3 ms·

Thanks for all the input. 1. Yes, there is a ton of room for the company to grow (market is young and expanding rapidly). 2. I definitely can see the logic in

Thanks for all the input. 1. Yes, there is a ton of room for the company to grow (market is young and expanding rapidly). 2. I definitely can see the logic in making sales a priority. I have absolutely no experience selling to businesses, and would be happy to jump in the deep end. However, I don't know how you actually sell to large corporations. In the past we have just waited for RFPs to come to us. Any suggestions on how to actually pound the concrete looking for clients? 3. Good suggestion. Unfortunately not applicable in this situation.

triviatise 16y ago
We really dislike RFPs. Usually RFPs are a procurement requirement and the team has already decided on a solution. Typically they will be worded to favor the incumbent. We have never won an RFP, but that may be because we suck :) Im not that good with inbound marketing, but we have been improving over the last few years. To get sales, people who are looking have to be able to find you. These days that means email campaigns, blog, SEO, adwords and conferences. Go to conferences and use them to start building a mailing list, before the conference identify who you want to meet and try to setup meetings beforehand. Personally I hate all that and in my startup Im trying to do pure inbound marketing via SEO, blog etc. Selling to large corps is hard, read spin selling and getting to yes for once you get in. The getting in is hard and the sales cycles are long. Basically you have to find someone that acts as a toehold to get you in and keep get referrals to eventually find the person who wants what you sell within the company. If there is one thing I would recommend, that is go after small to medium businesses instead. they have their own issues, but you will have small dollars from a large number of companies.

3 ms·

Thanks for all the input. 1. Yes, there is a ton of room for the company to grow (market is young and expanding rapidly). 2. I definitely can see the logic in

by throwaway1445 16y ago

triviatise 16y ago
We really dislike RFPs. Usually RFPs are a procurement requirement and the team has already decided on a solution. Typically they will be worded to favor the incumbent. We have never won an RFP, but that may be because we suck :) Im not that good with inbound marketing, but we have been improving over the last few years. To get sales, people who are looking have to be able to find you. These days that means email campaigns, blog, SEO, adwords and conferences. Go to conferences and use them to start building a mailing list, before the conference identify who you want to meet and try to setup meetings beforehand. Personally I hate all that and in my startup Im trying to do pure inbound marketing via SEO, blog etc. Selling to large corps is hard, read spin selling and getting to yes for once you get in. The getting in is hard and the sales cycles are long. Basically you have to find someone that acts as a toehold to get you in and keep get referrals to eventually find the person who wants what you sell within the company. If there is one thing I would recommend, that is go after small to medium businesses instead. they have their own issues, but you will have small dollars from a large number of companies.