Jen Abel
@jjen_abel
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co-founder @jjellyfish_co, GM of Enterprise @stateaffairsUS • sharing non-obvious startup advice
BOS
Joined May 2009
ones a marketing game, the other is a sales game. to radically different motions.
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the biggest startup misnomer. >> smb is easier than enterprise << . it is NOT.
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i truly believe startups have higher odds of success putting a non-sales person into an early-stage sales role than putting someone with sales experience.
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sales is actually really, really fun . it’s a lot more creative and entrepreneurial than anyone gives credit to.
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'wait to go after the tier 1 logos' = terrible sales advice. tier 1 logos ARE the early adopters for startups looking to tackle the enterprise.
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in majority of cases, providing a sales decks too early hurts you more than helps you . you gave them all the intel to sell internally w/o you.
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startups, in almost all cases . free pilots are a net negative . free pilots are a net negative . free pilots are a net negative.
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most startup sales advice is complete trash. you should be breaking sales rules/advice . not following it. the whole game is about unlocking the different.
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the biggest misunderstanding in startups is customer conversations. in early days, market/customer discovery is for testing insight NOT for creating insight.
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RT @jjen_abel: my shortlist of startup sales learnings over the years . 1. 0-1 sales talent does not exist. Founders, this is you. 2. P….
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startups — from all of my sales experience, seldom do warm intros from non-customers every close . on the contrary, intros from customers is the highest signal. don't confuse these two . .
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startups: the market truly care about your speed to reply . esp. in the enterprise. it's one of the biggest ways to show respect . check emails on holidays, weekends, after-hours . it does matter.
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the crazy part about sales, is the most successful sales folks didn't start their career in sales . it's truly the hardest role to hire for.
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there are no sales tricks. it’s about positioning and deal creativity co-authored with customer.
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sales tip. write your note in iMessage before you write it in email . will change the whole vibe, for the better.
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enterprise sales is creativity, precision, and friendship . it's seldom taught.
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startups: the problem with most sales folks is they walk/talk like sales . some of the best sales talent comes from non-traditional sales background . this is also why Founders and forward-deployed engineers are found to be far more successful in role.
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my shortlist of startup sales learnings over the years . 1. 0-1 sales talent does not exist. Founders, this is you. 2. Product/market fit is (almost) always found in adjacent markets. Don’t handcuff yourself to Day 1 market vision. 3. The demo should never be focused on the.
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startups — its much harder to get free users to start paying than to acquire paid users from the start. never do free pilots.
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