The MicroConf Europe 2013 Hub Page with all the information can be found here
Speaker: Mike Taber (@singlefounder)
A few Caveats
- Sales is a Learned Skill
- Sales is a Process
- Sales can be used for Good… or Evil
- It’s NEVER too late to iterate on your sales pitch
Emotional Triggers
- Greed
- Altruism (Red Cross & other NGOs)
- Pride
- Fear (AuditShark – fear of being hacked)
- Envy (People will think I am stupid, if I don’t buy)
- Shame (People will think I’m a douche if I don’t buy)
The Power of First Impressions
- First 0.2 seconds -> First impression
- First 2.6 seconds –> most influential time
- Make sure your copy is great – good first impression
- Website speed matters: +100 milliseconds load-time results in 0.2% lower conversion rate
- “First impressions last forever”
- To overcome first impression, you need to overcome it in multiple contexts
Stop Selling Software
- People don’t buy software, they buy solutions to their problems
- They buy ways to overcome pain
- They are outsourcing processes
- They choose to allow other people to build things they need
- They don’t prescirbe to the “Not Invented Here” syndrome
- Feature – Benefit – Valued End State (example: buying ski helmet with bluetooth)
- Billy the kid: Bluetooth – Music/Phone Calls – Self-Esteem
- Billy’s Mom: Bluetooth – Music/Phone Calls – Peace of Mind (call Billy at any time)
- 2 people you need to pay attention to
- the ones who just bought your software
- the ones who just CANCELLED your software
Why are People moving towards your Product?
- Ask new customers:
- What other things have you tried?
- Why didn’t those things work?
Iterate on your Startup Pitch
- First Pitch is often aweful
- “Buy a kazoo for a dollar and help Camp Good Days” – problems:
- What the hell is Camp Good Days
- Sales pitch is too long
- People are conditioned to say “No Thanks”
- Kazoos are worthless!
- Kazoos in the hands of children are annoying
- No relationship with the customer (==> you have to be upfront, tell about perks)
- Revised sales pitch: “Would you like to help little kids with cancer? (Just buy a kazoo for a dollar)”
- No one says “No Thanks” to this anymore
- Bonus: Be a sexist. When approaching couples, talk to the woman (She’ll look at the man and he’ll be under pressure)
- Use Remarketing & Google Adwords
- Talk to people (They love to tell you how much their job sucks)
- Use A/B Testing
Does Website Speed really Matter?
- Yes, but it’s Google’s fault
- It’s a perception issue, NOT a speed issue (Google is fast, so your site should be fast too)
- Reframe Perceptions (“Do you want to search the deep web?” + 1 minute delay makes people value search engine MORE)
- Flight search engines are delayed, because people think that the algorithm works harder for them & value results more
- Sometimes lack of insight into what is going on, makes people angry & leave
- Don’t tell customers how hard you’re working. Show them!
- Change the basis of comparison (Don’t get compared to Google!)
[…] Mike Taber: “How to Sell Anything to Anyone“ […]