Get your first ten customers

No brand, no referrals, no budget. Work out who to talk to, what to say, and how to close.

4 steps, 16 questions underneath, read for doing the work

1. 1
   Who you sell to

   Picking a customer worth chasing, and knowing early when a deal is not one.

   How do I qualify a deal properly instead of just hoping the enthusiastic person can buy? 4 → Half my pipeline is outside our ICP because those are the leads that came in. Do I chase them? 5 → My list of target accounts is enormous and mostly cold. How do I find the ones that are ready to buy right now? 4 → Our CRM says we lose on price. I do not believe it. How do I find the real reason, and what does it say about who we should be selling to? 3 →
2. 2
   Positioning and messaging

   Making a buyer understand in one sentence why you exist and why you are the one to pick.

   Our positioning reads fine on the website but every rep says something different on calls. How do I fix that? 4 → How do I build a sales deck that is not just a tour of our features? 4 → Everyone we sell to already uses the big incumbent. How do I position against them without trashing them? 5 → Everyone has an opinion on our new messaging and nobody can settle the argument. How do I test it instead? 4 →
3. 3
   Outbound that works

   Cold email, cold calls, LinkedIn, sequences and lists. How to start conversations with people who have never heard of you.

   My cold calls die in the first ten seconds. What do I actually say when they pick up? 4 → How do I build a target list that is worth working instead of scraping ten thousand random companies? 4 → One email is not a sequence. How many follow-ups, how far apart, and what should go in each one? 3 → My champion went quiet and the deal stalled. How do I multithread an account without going over their head? 4 →
4. 4
   Running a sales process and closing

   Discovery, demos, qualification, champions, procurement and the last mile to a signature.

   How do I know if a deal is real or if I am being strung along? 4 → My demos go well and then the deal stalls. How do I stop that? 5 → They want a pilot before they commit. How do I run one that ends in a contract instead of a shrug? 4 → Procurement has entered the conversation and wants thirty percent off. How do I negotiate without gutting the deal? 4 →