What I Learnt About How To Sell From Being Sold To

With a background in (advertising) sales and having backed over 40 startups now through Collider, I think I have a pretty good idea on how startups sell their products... especially on what not to do. So it was a real eye opener when I recently went on the search for some software for Collider operations. I needed something specific, which meant many of the companies offering a solution were likely in the early stages of developing it, and would therefore also mean they'd be on the early side of developing their sales pitches too.

I knew it would be fun.

The good stuff

Well, there were plenty of passionate and enthusiastic founders that you can't help but get excited about their products.

There was also an impressive can-do attitude, especially when the product needed tweaking for us.

The not so good stuff

But of course, I also saw things that with a better approach to the sales pitch, the outcome could have been entirely different.

These are things we teach Collider startups to do from day one, and whilst they seem pretty obvious in most cases, every company I spoke made the same mistakes.

1. Don't pitch – ask questions.

Many startups came into the meeting and just talked. Talked about their company, talked about what it could do, talked about why it was great. But what they forgot to do was ask me questions on what I was looking for, why did I want a product like this, what did I want it to do and why?

Learn their language and what success really looks like for them, so when it comes to pitching your product, you can relay back exactly what they're looking for.

2. Never do a standard demo.

It completely misses the point and undermines step one of any sales process – to firmly understand your customers needs. Then you can amplify it for them and replay back how your product could be their dream solution.

A standard demo won't do it.

3. Learn when to say no.

I asked for a lot, and in almost every case they said yes, they could do that, clearly without thinking about it.

It was only when I asked to know how many people were in their dev teams or how much cash they had that I understood how likely my needs were going to get onto their roadmap. Usually not at least until they'd raised their next round.

Focus on the customers that your product can help now, but use your meetings to understand what else you could do further down the line. Be honest.

4. Know how to close a deal.

Always ask my timeline for implementation, as that'll tell you how urgent it is. Is my mission critical (3 months), important but not urgent (6 months), or is it actually just a nice-to-have?

Ask if there is a budget, no matter what it is you're building, and then ask where would that money come from and who would sign it. Are you talking to the decision maker?

Whilst these simple changes will not guarantee success, they'll certainly help you better understand your customers' needs. That means getting your product to exactly where it can seriously help today, and help in the future, too.

Get up to £100k to fund your startup from the Collider accelerator

Collider is looking for the very best startups to join our next accelerator programme. We exist to shape the future of marketing and sales technology, and with over five years' experience, we know this space like the back of our hands. Get funded by the Collider Accelerator and apply today.

What's on offer

Cash We offer two levels of investment – £35,000 net (£50,000 in total) for early stage companies, and £70,000 net (£100,000 in total) for later stage (companies with some proof of value with commercial traction or prior fundraising). All of our investment comes directly from angels with incredible industry specific experience.

Coaching A three month programme and lifetime support to help you scale with speed.

Connections Meet the leaders in this industry, including the most relevant, senior team members from top corporates.

Community Our startups, scaleups, corporates, investors and mentors become your community too.

https://vimeo.com/234639816

What we're looking for

• Marketing and sales technology that's B2B focussed - that's B2B or B2B2C technology that helps corporates find, understand, engage, sell to or retain customers

• Early stage businesses with an MVP or later stage businesses with some proof of value - be that commercial traction or prior fundraising. We invest in startups with SEIS or EIS

• Impressive teams with personality - with a minimum of two co-founders.

Apply now!

5 Ways To Increase Your Chances Of Getting Into The Collider Accelerator

In fact, this works for VC’s, angels and new clients too. So, if you’ve got an incredible business, we want to hear about it, and we want to remember you above the rest. You can apply right here.

1. Get a warm introduction.

Have a read about the people who work at Collider – stalk us, it’s okay. Have a nosey on Linkedin and see if you have any connections in common, and get yourself an introduction. If nothing turns up here, have a look through Crunchbase or Angel List and see if you know anyone we’re associated with – perhaps an investor or an alumni startup? If you’re in the industry, it’s likely you’ll be connected to someone, just do your homework.

2. Come meet us.

We’re always at industry events, whether that’s at a booth, on a panel or offering mentoring sessions, and we also offer office hours. We’ll be impressed if you really go out of your way to get in contact with us.

3. Have a top notch application.

There are quite a few websites around to help you structure your ideas, presentation, one pagers, business canvas and to find and calculate the size of the market, among other things. Here’s a good one, and another, and another.

4. READ the application form.

Your time is precious, so make sure your idea fits what we’re looking for – a B2B solution to help corporates find, understand, engage with, retain and sell more to consumers. You’d be surprised how many applications we have that are in a completely different space. Spray and pray does not work here.

5. Be clear and concise.

Ask someone to read your application and explain the following to you:

• Problem you are solving and to whom • Size of the market and its opportunity • Traction and progress so far • Team (current investors, board members, advisors, etc) • Your unfair, competitive advantage • Go to market strategy

If they can explain the above, you are in the right path. If not, you will need to work more in your proposal.

The Mad World of MadTech: May Roundup

There's never a dull day in startup land, with May going down as a month of PROGRESS. We've seen impressive positions in rankings, our recent 2017 grads growing and achieving great challenges, thrown our own event for some of the UK's leading brands and of course, enjoyed a surprise or two...

 1. Good-Loop’s ethical ads displaying on The Londonist

Nothing can stop these guys who seem to be on quite the roll, and of course, we couldn't be prouder! Our recent grad, who was also winner of the Collider 2017 Demo Day, have secured several exciting achievements recently.

This time, Good-Loop's ethical ads are now live on The Londonist! You should really go check it out, especially given you'll be giving a donation to charity.

 2. Rate8 are stomping!

But that’s not all from our recent grads this month, as Avi, founder of Rate8 from this year's cohort, was selected as a Founder of the Future by Founders Forum.

Huge congrats to you Avi!

 3. Seenit to double team by 2018

The Seenit family keeps growing and growing… to the extent that next year, they'll be twice the size they are now!

As we're sure you've seen yourself, this team are really nailing it, and much comes down to Founder and CEO Emily's attitude, who understands the importance of having an inspired, motivated and engaged team, which is, needless to say, a key factor for success.

You can read more here.

4. Seenit and Pixoneye stopped Startups 100 list

Collider alumni in Startups 100

Seenit and Pixoneye have both been awarded deserved positions in the longest-running index of the best new businesses.

Huge congrats to both teams!

5. Brand Event was a not-to-be-missed one

https://twitter.com/ColliderGB/status/867083402029256704

It was a pleasure to be surrounded of some incredible brands in our Big Brand Event last week – we kept this intimate, with the ultimate goal of discovering the similarities between totally different brands (and their methods) when it comes down to innovation.

A huge thanks to dunnhumby, Diageo and BT for joining us in the panel, along with Iain from CampaignAmp, another of our 2014 alumni, who gave a brilliant startup view.

6. Beem shows off new logo!

Collider alumni Beem

Alumni Beem have a new logo and we love it! This fancy prism works as a perfect metaphor for the team as it represents their business idea and what their day-to-day looks like.

Such a nice symbol and even better story from Co-Founder Lee, riiiiight here.

Brexit Has Had No Impact On Startup Applications

That's right – we've seen no impact on the number, quality or geographical location of startups since Brexit. In fact, we've had over 300 applications of which a high proportion have been impressive quality.

And as it's that time of year where we draw close to both our investment campaign and startup application deadline, we thought we'd dig into the data and discover the startup trends of 2016/17.

Check out our favourite five snippets of what we can expect in the marketing and advertising world:

1. Around 10% of all applications from the UK are in advertising and analysis.

2. Almost 3/4 of applications are from Europe.

3. The primary focus of Israeli startups this year is on big data or blogger outreach/marketing.

4. Other than the UK, the next highest number of applicants from a European country is Spain.

5. Almost double the overall applications relate more to marketing than they do advertising.

Interesting, huh?