I found that by telling people outright that your the CTO and sole developer let's you off the hook from having to actually try to sell them anything. Often th

I found that by telling people outright that your the CTO and sole developer let's you off the hook from having to actually try to sell them anything. Often they will relax and actually have a real discussion with you about your product. Only salespeople should do a 'sales' pitch. Technical people are best off with an 'innocent' reach out to talk about the product to see if they might be interested in it (or just have constructive feedback). Tell them about your product, what you find most applicable to their business, then do what sales people don't often do. Listen. Then, at the very end, if they are interested, close with a prepared line about a demo or ask if you could go over pricing or something. A good line is "are you interested in being a customer of ours?". If they are interested figure out ahead of time a commitment they can make that proves it. Perhaps it's an opening order. Maybe it's a followup phone call to review a price sheet you're about to email them. Define what a successful call is before you make it as you don't want to be caught off guard and you want to have the appropriate commitment for your industry and product. Some people just get so excited about an honest conversation with someone knowledgeable about their business concerns they'll be your customer because they believe in you first and your product second. But make sure they know there is a price to this insider information in the form of a commitment or a purchase order! Another 'get out of jail card' is if they ask for something you aren't aware of, like can they have longer terms or pay in a lump sum always say 'I'd have to talk to a sales guy (or CEO) about that one'. Even if it's your final decision, it gives you time to figure out if it's a good deal for you despite our innate desire to say 'yes' to anything to close the sale.