Team. Honestly assess whether you have the right people at the table to effectively win enterprise clients.
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Want your own copy of my 60+ point checklist of Sales Best Practices for Fintechs? Just email me at linda@toplinefocus.com.
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