David Skok’s Sales Wisdom: 17 Lessons

David Skok’s Sales Wisdom: 17 Lessons:from (title unknown) by Aswin Natarajan

David Skok is one of the most knowledgeable experts in SaaS metrics. He’s a serial entrepreneur turned VC with several multi-million dollar exits. He made the Forbes Midas list, been acclaimed by other bloggers as “being able to see the forest in the trees”, and shucks, we’re big fans as well.
David writes his ideas on SaaS businesses and how to accelerate sales and marketing efforts on his blog. It’s some of the most insightful writing we’ve ever stumbled upon. We’ve shared our favorite thoughts below, David Skok’s sales advice:

1. Every prospect’s worst nightmare is being entrenched in a deal they can’t get out of. Give them a chance to opt-out, it decreases their perceived risk and they’ll more likely convert. {Click to Tweet}

2. What can you do to simplify both your product and your sales process to lower the amount of touchpoints involved? {Click to Tweet}

3. Metrics for metric’s sake are not very useful. The goal is to provide a detailed look at what management must focus on to drive a successful SaaS business. {Click to Tweet}

4. It is not enough to simply want to use a lower touch sales channel. The product has to be simple enough to evaluate and purchase for it to work in that channel. {Click to Tweet}

5. The second person you hire, after a salesperson who can close, should be a sales rep who is dedicated just to generating leads for your first closer. {Click to Tweet}

6. Write “short and sweet” emails which simply ask for a referral to the right person at the company to get your prospects. Never write a “salesy” email. {Click to Tweet}

7. Creating an Ideal Customer Profile is an important exercise to maximize the effectiveness of your sales and marketing efforts. {Click to Tweet}

8. Just because you go golfing with your prospect doesn’t mean they’ll trust your advice about their business. Keep proving yourself as an expert. {Click to Tweet}

9. Once you’re an expert in the buyer’s mind, they’ll naturally view you as a person to get business advice from.{Click to Tweet}

10. Make your salespeople thought-leaders. {Click to Tweet}

11. The more you can know about each individual visitor, the greater the value you provide. {Click to Tweet}

12. Don’t be tempted into using your blog, or other content, to carry sales messages. They have the opposite effect that you are looking for, and damage your relationship building. {Click to Tweet}

13. Get the customer curious to the point where they start asking you questions about how you can help them with their business problems. {Click to Tweet}

14. A very common misperception amongst first time entrepreneurs is “If you build it, they will come”. {Click to Tweet}

15. The scarcest and most valuable commodity for a prospect is their time and attention. {Click to Tweet}

16. Place the Wow! moment before you ask them to register for your product or service. {Click to Tweet}

17. Startups which fail to compare the cost of acquiring a customer versus the lifetime value of that customer are going to die.  {Click to Tweet}