Is This a Warning Sign You’re Building the Wrong Startup?
Most people don’t recognize it because they think it means something else
“I’m struggling to keep leads interested long enough to actually close deals,” explained the entrepreneur sitting across from me. “Is it normal for my sales prospects to suddenly stop responding? Or is that a sign I’m building the wrong thing?”
I was immediately intrigued by the question. The entrepreneur was six months into building a B2B marketing software startup, and, judging by his issue, he was focusing on customer acquisition.
That’s a good sign, I thought to myself as I prepared to respond. Customer acquisition problems at least meant the entrepreneur was thinking about the right things. “It’s normal for prospects to stop responding,” I answered. “In your mind, your company is the most important thing in the world. But for potential customers, you still have to convince them to care.”
“I guess so,” he said. “But how do I convince them to care once they stop responding to me? How can I email them again without bugging them?”
I laughed. “That’s a simple problem to fix,” I replied.
“It is?” he asked.
