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Well said, and I appreciate your perspective. I also 100% disagree. Inbound is a waiting game. Referrals are a waiting game. And hoping to be found at the ri

Well said, and I appreciate your perspective. I also 100% disagree. Inbound is a waiting game. Referrals are a waiting game. And hoping to be found at the right time by the right buyers ENOUGH times puts external factorsnin charge of your business but just thriving, but surviving. My business exists precisely because we believe so strongly in outbound as a strategy. But wherein you are right that random cold outreach is distracting and a waste of time, outbounding that is targeted well and focused on problem solving can be the best ROI you have all year. The difference, we have found, is between prospects who are aware their businesses are imperfect AND are curious about solving problems and prospects who know their businesses are imperfect and willing to live with those imperfections until such time they become intolerable. Those that choose the status quo until such time that they choose to go looking, as you have self-identified. Candidly, there are a lot more of the latter than former but there are still plenty of the former.

ThePhysicist 6y ago
Maybe I just didn’t get any good inbound requests so far then. We’re a small startup so I think we don’t attract a lot of outbound interest, this might be different for larger companies of course. Taking time to learn about the specific interests and needs of a small startup with little budget is probably overkill, so we just get the “spray and pray” treatment I guess. Do you have a good strategy for identifying open-minded companies that are willing to learn about new approaches?
- kristianc 6y ago
  > Taking time to learn about the specific interests and needs of a small startup with little budget is probably overkill, so we just get the “spray and pray” treatment I guess. > Do you have a good strategy for identifying open-minded companies that are willing to learn about new approaches? The answer to both your questions is segmentation, segmentation, segmentation. The trick with segmentation is to find clusters of companies who are likely to share like-minded problems, hone your messaging and positioning to reach them (Basecamp is a classic example of how to do this well, they have always had a very clear idea of who Basecamp is for and who it is not for), and then identify the _individuals_ within those organizations who are most open to change. Again, the temptation is to head straight to the C-suite - this is usually a bad place to start. C-suites are time poor, usually quite cynical about new software, and removed from the problems of the people on the front line. Usually better to start in middle-management with PMs, and arm them to build a business case to take further up the org.
  - snuxoll 6y ago
    Don’t forget to sell to the stakeholders under the management team as well. I may be just another DevOps guy in my company, but my opinion holds sway in purchasing decisions even if I don’t control the budget - as do the other lead devs on the team.
- Dwolb 6y ago
  It’s not always about companies it can also be about personas. Who in the org is incentivized to solve the problem your tool or software solves?
katzgrau 6y ago
Agreed. I use Hubspot as a model - stellar inbound strategy, but still has a very strong outbound strategy too. And tbh, the majority of sales I've ever made were from outbound. Usually very targeted outbound where I had the prospect more/less pre-qualified (after talking to lots of prospects you develop an instinct) Been in business for 8 years, dev turned sales
- TheColorYellow 6y ago
  What do you think after the transition? Do you miss dev work? Has your sales role been good or worth the change?
  - katzgrau 6y ago
    I actually still do a fair amount of dev, but I've hired out for most of it. I turned to sales because I needed to really focus on selling the product I'd built. If you're the type who likes learning new things, you'll like both. It's a new and valuable skill set that applies to other areas of life. Even if you're not an extrovert (I am certainly not), you find a style that works. Several times I've been able to build and automate things that helped me do some very creative sales work. So having two skill sets was big. So to answer the question, I like both and maintain interests in both.
PopeDotNinja 6y ago
Another way to say this is that if you wait for customers to come to you, you are not in control of your own destiny.

ThePhysicist 6y ago

Maybe I just didn’t get any good inbound requests so far then. We’re a small startup so I think we don’t attract a lot of outbound interest, this might be different for larger companies of course. Taking time to learn about the specific interests and needs of a small startup with little budget is probably overkill, so we just get the “spray and pray” treatment I guess. Do you have a good strategy for identifying open-minded companies that are willing to learn about new approaches?

kristianc 6y ago
> Taking time to learn about the specific interests and needs of a small startup with little budget is probably overkill, so we just get the “spray and pray” treatment I guess. > Do you have a good strategy for identifying open-minded companies that are willing to learn about new approaches? The answer to both your questions is segmentation, segmentation, segmentation. The trick with segmentation is to find clusters of companies who are likely to share like-minded problems, hone your messaging and positioning to reach them (Basecamp is a classic example of how to do this well, they have always had a very clear idea of who Basecamp is for and who it is not for), and then identify the _individuals_ within those organizations who are most open to change. Again, the temptation is to head straight to the C-suite - this is usually a bad place to start. C-suites are time poor, usually quite cynical about new software, and removed from the problems of the people on the front line. Usually better to start in middle-management with PMs, and arm them to build a business case to take further up the org.
- snuxoll 6y ago
  Don’t forget to sell to the stakeholders under the management team as well. I may be just another DevOps guy in my company, but my opinion holds sway in purchasing decisions even if I don’t control the budget - as do the other lead devs on the team.
Dwolb 6y ago
It’s not always about companies it can also be about personas. Who in the org is incentivized to solve the problem your tool or software solves?

katzgrau 6y ago

Agreed. I use Hubspot as a model - stellar inbound strategy, but still has a very strong outbound strategy too. And tbh, the majority of sales I've ever made were from outbound. Usually very targeted outbound where I had the prospect more/less pre-qualified (after talking to lots of prospects you develop an instinct) Been in business for 8 years, dev turned sales

TheColorYellow 6y ago
What do you think after the transition? Do you miss dev work? Has your sales role been good or worth the change?
- katzgrau 6y ago
  I actually still do a fair amount of dev, but I've hired out for most of it. I turned to sales because I needed to really focus on selling the product I'd built. If you're the type who likes learning new things, you'll like both. It's a new and valuable skill set that applies to other areas of life. Even if you're not an extrovert (I am certainly not), you find a style that works. Several times I've been able to build and automate things that helped me do some very creative sales work. So having two skill sets was big. So to answer the question, I like both and maintain interests in both.

PopeDotNinja 6y ago

Another way to say this is that if you wait for customers to come to you, you are not in control of your own destiny.