Battling the B2B skepticism of startup teams

As a startup, getting people to trust an unborn product is probably one of the biggest hurdles that I’ve faced so far.

Here are some of the questions customers ask when they are unsure about new products:

• How big is your team?
• How much funding do you have and how long have you been working on this?
• Do any big companies use your product?

If you look closely, these questions all rely on someone else vetting the product. The sad truth is, most customers are this way. In fact, it’s a very human response to most selection processes. Most people have herd mentality and a #FOMO problem — they only hop on the train when someone else gets on board.

So how do you fight it?

• Tell the customer the truth — don’t tell them false data about your company. If they ever find out you lied, trust goes out the door.
• Show them data — this can be tricky in the beginning with no data, but once you have some, use it as much as possible for case studies to build on.
• Keep banging your head against the wall — the truth is there are only a few daring customers who are going to be willing to stick their necks out. Grab them, and hold on. They will be your pole customers. The key is to get the ball rolling down the hill with them. If you can make them happy hopefully referrals make the game easier.

If you have any others feel free to reach out. I’d love to hear about it.