5 ms·
Ask HN: I run my own business but I don't do sales calls. Should I hire?
Backstory: I run my own software business. It is an API platform directed at developers and most of the content is highly technical. I started the company a few years ago. I'm the solo founder and it nets me a healthy salary. I handle support. I have started to see an increase in interest from large businesses and enterprises; I'm unsure if I want these high-touch customers.
Problem: I do not do sales calls or demos.
I have yet to be able to close a deal whenever I do sales calls, thus I have recently begun opting out of them all together. I have the aforementioned larger companies reach out to sales@, but I tell them we do not provide phone support or sales calls. However, we do provide email and live chat support.
This restriction is usually not an issue for small to medium businesses, but I'm realizing that it is an issue for larger businesses.
I believe my main hesitation with sales and demos is that it makes me uncomfortable (social anxiety?) and it has never resulted in a sale, only lost time. I also do not enjoy the long sales processes spread over several calls spanning several weeks.
I prefer to keep sales and support text-based so that I can answer on my own time, and also refer back and reduce support load in the future for duplicate scenarios.
Is this such a bad move? Do I look unprofessional when giving said answer? Should I look into hiring a part time sales person to handle these calls and provide demos of the platform?
- koolba 8y agoRather than saying no, pick what you think is a ludicrous number for a price for said services. If they balk, you’re in the same spot. If they don’t, you just made way more money than you can imagine. Also, most companies don’t bother actually calling support. They prefer email as well. You can limit it further by having a named support contact and require they do the calling. If that person is in your time zone that reduces the impact and coverage period substantially.
- anthrthrwawy 8y agoI'd agree that most companies do prefer email for support, but not for sales. That's my main hurdle. I'd like to find a way to communicate to leads that we don't have a sales staff, but I'm not entirely sure how to do that without sounding unprofessional, if that makes sense.
- JSeymourATL 8y ago> Is this such a bad move? Atlassian famously had no sales staff > https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-18/this-5-billion-software-company-has-no-sales-staff https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-18/this-5-bi... Still, if you're ready to grow -- a smart play is to hire someone WHO can take lead on the mundane, time-sucking stuff you hate to do. A larger question-- what's your vision for this business now? What is it that you really want?
- anthrthrwawy 8y agoThank you for that link. Very insightful! I want to continue to grow my business, but I like the low-touch aspect of my business as it currently is. I don't really want that to change but I also don't want to hinder possible growth channels. I'd also prefer not to hire (I like being solo) and at most, I would bring on a sales consultant. I guess I'm more looking for a way to communicate the fact that we don't do sales, but still continue discussions with those larger clients over email or live chat. But I'm stumped on the necessary messaging to accomplish that.
- JSeymourATL 8y ago> I'm more looking for a way to communicate the fact that we don't do sales, but still continue discussions... Seth Godin has two key questions to lead with - - Who's it for? - What's it for? Perhaps a 2-3 minute video explainer can cover those items and describe how you work. Close with, 'still interested in working with me? Sign up here." Not everybody will appreciate the approach. Of course, you don't want to work with everybody. A good marketing/video consultant can help polish-up the presentation. Incidentally, Tim Ferriss recently interviewed the author of a book on $1M+ One-Person Businesses, might give you some ideas > https://tim.blog/2018/06/07/one-person-businesses-that-make-1m-per-year/ https://tim.blog/2018/06/07/one-person-businesses-that-make-...
- ghostmaree 8y agoFree Daily Accounts! http://ghostmaree.boards.net/ http://ghostmaree.boards.net/