Short, daily emails from a friend in the trenches. I’ll share what works and what doesn’t as we build Accoil Analytics, a B2B SaaS company.Each email 500 words or less. Each one based on the planning, execution, and reflection of growing a B2B SaaS company in a competitive market.
lesson plans
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A couple Mondays ago, I caught myself looking for a way out of a conversation. You know the kind? Someone ages ago scheduled a call for today and now that today’s here it’s not really a good day for a call. I was busy. I had deadlines and kids to pick up. What was I doing on this call? When this happens, when I start looking for the exit, a little voice pings from inside my head: “Everyone has something they can teach you. If you think they don’t, you are doing it wrong.” I don’t know if I read this or someone said it to me. It’s one of those things that lives in my brain and makes itself known in moments like these. It’s like a little hobbit head poking around a corner to remind me of something important. “Ask’em a question, you dumbass.” I don’t get it right every time. I dash off calls and scramble my mouse for the Exit button on Zoom. And yet when I listen to the hobbit head, I usually learn something new. Customer calls. Sales pitches. Networking events. Everyone has something to teach. Listen to the hobbit. Ask questions and look to learn, even when all you want to do is run for the End Meeting for All button. TTFN, Peter PS: This is really a note to my younger self. I hope it’s helpful for you too. If it’s not (and I should just keep a private journal instead) will you reply and let me know? |
Target Burn
Short, daily emails from a friend in the trenches. I’ll share what works and what doesn’t as we build Accoil Analytics, a B2B SaaS company.Each email 500 words or less. Each one based on the planning, execution, and reflection of growing a B2B SaaS company in a competitive market.
I wrote yesterday about getting on a plane to meet people. Another benefit of standing in front of someone is body language. In-person selling doesn't scale well, but it's the fastest feedback we'll ever get. When we're talking to the right person -- someone who can and should buy our product -- it's easy to see when a pitch resonates. When we say the right words, two exciting things happen. Eyes widen and shoulders lean in. When a pitch is even a little bit off, we get polite nods and...
Who do you want to meet that would change the course of your business? If you're not willing to get on a plane to meet them in person, you're missing a huge opportunity. I'll save you all the terrible analogies (including the one about online dating vs meeting in real life). Meeting someone. Shaking his or her hand. Breaking bread across a table. It creates a connection you will never get from LinkedIn comments. It may feel like a lot of money to book a flight, pay for a hotel room, get the...
So much marketing advice and guidance is about how we take our message to our customers. What if you want customers to come to you instead? I'm not talking about 'inbound marketing.' That works, too, but this is something a bit different. Let's call it the Oopsy Daisy. If you want to have more customer conversations, but find it hard to get anyone to talk to you. Break something on purpose. We've done this in software. I've done it with service reports. And I bet you can find a way to "break"...