For founders: How to sell yourself and your company properly

Those who rely on word of quality getting around so that customers come and buy on their own often have to wait a long time. Too long! Customers assume quality and experience shows that they prefer to talk about negative experiences rather than positive ones. This makes it all the more important for founders to be strong sellers right from the start.

An elementary building block for every business start-up: paying customers

Every company is nothing without turnover. But especially in the initial euphoria, you think far too much about other things - and lose focus. Almost every founder lives in a tunnel: "Hey, I have a great idea. Now I'm going to take care of premises, suppliers, etc." One day, everything is ready and the first orders start rolling in. But somehow the business doesn't really take off.

Instead of finally taking care of acquisition and the like, some founders are still in the "wrong movie". They go to networking events to exchange ideas with other founders instead of finally going to where potential customers are. Why is that? Well, it is of course more pleasant to philosophize about experiences and successes than to enter into direct dialogue with potential customers. Because rejection and failure are much more painful for the latter.

Founders who cannot cope with rejection will fail

Many founders have been waiting for years for friends and acquaintances who have promised to place orders or at least give you a good review. Just because someone says "I like your idea" doesn't mean they will buy from you or recommend you. As a founder, you often have to deal with rejection and disappointment.

The interesting question is: Do you take it personally, become emotional and accusatory in the sense of "Why not?", or do you take a sporting view and ask yourself: "Okay, if it can't be done this way, how could it be done differently?" But it is precisely when you are up to your neck in water, for example because you lack liquidity, that (negative) feelings quickly arise. And what happens after the twentieth no? Do you continue acquiring the next day or do you say to yourself "No, I'm not good at acquiring. Then I'll (continue to) hope that the customers will come of their own accord."

Helpful thoughts for founders on dealing with rejection during acquisition

• The customer never rejects you personally as a person, but only your offer to talk.
• A no is part of the statistics - and is part of it. After all, where would customers end up if they always said yes?
• Before making contact, think concretely about why your target customer should agree to your offer.
• Don't end the conversation prematurely. Stay on the ball as long as you have the feeling that your customer is skeptical, but you still have a chance.
• Just because a target customer rejects you once, doesn't mean it's forever. Develop a plan for how you can seek and maintain regular contact.

5 tips for more sales strength with customers, employees and suppliers

• If you don't have clear goals, you are always working for someone else's goals. So ask yourself beforehand what your negotiation goal is.
• Planning is the mental anticipation of the future: some behaviors and (critical) situations that can occur in a negotiation are foreseeable. How do you want to deal with these and what do you want to do specifically?
• Don't say yes if you want to say no. If you find it difficult to say no, then say "I would like to say yes, but I can't yet. I want to think about it and will come back to you tomorrow with an answer".
• Never put too much pressure on yourself: If the negotiation stalls or you are not satisfied with the result so far, then simply make a new appointment. But never agree prematurely!
• Regularly deal with topics such as leadership, sales and marketing. Because if you are well versed in these areas, you will find it much easier to sell yourself and your offer.

Author:

The sales trainer Oliver Schumacher is a speech scientist (M.A.) and sets new accents in sales training in a likeable, well-founded manner. The multiple book author is known to many through his numerous videos on YouTube. Before starting his own business in 2009, he worked very successfully for over 10 years in the sales force for a listed manufacturer of branded goods. https://www.oliver-schumacher.de

If you would like to ask Oliver Schumacher your questions about founding a company live online, you will have the chance to do so on 22.11.2024 in an exclusive and free live lecture as part of the start-up week: Founders' Week - How to sell yourself successfully as a founder (oliver-schumacher.de)