Entrepreneurs, Look to Your Network to Help You Through the Pandemic

For many entrepreneurs, the process of launching a company begins with the lightbulb moment when they conceive of a breakthrough idea for a new product or service. Very often, they are so passionate about the idea that they believe its merits will be self-evident to prospective customers—that the innovation is so obviously superior it will sell itself. Entrepreneurs who avoid that delusion may think of their initial sales as a chicken-and-egg problem: They realize that getting buy-in from potential customers is a top priority, but until they design and build the product (which often requires securing funding, assembling a team, and many other tasks), how could they possibly make a sales call?

对许多创业者而言，创建一家新公司往往始于他们某一刻灵光乍现。很多时候，他们对自己的创意充满了激情，以至于想当然地认为，对于潜在客户，它的好处不言自明。有些创业者也许没有上述这种错觉，但他们有可能把产品和最初的销售活动视为鸡和蛋的关系：他们意识到，得到潜在客户的认可是重中之重，但是，在完成产品的设计和生产前，怎么可能进行客户拜访呢？而要实现产品设计和生产，往往又需要获得资金、组建团队等先决条件。

Both attitudes fail to recognize a simple fact: Salesmanship is central to the success of any young company, and entrepreneurs ignore this at their peril. Yet many do ignore it, in large part because they have little sales experience and have probably not taken classes in how to sell, even if they have formal business education. For those in search of guidance, the research and advice on salesmanship may not offer much help: The vast majority of techniques, models, and strategies are aimed at large, established companies, not start-ups, which tend to face a unique set of objections from prospects.

这两种心态都忽略了一个简单的事实：对于任何新公司，销售都至关重要。忽略了这一点的创业者要承担风险。然而，很多人确实忽略了这点，主要是因为他们缺乏销售经验，并且多半没有参加过销售培训，即使受过正规商科教育的人也不例外。尽管有些创业者有意寻求指引，但常规的销售研究和建议往往帮不上他们的忙：大多数的销售技巧、销售模型和战略都是针对大型成熟企业的，而非初创公司。

And when entrepreneurs get around to making those crucial first sales, they often make common mistakes, such as not considering the strategic advantages of a particular customer or extending a deep discount just to make the sale.

初创公司的潜在客户往往会有一些特有的疑虑，而且创业者们进行至关重要的第一笔销售活动时，常常会犯一些常识性错误，比如没有考虑某一客户的战略优势，或者为了促成销售给出很大的折扣等等。

Regrets, We’ve Had a Few

五大认识误区

The founders we interviewed cited the following five missteps most frequently:

最为普遍的主要是以下5个误区：

Starting late.

1、营销起步晚

More than half our interviewees fully developed their products before getting feedback from potential buyers. In hindsight, most viewed this as a mistake, echoing one of the mantras of Eric Ries’s “lean start-up” philosophy: Get in front of prospects from day one. As one CEO told us, “You’ll learn more from talking to five customers than you will from hours of market research [at a computer].” The goal should be to gauge customer reaction to the general concept you plan to build. “Don’t make anything until you sell it,” advised one entrepreneur. “Get people really interested in buying it before you invest too much time and effort.”

超过一半的受访者都是在完成产品开发后，才去听取潜在买家的反馈。回头来看，多数受访者都认为这是一个错误，这也验证了“精益创业”理论的提出者埃里克·里斯(Eric Ries)的一个观点：从创业的第一天就要走在客户前面。就像一位CEO告诉我们的：“与其在电脑上花几个钟头做市场调研，不如找5位客户聊聊天收获更大。”这样做是为了试探客户对新产品的普遍反应。一位创业者建议，“先销售，再生产。在你投入过多的时间和精力之前，要确保人们真的有兴趣购买该产品。”

Failing to listen.

2、倾听不足

Even founders who started selling early said they were too focused on convincing prospects of the new product’s merits and not concerned enough with finding out what prospects thought of the idea. Some realized that their passion and ego made them respond negatively to criticism and discount ideas for changes that they later saw would have increased the marketability of their offerings. “Listen to the feedback from the customers and reshape your idea and your product to fit what they actually want,” one interviewee advised. Another described the process this way: “It’s really all about understanding what the pain point is in the marketplace, and the best way to do that is to talk to prospects and validate, validate, validate your idea.” 

即使是那些提早着手进行销售的创始人也表示，他们花费了过多的精力说服潜在顾客接受新产品的优点，却没有去了解潜在客户对产品的看法。有些创业者认识到，激情和自负使得他们对批评意见反应冷淡，对于改进意见却视而不见，而这些建议原本可以让产品更受市场欢迎。一位受访者建议：“倾听客户的反馈，重塑你的创意和产品，以满足客户的实际需求。”另外一位受访者这样描述这一过程：“一切的一切都是为了了解市场的痛点是什么，而要做到这点，最佳方式就是与潜在客户交谈，然后验证、验证、再验证你的创意。”

Offering discounts.

3、提供折扣

Faced with pressure (from themselves or their VCs) to make early sales, many founders offered price discounts in order to close initial deals—often establishing unsustainable pricing precedents with those customers. Worse yet, news of the discounts spread around small industries, crippling the ventures’ long-term pricing power. And if you’re going to offer temporary discounts, they told us, it’s smart to put the terms in writing.

面对来自自身或者风险投资基金（VC）方面的压力，很多创始人为了能在初期达成交易，不惜提供低价折扣，结果往往使自己骑虎难下。更糟糕的是，在规模较小的行业，打折的消息很快就会传开去，导致结果是削弱了企业的长期定价权。经验之谈是，如果你要提供暂时性的折扣，那么明智的做法是把打折条款写下来。

Selling to family and friends.

4、“杀熟”

Making early sales to family members was especially common among entrepreneurs outside the U.S. and for those in the restaurant, clothing, and wealth management industries. But you never know why relatives are buying from you—often their motivation is love, pity, or a sense of obligation, not compelling product quality. In retrospect, founders believed those sales created a false sense of validation and that they would have been better off pursuing arm’s-length transactions with customers who would have given them candid feedback.

在美国之外的创业者中，在创业之初，向家人兜售产品的做法尤其普遍，常见于餐饮、服装、理财行业。但是，你永远也搞不清亲戚朋友的购买动机，事实上他们的动机往往是因为爱你、同情你或是觉得自己有义务购买，而不是因为产品质量好。回头想想，创始人们认为，这类销售是一种虚假的肯定，如果通过正常交易途径，从客户那里听到坦白的反馈，情况会更好。

Failing to seek strategic buyers.

5、没找到战略买家

For cash-strapped entrepreneurs with no sales record, the thrill of getting the first “yes” can blind them to other considerations. Can this customer open new doors or provide referrals? Can the customer supply usage data that could make my value proposition more compelling? Some of the founders we interviewed wished they had conducted a strategic assessment of their first buyers. Others chose their first clients deliberately in order to get feedback, perform beta testing, get referrals, or guarantee repeat business. These strategic first sales often led to long-term success.

对于还没有开过张、捉襟见肘的创业者，达成第一笔订单带来的喜悦会蒙蔽他们的双眼，使他们忽略其他因素。这个客户能带来新的商机吗？会向他人推荐吗？客户的使用数据会令产品价值更诱人吗？受访创始人中，有一部分后悔当初没有对第一批买家进行战略评估，另一些人则较为明智，选取第一批客户时有意识地选择了那些能提供反馈、性能测试数据、口碑效应或者长期订单的对象。这些具有战略意义的首批订单往往是企业取得长期成功的基石。

Sorry, You’re Too Small

如何走出误区？

As they looked back on their nascent sales efforts, the entrepreneurs we spoke with described a long series of hurdles. Many had problems developing lists of prospects. Once they had identified likely targets, they faced obstacles in getting past gatekeepers or securing appointments. In those situations, founders needed to find acquaintances who could make referrals simply to secure an appointment.

在回顾初期的销售活动时，受访的创业者们谈到了一大堆障碍。很多人在寻找潜在客户群方面遇到了问题。即使找到了目标客户，他们也很难敲开对方的大门或约见客户。在这种情况下，创业者需要熟人引荐才能约到潜在客户。

Some entrepreneurs described difficulty articulating precisely what made their product or service different from the alternatives. When they did make a sale, several suffered because no one in their venture was responsible for accounts receivable. “I realized I had to collect when I ran out of cash,” reported one Mexican founder. “At times, three or four months would pass without invoices being sent to customers, because I was not well organized.”

有些创业者表示，他们很难说清楚自己的产品和服务与同类产品有什么区别。当他们成功销售出产品后，有些创业者会面临新的棘手问题，因为他们的企业中没有专门负责应收账款的人。“当我手头吃紧的时候，我才会意识到该收账了。”一位墨西哥创业者表示，“有时候，因为我们管理不善，3、4个月都没有给客户寄发票。”

The biggest problem with the actual mechanics of selling, however, was handling the objections of potential customers. Our interviews revealed five categories of objections, most of which are different from those faced by salespeople in established firms.

不过，销售面临的最大问题是如何解除潜在客户的疑虑。通过采访，我们发现初创公司面对的质疑可以分为五类，这五类情况多数都是成熟公司不会遇到的。

Efficacy.

1、产品效果

Potential customers were consistently skeptical about the ability of new products to deliver on their value propositions. Some entrepreneurs could show results from beta tests or independent lab results, but that wasn’t possible for all products and services. In those cases, offering samples or free trials often proved effective. One of our subjects, the founder of a furniture reupholstering business in Mexico, made an early sale by eating lunch in one of his market’s largest hotels. At the end of the meal, he asked the restaurant manager to introduce him to the facilities director, who came to the table. The entrepreneur showed him the worn fabric on the chairs and offered to refurbish two of them for a small fraction of the replacement price. Once the facilities director saw the finished chairs, he talked the business up at meetings of his professional association, leading other big hotels to place orders.

潜在客户普遍对新产品能否表现出其声称的性能，持怀疑态度。有些创业者可以向客户展示测试结果或提供独立实验室的实验报告，但是，并非所有产品和服务都能做到这点。在这种情况下，提供小样或免费试用品往往能产生不错的效果。我们的一位研究对象是墨西哥一家家具翻新公司的创始人，他的第一单生意是他在当地一家大酒店吃午饭时谈成的。用餐结束时，他要求餐厅经理把他引荐给设施总监。设施总监来到餐桌前，这位创业者便指给他看椅子面料破损的地方，并提出为他翻新两把椅子。椅子交货后，设施总监非常满意，并在会议上谈论这项业务，引得其他大酒店也纷纷下单。

Credibility.

2、可信度

Prospects also expressed doubt about a new company on the basis of the founder’s age, gender, personal background, or experience level. Founders with relevant experience highlighted that; those who lacked it touted partners or board members with solid industry reputations.

潜在客户往往会根据创始人的年龄、性别、个人背景或者相关经历，评判一家新公司的可信度。在这种情况下，如果创始人拥有相关行业经验，就应该突出这项优势。如若不然，就应该极力宣传自己的合伙人或董事会成员在业内拥有很高声誉。

Size.

3、公司规模

One founder we spoke with summed up this pervasive concern: “How do you make the prospect comfortable with the fact that your company is small?” There is no easy answer. Many founders highlighted a key benefit of their company’s size: the fact that customers were dealing with the CEO instead of a sales rep. For companies selling physical products, quality and value helped dispel concerns. Ultimately, though, overcoming objections about size required founders to develop trust with prospects and to take steps to reduce the risk of dealing with a start-up. For instance, some founders did not ask for a deposit from their earliest customers but instead used a pay-on-delivery model until they achieved a track record.

用一位受访者的话说，“如何让潜在客户接受你的公司规模很小这一事实？”这个问题不太好回答。很多创始人大力强调公司规模小的一个重要好处，那就是客户能够直接与CEO打交道，而不是销售代表。对于出售实体产品的公司，产品的质量和价值有助于驱散客户的疑云。不过，要彻底消除客户对规模的疑虑，还是要靠跟潜在客户建立起信任关系，并设法降低客户的风险。例如，有些创始人接受早期客户货到付款，而且不要求对方支付定金，在交易了一段时间之后才改变这种模式。

Price.

4、产品价格

Salespeople from established businesses often field complaints about price, of course, but start-ups reported that their prospects were especially likely to push back on pricing because they knew the entrepreneurs were eager to make early sales. In fact, several prospects stated directly that they expected significant price cuts for becoming early users. Some entrepreneurs walked away from those deals, some gave discounts, and others pushed back.

成熟型企业的销售员常常遇到客户抱怨价格太高，这点毋庸置疑。但是初创型公司表示，他们的潜在客户特别喜欢在价格上施压，因为他们知道，创业者急于在早期达成销售订单。事实上，几位潜在客户明确表示，他们认为早期用户有权得到特殊优惠。有些创业者因此放弃了这些交易，有些给出了折扣，还有一些据理力争，进行反击。

Price objections often stemmed from prospects’ incomplete, biased, or subjective cost/benefit analyses, so savvy founders developed tactics to counter these. 

价格方面的质疑，往往源于潜在客户对于产品的成本/利润的不充分、有偏见或者过于主观的分析，因此精明的创始人会借助一些手段去应对这些问题。

Switching costs.

5、转换成本

To adopt a new product or service, prospects might need to modify their routines, procedures, systems, or internal or external relationships. Making such modifications to switch to a new, untested offering can seem especially costly, but buyers do not always verbalize these concerns. To address tacit objections about switching costs, the entrepreneurs we interviewed took it upon themselves to ask questions that would lead prospects to talk freely.

要采用一种新产品或服务，潜在客户可能需要改变他们的惯例流程、运作系统或内外关系。买家可能担心，进行这类调整，转换到一种新的、未经测试的产品或服务上去，要花费很大的代价；但是，有时候他们不会把这种担忧表达出来。为了解决客户对转换成本的隐忧，创业者们要主动询问相关问题，让潜在客户能够畅所欲言。

A Sales Framework for Start-Ups

友好型销售模型

Existing frameworks for selling are focused on established companies. They almost always assume that the salesperson has a fully developed product, and they have a simple goal: to make a sale. While these models advise reps to listen to prospects in order to anticipate objections or gain insight into the organizational dynamics that drive decision making.

现有的销售框架主要针对成熟型企业，其往往基于这样的假设：销售员有一套充分开发的产品，并且他们的目标很简单，就是达成交易。此类模型往往建议销售员们倾听潜在客户的声音，以便预料到可能的反对意见，或者了解推动决策的组织活动。

They generally do not account for the fact that information gleaned during the sales process can be crucial in designing (or redesigning) the product itself. On the basis of our interviews with company founders, we have constructed an alternative model that’s far more suitable for start-ups.

然而，此类模型往往忽略这样一个事实，即销售过程中收集到的信息，在产品设计或重新设计时同样重要。基于对公司创始人的采访，我们开发出一个更适用于初创型企业的替代模型。

It calls for engagement with prospects as soon as an idea is conceived—and long before the product is actually created. The goal of these meetings is to obtain market intelligence not only about product design but also about promotion, distribution, and pricing strategies. After a round of these meetings, an entrepreneur should ask if the idea really has strong and broad appeal.

这一模型要求创业者一旦有了一个创意就应该立即与潜在客户接触，不要等到产品成型。早早接触客户的目的不仅仅是为了获得产品设计方面的市场洞见，同时也是为了获得促销、分销和定价策略方面的信息。进行一轮早期会谈之后，创业者们应该重新考虑自己的创意是否真的具有强大且广泛的吸引力。

The answer to that question should determine whether the entrepreneur jettisons the idea, returns to the drawing board, or proceeds to develop a prototype, obtain conditional commitments from prospects, generate more leads, and engage in other traditional sales activities.

对这一问题的回答会决定创业者究竟是放弃已有思路，回到画板前继续筹划，还是继续开发样品、从潜在客户那里获取有条件的承诺、开发更多潜在客户并进行其他传统的销售活动。

Research has shown that it’s easier to get people to commit to an idea if they are involved in its creation. By engaging with prospects early, founders can not only gather feedback to improve product design but also increase prospects’ involvement in the process, thus raising the odds that they’ll purchase the offering.This model may also ease the challenges entrepreneurs face in getting appointments with prospects.

研究显示，如果让人们参与一个创意的创造过程，那么他们对这个创意会更投入。通过早早接触潜在客户，创始人不仅能收集客户反馈、改善产品设计，同时也能让潜在客户参与到流程中去，从而增加其购买产品或服务的可能性。这一模型也有助于缓解创业者在约访潜在客户时面临的挑战。

If founders present the appointments as occasions to discuss products that don’t yet exist—not as sales calls—prospects may be more open to them. In general, people are more willing to give advice than to listen to a sales pitch. Entrepreneurs can use that dynamic to their advantage.

如果创始人约访潜在客户去讨论一些尚不存在的产品，而不是进行销售拜访的话，潜在客户可能会报以更加开放的态度。总体而言，人们更愿意提供建议，而不是听推销员自吹自擂。创业者可以利用这种心理，改善自己的销售方式。

Start-ups face many challenges, and entrepreneurs must wear many hats during the process of launching a company. It’s no surprise that they often postpone selling (or otherwise engaging with customers) until they’ve already created and begun producing their offerings. Our research demonstrates, however, that early customer feedback is essential and that founders who fail to consult with customers soon after the lightbulb moment will ultimately come to regret it.

初创公司会面临很多挑战，在创建一家企业的过程中，创业者们必须成为多面手。创业者们往往把销售环节（或者与客户接触）推迟到产品已经成型并开始投产之后，这点不足为奇。但是，我们的研究表明，早期的客户反馈很重要，那些在灵光乍现时没有及时去咨询客户意见的创业者们，最终会追悔莫及。

文森特·奥涅马是马赛诸塞州韦尔斯利百森商学院营销学副教授。