{"id":6153,"date":"2017-04-05T09:09:46","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T12:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ibtdi.com\/?p=6153"},"modified":"2017-04-05T09:09:46","modified_gmt":"2017-04-05T12:09:46","slug":"how-to-convince-investors-that-you-can-sell-in-4-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibtdi.com\/en\/how-to-convince-investors-that-you-can-sell-in-4-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Convince Investors You Can Sell in 4 Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\u0635\u0648\u0631\u0629<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Last week, I invested in an online application called \u201cPet Partner,\u201d which helps veterinarians and pet owners <\/span><\/p>\n

connect with their customers through multiple marketing channels, from postcards and email to apps.<\/span><\/p>\n

The company meets real customer needs and provides valuable services, but that\u2019s not why I invested.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like every startup, the company\u2019s success depends on its ability to get customers to buy the services it offers. I wrote the check <\/span><\/p>\n

because the company\u2019s CEO, Taylor Kavanaugh, gave me confidence that the company could make those sales.<\/span><\/p>\n

because many startup founders try to Convincing investors that they can sell<\/a>, I think it would be helpful to explain some of the ways <\/span><\/p>\n

entrepreneurs do this.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

1. Show customers the value of your product<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You can only succeed in the early stages of your business by offering customers valuable deals. The \u201cPet Partner\u201d app offers valuable deals, <\/span><\/p>\n

Two pieces of information convinced me of this. First, I spoke with many of the company\u2019s customers, and they all agreed that they were saving money by <\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cPet Partner\u201d app service\u2014and, moreover, any of them could propose a scenario in which they bypass the providers. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u0627\u0644\u062e\u0627\u0635\u064a\u0646 \u0628\u0647\u0645.<\/span><\/p>\n

Second, the data confirms customer loyalty to the \u201cPet Partner\u201d app, with the company generating 99.4% of its revenue from monthly recurring revenue.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prove that the value delivered to customers is high relative to the cost of acquiring them.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The value of the \u201cPet Partner\u201d app is $12,800, but it costs the company $1,900 to acquire a sale. I think the value delivered <\/span><\/p>\n

to customers is five times the cost of providing the service, which is a compelling ratio.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

2. Lack of familiarity with your sales metrics<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You can\u2019t shake Kavana\u2019s sales metrics\u2014he can tell you them as easily as most people can recite their children\u2019s birthdays, <\/span><\/p>\n

and he can tell you how many leads he generates at the start of each month. He can also give you the percentages of conversations he has<\/span><\/p>\n

that turn into sales leads and the number of sales he can close each month, as well as the average number of days it takes to start and close a deal, and the share <\/span><\/p>\n

of sales each month. By contrast, many business owners can\u2019t describe any of these figures for their sales.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

3. Analyze Your Sales Metrics to Improve Your Approach<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Some business owners analyze their sales without acting on what they learn. Kavana looks at his sales figures and asks how to <\/span><\/p>\n

improving his company\u2019s performance. Here\u2019s a simple example: the data showed that sales at the \u201cPet Partner\u201d app were highest when the team scheduled the start of <\/span><\/p>\n

sales conversations with customers 2\u20133 days in advance. Sales closed at 2.5 times the rate of opportunities where customer conversations were scheduled <\/span><\/p>\n

seven to eight days ahead. This led Kavana to set a benchmark for the average meeting-opening schedule.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

4. Find the right sales schedule for your business model<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Some companies prefer the same person to handle both the beginning and end of the sales process, while others prefer to work with specialists, each in <\/span><\/p>\n

their own role. The \u201cPet Partner\u201d app tracks openings and closings separately, because this approach is much more effective and improves conversion rates. <\/span><\/p>\n

In their industries, some people are great at closing sales but very poor at getting them started\u2014even if they\u2019re working with <\/span><\/p>\n

the same person from the opening through to the close. Ultimately, even the best closers have nothing to close.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many investors assess a founder\u2019s ability to attract customers when evaluating a company\u2019s finances at an <\/span><\/p>\n

early stage. Verifying all these sales will ensure the investor reaches peak interest, as the \u201cPet Partner\u201d app did. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u0628\u0627\u0644\u0646\u0633\u0628\u0629 \u0644\u064a.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u0627\u0644\u0623\u0633\u0628\u0648\u0639 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0627\u0636\u064a \u0628\u062f\u0623\u062a \u0627\u0633\u062a\u062b\u0645\u0627\u0631\u0627\u064b \u0641\u064a \u062a\u0637\u0628\u064a\u0642 \u0625\u0644\u0643\u062a\u0631\u0648\u0646\u064a \u064a\u062f\u0639\u0649 \u201cPet Partner\u201d \u0627\u0644\u0630\u064a \u064a\u0633\u0627\u0639\u062f \u0627\u0644\u0623\u0637\u0628\u0627\u0621 \u0627\u0644\u0628\u064a\u0637\u0631\u064a\u0646 \u0648\u0645\u0627\u0644\u0643\u064a \u0627\u0644\u062d\u064a\u0648\u0627\u0646\u0627\u062a \u0627\u0644\u0623\u0644\u064a\u0641\u0629 \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u062a\u0648\u0627\u0635\u0644 \u0645\u0639 \u0639\u0645\u0644\u0627\u0626\u0647\u0627 \u0639\u0628\u0631 \u0642\u0646\u0648\u0627\u062a \u062a\u0633\u0648\u064a\u0642 \u0645\u062a\u0639\u062f\u062f\u0629\u060c \u0645\u0646 [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ibtdi_aa_focus_keyword":"","_ibtdi_aa_secondary_keywords":"","_ibtdi_aa_audience":"","_ibtdi_aa_tone":"","_ibtdi_aa_summary":"","_ibtdi_aa_reviewer_name":"","_ibtdi_aa_reviewer_bio":"","_ibtdi_aa_reviewer_url":"","_ibtdi_aa_reviewed_date":"","_ibtdi_aa_service_id":"","_ibtdi_aa_related_ids":"","_ibtdi_aa_human_reviewed":"","_ibtdi_aa_disable":"","_ibtdi_aa_disable_links":"","_ibtdi_aa_sources":"","_ibtdi_aa_update_notes":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[491],"tags":[10021,775,10022,777,10023,10024,779,780,10025,781,3048,3050,284,782,1083,1676,1320,785,113,3217,9,11,341,373,21,374,226,42,240,415,10026,10027,9304,18,798,10028,10029,10030,5480,10031,10032],"class_list":["post-6153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-491","tag-pet-partner","tag-775","tag-10022","tag-777","tag-10023","tag-10024","tag-779","tag-780","tag-10025","tag-781","tag-3048","tag-3050","tag-284","tag-782","tag-1083","tag-1676","tag-1320","tag-785","tag-113","tag-3217","tag-9","tag-11","tag-341","tag-373","tag-21","tag-374","tag-226","tag-42","tag-240","tag-415","tag-10026","tag-10027","tag-9304","tag-18","tag-798","tag-10028","tag-10029","tag-10030","tag-5480","tag-10031","tag-10032"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibtdi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibtdi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibtdi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibtdi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibtdi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibtdi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibtdi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibtdi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibtdi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibtdi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}