Entrepreneurs Need to Be Salespeople

  From understanding customers to driving revenue, here are five reasons why entrepreneurs have to be good at sales.

 

Why do all company founders need to have sales skills? I’m Mimi Evans, and I’m going to tell you the five reasons why I believe you need sales skills.

You Are the Expert on Your Business

Number one, no one is as knowledgeable and passionate about your business. You have it inside you, and you need to get it out. You can hire a salesperson to do that, but I guarantee you that they don’t have your fire. So that is something that if you’re going to become a founder, you need to have or you need to build.

Understand Your Customers

Number two, it is critical that you understand the needs and motivations of your customers. How else are you going to do that unless you get out in front of customers? It’s just not possible. So that’s the second reason why you need to develop these skills.

Sales Is Your Most Important Job

Number three, selling is one of your hats. It is your most important hat, because at the end of the day your customers are going to be the ones who grow your business. So while you have all the other hats, and sales may not be your most fun or comfortable hat, it is your most important job in your company.

Revenue Must Be a Priority

Number four, you need to make getting revenue into your business a priority. If it’s not a priority for you, you will not be successful. So because getting revenue is important, having those sales skills is critical.

Minimum Viable Sales System Is Crucial

Number five, you probably built an MVP: minimum viable product. So along with that, like peanut butter and jelly, you must have a minimum viable sales system. So this is a way to take your MVP and get it out there to your customers.

About Mimi Evans

Mimi Evans is currently CEO and Founder of Fast Turtle Ventures, dedicated to helping startups get their first traction and cross the chasm to success. This includes all aspects of financial fortitude (sales, fundraising, business development, and financial organization).

In addition, she currently serves as a ‘scout’ for Beacon Angels and other angel groups looking to fund early stage entrepreneurs.

Prior to founding Fast Turtle Ventures, she was the Co-Founder and CEO of Salesquest.com, a technology-driven company that provided data to high-tech companies; such as EMC, IBM and Microsoft; in order to boost their sales, marketing and CRM systems.

After a successful exit to OneSource Information Systems, she is now focused on helping the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Boston and Cambridge.