How do you become credible as a 23 year old?
This blog article is for all the guys that have asked me: how do you get companies like ABN AMRO and Philips using your product? How do you get in contact with the right people in a large enterprise like Coca-Cola? And how do you become credible as a 23 year old kid trying to close a huge deal, while people still ask you to show your ID when buying a beer in the supermarket?
First of all, persistence is key. Know that when you are trying to get in contact with certain people, most of them have a very occupied agenda. So that takes me to the first issue:
1. Stand out of the crowd
If you mail or call someone, always make your offer very valuable for them, do the work and know who you are talking to.
Do a research, find out what their needs are, find out what their problems are. And then, provide them a solution that will make them so happy, that they want to meet you to hear more.
2. Introductions are awesome
Cold calling and mailing [email protected] based on names found on LinkedIn works, but nothing makes you more credible than a good introduction.
Ask introductions to mentors (Startupbootcamp mentors are great for this) or friends, send them a mail with a short summary of what you do and for what reason you want them to risk their image. Because if you mess up, their image could be damaged. If they do introduce you, make sure you keep them updated on your progress. Everybody wants to see the results of their efforts.
Another thing that works really well, which will surprise lots of people, is cold mailing CEOs of large enterprises.
Tell the CEO that you have a great solution that would save his company lots of money and that you would love to meet him to discuss it.
Also tell him that if he doesn't have the time: please forward it to the responsible department.
What will happen in most cases is that the CEO will forward the mail to the responsible department. The people in that particular department will want to invite you, because they think you know the CEO or at least the CEO advised them to meet you, so they are kind of obliged to invite you.
By doing this, I received an invitation from the Vice President of a huge Belgian enterprise last week.
3. Turn your age in an advantage
Tell them that you are researching how they are working on certain things, how they are solving current problems they have and tell them that you are trying to come up with a solution that might save them lots of time. People love talking to young passionate people.
Don't be scared because you are young. Just think about it, who would you like to talk to if you were working in a large corporation: a passionate young guy that wants to find out how he can make your life easier or a professional salesguy that only wants your money and doesn't really care about your problems?
4. Find the core problems
Find out what the core problems are they are having, what the current solutions are and check if parts of your solution solves one of their pains. Once you know what they are struggling with, you know how to satisfy them. Show them the solution you are building and how this will make their lifes so much easier or better.
Tell them that other companies are begging to use your product and that they can be part of an exclusive deal. (I'm not telling you to lie, if it's not true, don't say it)
Be a very likeable guy and make sure they know that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and that they really can not miss out of that!
Definately you will get questions concerning what's the cost of your exclusive deal. This is the part most entrepeneurs have a hard time with in the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey. First-time entrepreneurs are scared to ask money (at least I was).
Do not be scared, large enterprises have rooms full of cash. Tell them that you are a startup, with not a lot of resources and that you need some money to pay for the development. If they step in now, they get a reduction after the pilot test and they will be the cool guys who are innovating and they will be part of a new success story.
Think about the reputation of the person on the other side of table, if he brings your product inside the company and if it becomes a success, he will also look successful. But make sure you can deliver.
6. References are everything
Ask them if they want to write recommendations about how they used your product and what a great job it did for them. If they do not have a lot of time, come up with a recommendation yourself and let them sign it. Ask if you can use their logo on your website and if you can use it as a reference. You will become credible in no-time.
Always be closing. Don't be scared to ask them if they have the power to sign the deal. If they can not, ask them who can and ask them if they can introduce you. Your proposition to the end user will always be different than what you tell the DMU. Give the end user what he wants, give the decision making unit what the company needs.
Lots of experienced salespeople might say that you should do some things differently. This is just how it worked for me (I'm still learning everyday).
8. Prove it
And that is how we signed a paid deal with a huge international bank after only 5 weeks in the Startupbootcamp programme and only 3 weeks after the incorporation of SocialExpress!
At the moment (6th week) we have a queue of 10 large enterprises that want to work with us. We are working very hard on our innovative product and we are getting interest from great international investors.
In the end it's all about being credible and showing that you can deliver.
So start executing and prove it!
Ivo Minjauw for SocialExpress
