Dear USA, please send sales leads. Sincerely, France
Whitney Howland has done BtoB selling his whole life in the US. Whit wanted to share with you his first feedback after four months working with French companies.
“I recently joined an international accelerator that has most of their ties and relationships with French technology companies. I joined with the intent of building out a sales team, a team that would be able to deliver customers to our clients. I have been in enterprise sales for more than ten years, and am used to being given everything I need to achieve results (white papers, competitive analysis, buyer persona, marketing content, technical documentation, etc.)
I am writing this because I do want to get leads for my clients, I do want them to succeed in the U.S. but I can’t deliver leads if I don’t have a company who delivers a product.
Time: Be Realistic
I know it seems obvious, but every time I mention the fact that I joined French Tech Hub to sell on our clients behalf, eyes light up with great expectation and the promise of guaranteed U.S. business, TOMORROW!!! … WAY WRONG ANSWER. Let me state this as clearly as possible: I do not have your sales leads in my back pocket waiting on you to call me. What I do have is an appropriate set of tools and processes at my disposal that I use to strategically sell a product/service in the U.S. These tools can be used to source the end consumer, to build out a re-distribution network, to partner with other OEM’s, to cold call a specific market segment or any other methods of outreach. However, no matter what methodology you decide to use to distribute it will take time to build.
Be Specific
The worst thing you can say is that you will take any business, from any vertical, from any sector, from any size company, from any region, …blah, blah, blah. You may think you are helping me, but in the long run, you are making my job next to impossible and any semblance of a future relationship null. When I try to understand a product/service I start with very few assumptions and narrow down my target market from there. By the time you and I are done coming up with your sales plan we will be able to answer the following questions with absolute accuracy and precision: Who, what, when, where, how, and why. Attempting to sell without knowing exact answers to the above list, simply put, is a fool’s errand.
Appropriate Documentation
Here is the exact list of items that I asked the last prospect to provide (word for word):
White papers, case studies, marketing content, U.S. market study including competitive analysis, list of key prospective customers/buyer persona/company profile, sales documentation, technical documentation, and product sheet.
A generally accepted rule of thumb in today’s day and age is that buyers of B2B products and services are better informed than they ever have been. They research and analyze every purchase they make taking special note of specific buying requirements for each one. Whether it is price, quality, service, brand name, product specific requirements, etc. Today’s buyer doesn’t want a salesman telling them what their needs are rather a point of contact advising them on possible solutions to their problem. Thus, how the product is positioned outside of a sales conversation is more important than ever.
You might not have every piece of information ready to be presented when we have our meeting, but make no mistake. Whether you need it or don’t need it on day one you will certainly need it at some point throughout the time you spend selling in the U.S. which circles back to my first item: it takes time!
Ping me if you want to discuss how we can help you develop your sales in the US!”
Whit Howland
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